In today’s ultra-competitive businesses, one of the most challenging things for middle and upper level leaders is to get leadership lessons across quickly and effectively to front line supervisors, especially while they are in the thick of their hectic day to day activities. Sometimes it’s hard to get their full attention for 10 minutes, much less …
A few years back I wrote that the “Real Secret of Life” was never growing up. What I’ve learned since then is that there should be an asterisk after that, with the following warning: “CAUTION, your rediscovered child-like wonder may take you to too many places at once” Indeed it can. Because it recently happened to me. I’ve always known …
It’s the moment of truth. That moment when all of what you’ve put into your leadership comes to fruition. It’s when a teammate engages with a customer. All that vision, all that inspiration, all that process, all that teaching, all that alignment, all that mission statement – all that everything – comes into play right then and there. Because …
And now……. Google+!!!!! Another Social Media platform. I’m now on it (as Terry Starbucker), and learning to use it, like all the other beta test subjects. It’s pretty cool, and is showing early signs of being a formidable competitor with Facebook. But this post isn’t really about Google+ – I’ll leave the technical stuff to people who really …
It’s amazing how pronouns can tell us so much about the state of a company, and a team. Simple little pronouns. As leaders we do a lot of thinking about what we say and how we say it – we want to make sure our messages and directions are understood. We also want our words to inspire …
The basics. The fundamentals. The dirty work. Making the sausage. Doing the job. Answering the phone. Delivering on time. Generating the invoices. Paying the bills. Making payroll. Collecting receivables. Fixing what’s broke. Not fixing what isn’t broke. Blocking and Tackling. A football phrase that makes me think of Vince Lombardi. I was born in Wisconsin, and my first real sports memories …
All leaders need to get good and consistent verbal feedback from their teammates, but there are what I consider to be the “Golden 10″ pieces of feedback that we really need to be getting to ratify our effectiveness (and our approach to greatness). Let’s count ‘em down, from the bottom to the top: 10. “I don’t know, …
I was thinking a lot about “success” today, and what it takes to get there, however we define it. Since I’m at that stage of my life where I have more of the road behind me than ahead of me, I have the benefit of a bigger and deeper rear view mirror. That look back …
Recently a few good friends of mine have changed jobs, for reasons that were quite similar. The core reason was phrased along the lines of “I no longer had a seat at the table”. That’s something I could certainly relate to, because I’ve felt the same way during my corporate career. It’s being literally out of the …
Your way isn’t the only way. That’s a tough one. Because even when we realize it, AND we know that perspective must be a part of great leadership, we still find it very difficult to practice it. I know, because I “learned” it way back in my teenage years, when I was the editor-in-chief of our high …
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