SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT TODAY

I’ve been stuck in the house for the past couple of weeks. Like most people, my purchases have decreased, but I am trying to buy from local businesses when I have the chance. Most of my experiences have been great. Here are a few examples of experiences that weren’t. “I Don’t Care.” I drove to…

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MY HEAD EXPLODES!

There is a conversation that happens all too often when I speak with business owners that makes my head explode! It goes something like this. I’m usually speaking with an owner who is struggling with getting something done for the betterment of their business. The business owner says, “I tell them what to do.  But…

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CULTIVATING TRUST

Trust is Essential to Leadership. People enter new relationships with a degree of trust.  Then trust either grows or recedes as the relationship develops.  If people don’t trust you, they might follow your instructions (kind of), but they won’t follow you. In Stephen M. R. Covey’s best-selling book, “The Speed of Trust: The One Thing…

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WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU LOOK FOR WHEN HIRING?

I had lunch with a friend the other day, a local business owner.  She was frustrated with her employees, who never seemed to know what she really wanted.  They required constant direction and even micro-managing. I asked, “What is the first thing you look for when hiring?” She was a bit surprised by the question,…

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THE ONE THING YOU CAN’T DO FOR YOURSELF

The one thing you can’t do for yourself… is to coach yourself. Here’s why. You can’t see what you can’t see. Everyone has blind spots. A coach can be an extra set of eyes to assist you in “seeing” and understanding things going on in your organization, marketplace, or even within your leadership team, that…

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Managing The Two “Black Holes” of Business

Marketing and Customer Service are the two “black holes” of business. Both are critical, but neither is ever complete. Unlike more tangible areas of work there is no “quota” to exceed, there is no “inventory” to manage, there is no “work order” to complete. But no matter how much is invested in Marketing and Customer…

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The Best Non-Profits Have Much In Common With For-Profits

Over the years I’ve had the blessing of serving non-profits as a volunteer, board member, leadership coach, and as a strategy and performance evaluator. And one big thing has jumped out at me. The best non-profits have much in common with for-profits. Especially in terms of goal setting and strategies. They don’t mistake good works…

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The Elephant and the Brown Fur Seals (An Elephant Tale)

The Elephant decides it’s time to start a new employee recognition program by doing this he can personally recognize the staff. He calls this program the Frequent Incentive for Staff Happiness or F.I.S.H. His HR Director quickly puts it in place and has F.I.S.H certificates printed up allowing him to hand them out. Each time…

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The Unappreciated Leadership Trait That Powers All The Rest

As part of a research project I compiled the “best” leadership traits from over 100 sources, including several that aggregated their information from other sources. The total list comprised 237 different attributes. The most frequently listed attributes were expected. They were: Communication Decisiveness Honesty Integrity Confidence However what was a surprise (at least to me)…

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