Are you a frustrated leader? Are you frustrated with your employees, with your business, with your life? Are you afraid of being left behind in this booming economy? Do you wish your employees would come to work each day with enthusiasm, excitement, and passion rather than just “clocking in and clocking out”? Do you want to grow your business? Do you want to achieve successful results that (Continue)
The Six-Figure Productivity Technique
Recently, I read a famous story told by James Clear: “By 1918, Charles M. Schwab was one of the richest men in the world. Schwab was the president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, the largest shipbuilder and the second-largest steel producer in America at the time. The famous inventor Thomas Edison once referred to Schwab as the ‘master hustler.’ He was constantly seeking an edge over (Continue)
The 360-degree Evaluation That Changed My Leadership
He impacted my life and leadership more than any other person. I can still remember the first day that I met him. He exuded confidence, and when our eyes locked I could see a twinkle in his eye. It was if he knew about a hidden gift, and was delighted with the thought of revealing it to those ready to receive it. (Continue)
Is Your Quality Contagious?
As a leader, I’ve often struggled to identify what company-wide message or theme I should promote to our people. Let’s face it, this is one of the key roles of the leader of an organization. While most of your team is busy serving your customers, it’s up to you to identify the larger objectives and direction for the company. If you are dealing with the same struggles, I think I can (Continue)
Tune up Your Organization and Check its Core Values Alignment
The other day I took my car into the shop to get the oil changed, tires rotated, and wheels aligned. As you may know, the failure to correct misalignment of your wheels usually results in uneven tire wear and your vehicle pulling to the left or to the right. This misalignment leads to the expense of frequent tire replacement, driver fatigue, and even danger resulting from the (Continue)
See How Easily You Can Validate Your Values
Imagine you, as the leader, want to recreate the highest quality organization with the very best attributes on another planet…But you only have enough seats on the rocket ship for five people. Who would you send? They would most likely be people who: Exemplify the organization’s core values and purpose Have the highest level of credibility with their (Continue)
What Your Sleep Reveals About Your Leadership!
What keeps you up at night? When I was President and CEO of our company, I had four main issues that would keep me up at night: People Money/Financing Government Regulations Changing ways of customer buying I learned that I could NOT control most of these challenges. But I could control how I responded concerning them. And how I responded had (Continue)
Three Ways to Build a High Performance Team
Sometimes a business or organization gets bogged down. It seems like you are trying to push a string uphill! Everything is a battle. Everything takes more effort than it should. As the leader, you think to yourself, “This shouldn’t be this way!" What we need is a way to build a high-performing team, and I’ve found some ways to make it happen! Determine your values The (Continue)
Four Steps to Prepare Your Core Values for Maximum Impact
Leaders are communicators. If you don’t communicate well, chances are you won’t lead well. One of the most important messages I’ve ever communicated to my team is our core values. I knew that I had to get this right. After I determined my core values, I took four steps to prepare and position them for maximum, company-wide impact. Once you discover “Who Are You?”, every leader can (Continue)
These Two Questions Will Help You Discover Your Core Values
Do you have a thinking chair? For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a chair that I call my thinking chair. It’s my favorite chair in the whole house. This chair is where I go to think, reflect, and evaluate. I vividly remember what happened on a sunny afternoon in my thinking chair almost a decade ago… One Sunday afternoon in June 2005, I sat down in my thinking chair. I (Continue)
Escape the Cycle of Self-Defeat
Have you ever felt a sense of guilt because you couldn’t make things work? Then you think…If I just try harder? Then you become fatigued? And then you want to quit? Finally, the cycle starts over again, and again, and again… Author John Ortberg has a name for this cycle – he calls it the “Cycle of Self-Defeat” in his book, The Me I Want to Be. My father died when he was 57 (Continue)
Asking Questions and Listening – a Summary
About 30 years ago, I served as the youngest District Governor in the world for Rotary International service clubs. After serving, I was shocked when they asked me to train future District Governors. In preparation for my new training role, I went through a one-week training course. The training really made me realize the true value of asking questions and listening. Making your ear (Continue)
Your Competitors Are Using This Strategy, Are You?
There was one particular skill that really helped me in college. I had a goal to practice this skill during each class. You see, I truly valued… …the process of asking questions. I would challenge myself to think of one question to ask during each class. It helped me develop a relationship with my professors. One of my favorite professors taught me Constitutional Law and (Continue)
