As the years went by, I learned to hire people who complimented and completed me and who were better than I was at driving for results and managing the things of the business. My strength was enhancing relationships and leading the people. I knew our leadership team was better at the technical job skills training than I was. And I began to understand that I was stronger at developing our (Continue)
Leadership
A Sure-fire Way to Stand Out From Your Competition
As our business kept growing, I had less and less time to help around the house. And I’m so thankful that my wife agreed to become the plumber, the electrician, the person to take care of the yard, a whole host of trees, and the swimming pool. She paid all our personal bills along with chauffeuring our three boys and their friends. I could not have done all that I accomplished without (Continue)
Should Leaders Focus on Training or Development?
Some things that happen in life hit you like a tidal wave and my dad’s unexpected death was like that for me. The year was 1973. I was 20 years old and a recent university graduate when my dad died. That is when I was thrust to become the new leader of our small family business of five employees. The second wave of surprise and disbelief hit me when I discovered that our business was carrying (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)
Are These Personal Growth Myths Limiting Your Leadership?
Recently, I arrived at a meeting to find an empty Mason jar positioned in front of each person sitting around the table. An orange balloon was lying beside each jar. The facilitator instructed each of us to put the balloon inside our jar and blow up the balloon until it filled the jar. Then we tied a knot at the tip of the balloon to prevent the air from escaping. After everyone finished, he (Continue)
If You Miss This Leadership Opportunity, You’ll Regret It Later
The other day, I ran into a friend from high school. After our initial pleasantries and greetings, my friend started to talk about our “good ol’ high school days.” A few minutes into our chat, I tried to turn the conversation to what was going on in his life now. But he repeatedly turned the focus back to what happened in high school and was uninterested in talking about the present or the (Continue)
Why Some Leaders Can Never Grow Their Business
When I was a little boy, I was full of curiosity. I was also full of energy. My parents could have said I was ADDDDDDDDDDD! I believe that is why they put me in kindergarten a year younger than all of the other kids at the age of four. All of my early years in school, I struggled to just make average grades (and sometimes below average grades). During the spring semester of my 5th (Continue)
Every Employee Asks These 5 Questions
For my first Olympic-distance triathlon, I trained with a good friend twice a day, six days a week. We scheduled our training round each other’s personal and work schedules. During our weekly training, we found that our strengths complemented each other very well: I was the morning person who would give him a wake-up call to meet for our training before going to work. We had (Continue)
What’s Your Leadership Roadmap?
Years ago, after losing more than 50 pounds of weight in six months, I participated in a short bicycle race. It was a 15-mile individual time-trial, a race where each individual competes against the clock for time. To my surprise, I was leading the race, until… …close to the finish line when I turned down the wrong road with a dead-end! Yogi Berra included this, now legendary statement, (Continue)
The Greatest Leadership Gap
“Bobby, I want you to come in and ‘fix’ my people.” As I have mentored CEOs, presidents, owners, and other key leaders, this is the most common initial request that I hear. What about you? Do you ever want someone to come in and “fix” your people? Have you ever looked in the mirror and asked yourself, “I want someone to come in and ‘fix’ my people?” Take another serious look in the (Continue)