Some things that happen in life hit you like a tidal wave. My father’s unexpected death was like that for me. The year was 1973. I was 20 years old and a recent university graduate when my father died. That is when I became the new leader of our small family business of five employees.A second wave of surprise and disbelief hit me when I discovered our business was carrying a huge (I mean (Continue)
Management
Give Me 5 Minutes and You’ll KNOW if You’re a Leader or a Manager!
The recent President’s Day celebration reminded me of the amazing stories often told about George Washington and his inner strength. George Washington had a bent (natural leaning, propensity) that was recognized by others at an early age.Ultimately his bent toward courage and leadership resulted in his appointment of commander of the Continental Army and his unanimous election to the (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 … (Continue)
Are You Investing in Training and Development?
Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve been intensely curious. I also have a passion to add-value to others. I’ve discovered that before you can add value to others and really help them, you must first grow yourself. (Continue)
Four Excuses that Destroy Effective Leadership
Think of how you might feel if you arrived at work one day and your work-station had been moved. You didn’t know it was going to happen, and you don’t know why it happened. Then you learn that your senior manager had decided they wanted to ‘rearrange’ the seating so it would be easier for them to remember your names, or your faces, and where you sat! (Continue)
Build Your Team Using the 1-2-3 Approach
Years ago, I experienced first-hand the value of 1-2-3 decision-making. The general manager of one of our companies had done analysis that showed that expenses for repair and maintenance of our trucks had been rising steadily to the point that it made more sense to buy new trucks than to keep throwing money into older ones. (Continue)
Decision Making – from Mr. Idea Man to 1-2-3
For years I was the “Mr. Idea Man” in our company. But that’s my job...isn’t it? As the leader of the company, I thought it was my job to generate the ideas and map-out how to implement them. Eventually, I learned that there was a better way to lead my team - a way to increase innovation and manage change at the same time. (Continue)
Four Ways to Lead and Motivate Your Team
Finally, let’s explore the final question in the Motivation Survey. Before we dig into today's post, you might want to scan the survey again (click the link in the previous sentence) to refresh yourself on the brief survey. (Continue)
What Motivates You?
In the previous blog post we reviewed the first six statements of my motivation survey. (Continue)
Everything You Need to Know About Motivation – Part 2
In my first blog post about motivation, I posed ten statements as part of a motivation survey. I have found that questions are one of the most powerful tools that we have for discovery and learning. The statements in the survey require you to ask questions of yourself and think more deeply about this important topic. (Continue)