Listening:
True listening and understanding occurs only when the other person knows you understand.
– Henry Cloud
He sat across from me for 90 minutes. He demonstrated drive, humility, sales skills, and the character I love to hire. The problem was his background. I was hiring for a high-end medical sales position. But, he was selling dumpster pick-up service to restaurants. I really liked Jeff. But I hired someone else because Jeff didn’t fit the mold. I made the wrong decision.
This blog is reposted from March 2012. It received a lot of attention when I first posted it.
Two companies competing in the same market can have wildly different results. One company will thrive and the other will flounder. Why? Does one company have smarter people? Or better information?
That is unlikely. There is not a shortage of smart people in business today. The people available for businesses to hire have never had access to more education and more information.
Brains and skills abound in most companies. Brains and skills are hired and reinforced through training. Yet some companies lag behind the leaders. Why? The answer is dysfunction not incompetence. Continue Reading…
“What do you think of your team’s execution?” Coach John McKay was asked. “I’m for it!” McKay replied. The expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished that season winless and McKay captured the hearts of coaches everywhere with that comment.
Whether it is in sports or in business, leaders often spend endless hours preparing strategies to insure success, only to see those plans fail due to poor execution. Whose fault is it? Is it the players’ fault? Is it the leaders’ fault? Continue Reading…
“Dave, you are not the messiah of wayward sales people.” My boss had a way of being direct – sometimes with a sting. She knew me and my desire to help others. I didn’t like the delivery, but she was right.
The problem was, once again, I was hanging on too tight to someone who was not making the grade. He was not meant to be in sales, and I refused to accept it. Continue Reading…
When someone does something well, a good coach jumps on the opportunity to praise them. Praise is a great motivator. But misplaced praise can demotivate.
Making people feel good about themselves in a vacuum doesn’t work. In my past, I fell into the habit of always praising people. It hurt their performance and our relationship. Continue Reading…
Merriam Webster took me on an odyssey to get to a definition of leadership. I seem to remember being taught in school to not use the root of a word to define that word. Someone should have told Merriam that!
Merriam Webster Says:
Definition of LEADERSHIP
1: the office or position of a leader
2: capacity to lead Continue Reading…
Leadership is a blend of competence and character.
BG (Retired) Jim Anderson, my father, taught me that. In 41 years in the Army, including two tours in Vietnam, he saw a lot of great leaders and a lot of leadership failures that formed his philosophy.
One year ago, I started this website with this post. I have learned a lot in the last 365 days. Thank you for joining me and contributing. Every time you comment on a blog, you make me better. Thank you for that!
We do not lack smart people in business these days. Smart people are everywhere. We lack leaders.
The latest studies are proving leadership equates to profits. Developing good leaders does more to effect the bottom line of an organization than hiring yet another top graduate from a famous school.
Yet credentials and expertise are what most companies focus their recruiting and training efforts on. Leadership development tends to be an optional activity, while skill development is sacred. Continue Reading…
I have to be an expert in all things concerning my product and the competing products if I am a salesperson. I have to be an expert in accounting if I am an accountant. I have to be an expert in commercial lending if I am a commercial lender.
What about leaders? If I am leading salespeople, accountants or commercial lenders, do I need to be as up to date as my people? Continue Reading…
The tragedy of what happened at Penn State has been well covered in the news. There are so many lessons that can be derived from what we know about that situation.
But, perhaps the biggest lesson we can all learn is how character trumps competence. No level of past or present competence will make up for a failure in character. Continue Reading…
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