Many organizations are in trouble and the leaders at the top do not know it! The people at the top of a company do not have an accurate assessment of the quality of that organization’s leadership, according to The Global Leadership Forecast. They surveyed over 1,800 HR professionals and 12,423 leaders from 2,600 organizations on […]
The tyranny of the urgent keeps many leaders from accomplishing the truly important. I speak to leaders all the time who want to stop reacting and start leading. Most of us know what we should be doing, but we have difficulty taking everything we know we should be doing and actually implementing it. I […]
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 […]
It was a good old knock down, drag out fight. We had chosen our sides and were all vehemently sure of our positions. In Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, he expends 20% of his thesis on the need for healthy conflict on a team. He says, and I believe, that without conflict […]
Small Test = “This is not a big deal.” In a nutshell: There are no small decisions when my character is involved. For a leader, the magnitude of the decision should not determine my approach. If my moral compass is involved, then the decision is a big deal. Too many times we make decisions based […]
Tim was not the leader type. I made that judgment early in our work relationship. He was reserved and a little nerdy. He was not someone who attracted a lot of attention. I soon found out I was dead wrong about Tim’s ability to lead. The key to leadership is influence. Tim wielded incredible influence […]
One of the best books I ever read on leadership was John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. In fact, I recently gave a copy to a young man who just graduated from high school as a gift. 28 years ago, I was a recent high school graduate as well. I was a brand new […]
When Human Resources took over leadership training, I didn’t immediately notice a change. In fact, I felt the leadership development department initially did a good job making the classes more specific to my job than the consultants they had hired in the past. But over time, a shift occurred. Leadership development became more about how […]
What is the definition of character? Character is our habitual way of operating. HOW we are is WHO we are. Our character is ultimately determined by our habits. If I am in the habit of doing what is moral and right, I am a person of high character. If I am in the habit of […]
Just like any organization, every family needs a set of values. The values in a family may not be on a website or on a poster in the breakroom, but all families would do well to determine what values they hold dear. Values help organizations and families understand what is most important and what they […]
