Posts in the ‘Leadership My Dad’s Way’ category
When I use the phrase Low Maintenance Team, the most common response is, “I wish I had one of those.” The more I hear that phrase the more I realize Low Maintenance Teams (LMTs) are not common. There is a path I developed that allowed me to build my Low Maintenance Teams. I know I […]
If a tree stops growing, it starts dying! A team is a living organism. Just like a tree, the team and the individual team members need to grow in order to stay healthy and thrive. Too often, leadership is so focused on meeting the immediate deadlines or quotas of the business, personal growth becomes an […]
Character is now a buzzword. I use the term buzzword here to describe words that we hear frequently yet are rarely defined by the speakers. The Presidential campaign is full of buzzwords. I hear athletes described on Sportcenter using some of the same buzzwords as the politicians use. The problem is, if you dig into […]
Organizational or personal values describe HOW we operate. Many organizations claim to follow certain values because they list them on their websites, or they are on a poster in their offices. However, many employees will say their organization has values published, but admit those companies do not live by them. Why? I believe there are two reasons: […]
Becoming a leader of character is a process that never ends. It is a never ending road towards a destination you can never completely reach. But, leaders must take this road daily in order to grow and lead well. I had the benefit of my father, General Jim Anderson, and four years of training at West […]
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.
When I relocated to Texas after 5 years managing in Buffalo, NY, I took over a team where one of the representatives had gone through initial training with me. Lori and I had known each other for 10 years. Two months into being her boss, Lori asked me point blank, “What is your problem? This […]
My last 5 years leading sales teams I noticed a shift in our corporate culture. Because of increased regulations corporate compliance became a mantra throughout the organization. Playing within the rules is a given in business. But, the increased communication around compliance had a negative side effect. Compliance became a goal in and of itself. […]
People couldn’t believe he jumped to another company. Tom was an all-star salesman who won multiple sales awards over the last 5 years. He earned sizable raises year after year and large bonuses. It didn’t make sense to some. Tom called me multiple times during his final 6 months with the company. He did not […]
Every male freshman (plebe) entering West Point has a mandatory class that few other colleges offer much less require. Boxing. Each morning that boxing was on my schedule I woke up thinking about it. I would sit in calculus, chemistry or computer programing class thinking about boxing. It didn’t matter that I had tests or […]
