Several posts have had a focus on behavior and giving frequent specific feedback. These things are among the wisest a leader can do, and yet they can be quite uncommon. Here are five posts that deal with these issues, and the “plus one” is one of my favorite sources on the topic… What’s the Magic … Read more
Here we are at Avonlea Village (for you Anne of Green Gables fans) on our last trip to Canada in 2009. As I wrote this, I was preparing for family vacation to Manitoba. Yes, that’s right, Manitoba. That’s where we were when this was going to get published on June 29. Unfortunately, I goofed up … Read more
Everyone loves stories. Stories inspire and motivate and help things “stick” so much better than facts, data, and research findings. Stories combine facts and emotion, the best of both worlds. That’s why I try to use them as much as possible. Below, the five blog posts with the best stories. Two Stories Beware acting while … Read more
Some of us enjoy the tidy list. Nice to have as a touchstone, though if we’re serious, we’ll dig deeper. Regardless, here are two for your consideration. The first is seminal for me — the summarization of the far-reaching work of Kouzes and Posner. The second is the one that summarizes the Group Dynamic leadership curriculum. … Read more
Sometimes when I bowl, I make it my goal to bowl fast and loud. I accelerate my approach, and fling the ball as fast as I can. The result? It’s really loud when the ball hits the pins (if it hits the pins) and my game ends more quickly. My score is also lower. If … Read more
It is good to be efficient, yes. It is also good to be comprehensive. Sometimes, however, those two things don’t work well together. Since starting this business, most of my work helping groups has been through 4-8 hour workshops. There is a demand for leadership training that can be delivered in much shorter periods of … Read more
T=r+d
…where T is “trust,” r is “reliability,” and d is “delight.”
I attended EntreFest 2011, and one of the best sessions I attended was
As a guy obsessed with maxing out potential in groups and individuals – and one who believes the person at the top is the one most responsible for making it happen – I was pretty fired up about the concept of Undercover Boss. In each episode, a CEO goes undercover, in disguise, to work next to front-line employees.
The format got tired quickly – boss leaves fancy home and doting family, stays in fleabag hotels, realizes he/she is totally inept at frontline tasks, discovers that employees are (gasp!) real people with real problems, cries (most episodes), promises to change, and gives lavish rewards to the episode’s featured employees.
What a great concept – and what a disappointment in a show.
At the entrance to the service bay of Toyota of Des Moines is a small, plastic, a-frame sign that says simply
“SERVICE ENTRANCE”
and then, toward the bottom,
“Welcome.”
Last week,
Last week, I visited with someone close to my age (40s) about people in their 20s. The topic of generational differences came up, and I was reminded of the pervasiveness of the current stereotype many of us have about people in their 20s:
Entitled, lazy, hyper-connected, always with the earbuds in, leaving work as soon as possible, doing the minimum necessary, always