Are You Developing Problem Reporters or Problem Solvers?

Sep 19, 2023 | Leadership Development

“I know this is terrible to say, but I don’t want Larry on my executive team. He sucks the energy out of the room. Brad, the previous director who managed Larry, was great, but Larry exhausted him! I know Larry wants to become a director and I really can’t fault his performance. It’s just him. He’ll kill the energy and culture we’ve developed as an executive team this past year and I won’t jeopardize that.” That may sound a bit dramatic, but it’s a very real issue one of my clients is dealing...

Communicating With Executives So They Get It

Jun 20, 2023 | Leadership Development

Four times in the last two weeks, I’ve been asked to help a client or their management team hone their communication skills so they better understand one another and so their meetings and strategic planning update sessions are ‘tighter’ and more productive. In various ways each client said, “Help! We’re drowning! We’ve got too many things to do and too few people to do it all. Because we’re overwhelmed, we don’t clearly communicate what’s important. We spew words at one another as we...

Bringing On New Senior Staff?

Aug 16, 2022 | Leadership Development

Having a new senior staff member join the team is an exciting - and frightening - experience. It’s exciting and frightening for the new team member as they wonder: Will this be a good fit for me? Will I like my new team and my new clients? Will I like the work? Will I be able to contribute and make an impact? Will this be a good move professionally or will this set me back? Do I have what it takes? It’s also exciting and frightening for the team as they anticipate the impact of the new senior...

Drink a Cup of Coffee or Develop a Team Member?

Jan 25, 2022 | Leadership Development

I recently came across a 2018 report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that noted companies with fewer than 100 employees, on average, spent only 12 minutes of dedicated training time per employee - during the employee’s entire tenure with them! As pathetic as that is, it’s even more depressing because it dropped from a whopping 13.4 minutes of dedicated training time per employee in 1995. The 2018 report also noted that companies with 100-500 employees invested less than 6 minutes of...

Listen. Stay Engaged. Stay Relevant.

Nov 23, 2021 | Leadership Development

Every one of my clients is experiencing the same thing: It’s almost impossible to recruit and hire strong team members. Because of this, retaining strong team members has become critical to enable on-going operations. So what can a leader do to not only retain, but excite strong team members? Listen to them. What can a leader do to not only retain, but excite strong team members?Listen to them. With employees exhausted because of their excessive workloads, avoidable mishaps that...