What Hurricanes Harvey and Irma Can Teach Leaders About Engagement

Sep 19, 2017 | Leadership Development

The destruction caused by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma is shocking. Millions have been impacted, thousands left homeless, and hundreds of thousands are now trying to identify how to move forward. As I watched from afar, Mother Nature first overwhelmed Houston and Eastern Texas and then in another display, aimed her furry at the Caribbean, the Florida Keys and then the state of Florida. No doubt like you, I was both stunned and impressed. The magnitude of both events and Mother Nature’s power was...

Who Says You’re a Leader?

Sep 20, 2016 | Leadership Development

I’ve had three conversations within the past week with managers from three separate organizations. Each one has asked for guidance or simply an ear so they could vent. Each manager is frustrated by a ‘leader’ who can’t lead. Each is frustrated by a leader who believes she or he is actually a really good leader because of their academic training, their professional work history, or, the one that I find really amusing, because the leader has written articles on leadership! If you have had...

Impact Your Customer Experience by Changing Your Culture

Sep 6, 2016 | Leadership Development, Strategic Planning

A client, the Director of North American Operations, asked me to review a proposed Corporate Leadership Development Program that had just come across his desk. Something about it felt ‘off’ to him, but he couldn’t quite identify what was making him uncomfortable. After a quick look, I could see the problem. The plan had many of the correct elements to a sound leadership development program. However, the order in the focus areas was wrong. The plan was proposing the training topics discuss...

Stop It!

Dec 16, 2015 | Leadership Development

I believe it’s good practice to regularly sit back and identify things to stop doing. If we don’t regularly stop doing things that are no longer helpful, how can we expect to change, grow, and be better leaders? So here are some things you might need to stop doing: Stop Behaving and Communicating Immaturely: I was cc’d on an email today from a client’s Marketing Director to her leadership team. She was whining to her team because four goals on the organization’s strategic plan will fall to her...

So You Think You ‘Walk the Talk’?

Jun 23, 2015 | Leadership Development

You may have rolled your eyes when you read the title to this article. I know I may have too if I hadn't just experienced two senior leaders not 'walk their own talk' just last week. If some of the best-of-the-best leaders I am able to work with don't consistently walk their own talk, the likelihood that most other 'mere' managers and leaders don't either. If some of the best-of-the-best leaders don't consistently walk their own talk, in all likelihood most other 'mere' managers and...