The One Thing

Apr 16, 2013 | Strategic Planning

Unlike the movie City Slickers in which Billy Crystal's character realizes that "The One Thing" in life that will make you happy is different for everyone, in business, we must make it very clear to all of our employees what The One Thing is we're trying to achieve as an organization. If we don't, our employees may inadvertently waste tons of time, money, energy, and other resources by working towards other things. The need to talk about The One Thing (or for those of you familiar with my...

What Is Leadership?

Mar 19, 2013 | Leadership Development

What is leadership?That's a great question because depending upon whom you ask, the answer will vary. Yet each person's answer will swirl around common themes. And the common themes typically make the person providing the answer smile, get a glint in their eye, sit a bit straighter, and act as if they got a jolt of energy-infused through them. Just the thought, the memory, or the image of a strong leader causes others to feel stronger, confident, and energized. So what is leadership? What does...

You May Not Like the Way You Have to Lead

Feb 5, 2013 | Leadership Development

When it's your turn to take over and step in to your predecessor's leadership shoes, what is your focus? Is it to lead the way that's easiest for you? Or, is it to lead the way the team or organization needs to be led? I recently observed a leadership transition that's been in the works for over 24 months. The new leader is smart, capable, and charismatic. However, during his first official stakeholder's event, he made his first noticeable leadership gaffe. He forgot a golden rule...

Ten Little Questions

Nov 13, 2012 | Leadership Development, Strategic Planning

A client recently asked me for guidance on how she should gauge her managers' understanding of their organization's strategic plan. She doesn't believe her managers fully appreciate how important their roles are in ensuring the plan succeeds. She fears they believe it is up to the executive staff to make it happen and ensure the longevity of the organization. I suggested she have an individual meeting with each manager and ask each manager ten little, but very insightful questions. What will...

Retain Your Employees – Get to Know Them

Oct 16, 2012 | Leadership Development

Employee retention is a hot topic. Every employer knows it’s terribly expensive, time consuming, and disruptive to operations to repeatedly recruit, hire, train, and then lose employees. There are many reasons employees leave their jobs. However, time and again, employees leave because of position mismatches, a lack of support for skills development, or a lack of advancement opportunities. Luckily, these causes can be easily minimized by simply taking 15 to 30 minutes per employee to get to...