Grow Your Business Through Your Employees Not Your Customers

Mar 6, 2012 | Leadership Development

You've cut prices, you've refined your target customer base, you've increased your advertising and still --- business is so slow it's dangerous. The economy is not good, but other companies seem to be selling similar products and services. How are they able to survive (and yes, thrive) while your sales are tanking? They've focused on growing their businesses through their employees, instead of through their customers alone. Successful companies have realized that if they better educate, train,...

Fear of Difficult Conversations

Jan 3, 2012 | Leadership Development

It's been happening more and more. Clients are complaining about their managers' inappropriate behaviors, lack of management skills, and inability to take on greater responsibilities. Yet, when I ask if they have discussed the problem areas with their managers, they say, "It won't do any good. I talked to them about this years ago and they never changed." Why do so many of us fear having difficult conversations with our managers and other members of our staffs? Why do we choose to not...

Performance Choices and Horse Lessons

Nov 1, 2011 | Leadership Development

My husband and I helped a friend move her horses to a new stable recently. Neither of her horses had ever been loaded on a trailer before, so she was terribly nervous about the unfamiliar adventure facing us. She had visions of her horses panicking, bucking, kicking, whinnying for dear life, and forcibly being pushed and pulled into the trailer. Instead, one horse walked right on as we calmly talked to her during the loading process, and the other eventually walked on the trailer, without...

The Buckshot Approach vs The Bullet Approach

Sep 12, 2011 | Leadership Development, WBS

Many years ago, while on a business trip, I met with a new manager in Guatemala. She had been in her position for one month, was excited about its possibilities, and she had a great deal of energy. After years of neglect and lackluster management, her department had many areas that needed attention. It was somewhat overwhelming, but she was determined to get things in shape. When I arrived for our first meeting, she was talking on the phone, with two other lines on hold, and she was sitting in...

Recognize Potential

Jun 9, 2011 | Leadership Development

We recently started a six-month leadership training program with a new client. The participants are accepted into the program only after they have been nominated by someone at or above their position in the company, and they have successfully passed the program’s interview process. This organization takes their leadership development program very seriously. They have invested a lot of time, effort, money, and other resources into it. The program and its participants are closely monitored not...