What Now? Julia slammed her laptop shut and slumped over her desk. “Ugh! What are they thinking? My team’s gonna hate this!” We had just sat down to discuss her goals when the email arrived from her regional manager. The email listed sales goals she and her team were expected to meet…goals from headquarters that neither » Read More
Imagine Their Surprise “The whole department has quietly agreed never to mark anything but good scores on the damn thing!” I was talking with Joan, an employee of a large medical service provider and this…this was her ultimate response to the last round of employee surveys designed to improve morale and motivation. What’s worse, her » Read More
Make It Stop! I could almost hear his anguish… A young supervisor had gone to Twitter in desperation: “How can I ever motivate my team? Please help!!!” His fatigue and frustration were palpable, but they were also causing him immense problems and his credibility and influence with his team had suffered badly. The Consequence of » Read More
Good Intentions Janet sipped her coffee, gathered herself, then looked up. “I wanted to be a good leader…you know – influenced based, focused on people, serving my team…” She took a breath and continued, “But then, we didn’t meet our sales goals and I…I turned into a monster.” She set down her mug, looked at » Read More
Déjà Vu All Over Again I sat across from the Executive Vice President and made my case… I suggested the company change the way it handled a specific process and made my five part case why it was a good idea. The VP listened, grimaced, and then grinned. “If only it were that easy.” “But it » Read More
What Does It Mean? You could see it from the road… The image of a lizard chipped into the stone’s desert varnish. It’s nearly three feet long, over 1,000 years old, and probably took the artist several months to complete. Standing on that hot windswept ledge with my wife and daughter in the Utah desert, » Read More
How Can I Get Them to Listen? I love this question – it is honest, sincere, and you can probably identify with the frustration behind it. In fact, the question in its original form comes from a mother of three asking about her children, and she qualified her questions: “Oh wait, wrong type of leadership?” » Read More
Have You Been Here? You’re reading a book – it’s the best leadership development resource you’ve come along in years. The wisdom smacks you right between the eyes and in your heart you know you are reading life-changing words. Or: You hear a speaker present a powerful workshop and provide you with critical tools to » Read More
How Could You? He was angry. His tight words and finger stabbing the air made it clear: he felt betrayed. “How could you let this happen?” He had just been fired…by the President of the Company. “Me?? I’m not the one who skipped out on the team over and over again.” He may have been » Read More
So Easy to Forget Whether you’ve led teams for decades or just started in your first leadership role, if you want to be effective, there are fundamental truths you cannot afford to ignore. You may even be familiar with them, but they are easy to forget and many leaders ignore them – at great risk » Read More
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