My car requires high octane gasoline for the engine to operate at maximum performance. Fueling your personal drive is no different. What octane are you putting into your tank? Drive – what is it? That internal decision that says I want to be good at what I do. I am competitive and am willing to make sacrifices to achieve my…
Now! Now! Now! I want it now!!! We are teaching a generation that instant gratification, instant results, and instant promotions are how business works. Even with the pace of information today, patience is still required to have sustained growth and developing success in an organization. Patience with people. We wish we had Matrix learning, where we sit in a chair…
A man jumps out of an airplane at 25,000 feet without a parachute on purpose (!) and aims for a small net set to catch him. Most of us will remember hearing something about this or watching the YouTube clip the day after it happened, but do you even remember his name? Most don’t. If you are a regular television…
We frequently hear how leaders need to be good listeners. But it takes more than that to be an effective leader. Try these 3 listening skills to improve your leadership listening. Listen without response Sometimes people just want to be heard. A solution is secondary. I’m standing in line at the ticket counter of an airline and I can tell…
When was the last time you unplugged – completely – for at least 72 hours? No electronics, no Kindles, no watches for three straight days. Sounds like an alien concept, doesn’t it? If the thought of this makes you nervous or causes you to think that is an impossible request with everything you have going on, then you aren’t listening…
Drama Trauma is an increasing epidemic in the workplace that is disrupting productivity, relationships, and your bottom line. Tell me if you’ve seen this in your workplace: An employee becomes emotional to the point of being non-productive and disruptive to those around them, a state usually triggered by a personal event, a “national crisis” the 24/7 news cycle breathes life…
What is it? A Whiplash Crash happens when leadership jumps around trying the latest fads in marketing, leadership or customer interaction. It is exhausting and numbing to everyone impacted by this. Anyone remember Foursquare, where a customer checked into the businesses she visited and the person who checked in the most was the mayor? This was going to be a…
When the anticipated grocery store finally opened in town, it was a breath of fresh air. Staff was very well trained on product knowledge and customer service. Employees went out of the way to help customers, and every bagging person offered to take your cart to your car for you. Fast forward two years. Cashier conversations are more about…
Isn’t technology great? You can watch security cameras from your phone to see how your employees are doing, you can get a computer report on almost every measurement you want to analyze, and you can almost lead from your office. Too many managers are falling into this technology trap. Get out, get involved, and get curious. Innovation comes from curiosity.…
In the last couple of weeks, I have witnessed bad boss behavior with incredible frequency. When businesses fail to properly train and develop management, they create a cascade of bad habits passed along to the next level down, and then the next level, and so on. Good management skills are not an innate skill; they must be developed. Consider reminding…