The Latest Information on Developing
‘Great Leaders of Great Teams’™
And Accomplishing Extraordinary Things!
Challenges of Leading from the Middle of the Organization
As top leaders we often expect the people on our leadership team to see the world the same way we do. But that is rarely, if ever, an accurate assumption (or maybe better stated ‘hope’). Leaders in the middle of an organization – those not the top leader, or the front line employees – have a unique situation. To lead them most effectively, we need to view the organization from their perspective. This article will present just three of the (many) unique challenges...
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Visionaries, Talent Managers and Achievers: What They Each Do For Business Success
In a general sense there are three major categories of personalities in the work environment. (While the right number of categories can be endlessly argued, this article is intended to describe these three types that have been identified through experience, and talk about why it is important to understand them.) The three categories are Visionaries, Talent Manager and Achievers. Let’s look at them a little more closely, based upon important characteristics of their...
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Giving 110%
I give 110% to my job every week. 40% on Monday, 30% on Tuesday, 20% on Wednesday, 15% on Thursday and 5% on Friday. Honestly, I think people who say they are going to 'give 110%' are people that usually only give about 70%, but say they're doing their best...then decide maybe they'll give 80% or so. (Since they already say they are giving 100%, they have to go somewhere, so 110% sounds good to...
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My Next Book…Do You Like the Title?
I'm going to write a book. It's going to be called “Ventriloquism for Dummies”. I might follow it up with: "Speaking Out is a Friend of Mime" or "Comedy is No Joke!" What do you think...stay with the day job?
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How to Deal with a Difficult Team Member
Sooner or later we all have them. We don’t ever wish for them, but they show up nonetheless. Difficult people, non-performers, ‘challenging’ team members, whatever you want to call them. Whenever conflict or low performance arises, we are tempted to avoid it, procrastinate dealing with it, or ask someone else to resolve it for us. But the truth is that anytime we let conflict go – for whatever reason – it only gets worse. So we know we must deal with these people...
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5 Powerful Ways Strengths-based Talent Management Manages Weaknesses
For fun, let’s start (warm-up, if you will) with dispelling a couple myths about strengths-based talent management that have been around for quite a while. Myth #1: A strength used to excess can become a weakness. Truth #1: Strengths are strengths. They become bad (ineffective) only when used with negative intent, to gain power or control, or cover-up for a true weakness. Have you heard this one? You know “a strength used to excess can be a weakness”. That hogwash....
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4 Lessons to Intentionally Living a Life of Significance
All of us, at least at some point in our lives, have a desire to be someone…to make a positive difference in the world…to make our life count…and add-value to others. It isn’t a question of intention. But, intention alone is not enough. The question is, ‘How am I going to do it?’ Question: How do I turn my good intentions into good actions? Answer: Intentional living is the bridge from intention to action. It’s almost impossible to be significant, to make a...
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Numbers that (Don’t) Really Matter
It's (not) always important to know where we stand. Remember, half the people we know are below average. And that's just as true for the people that know us. So, on average, what does that say about us? (But there's no reason to feel bad, because just short of 50% of doctors graduated in the bottom half of their class.) Even funnier (or is it more funny?) is what 'average Americans' believe... 94% of us say we are more honest than others (...honestly?) 86% of us...
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“It’s Me. I’m the Problem.”
Said by no business leader, ever. (Well, okay. There was that one guy, but he was the exception.) Yet, it’s often one of the most powerful statements there is in business. I’ll often ask an audience, “What’s the one thing you would change to improve the performance of your organization?” As you can imagine I get all types of answers, everything from team structure and compensation to policies and procedures. Rarely, do I hear the most powerful answer: “Me. I’d...
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The Only 2 Numbers that Really Matter for 2017
There are two numbers that mean more to your success in 2017, and beyond, than any others. Grab a piece of paper and write them down. You already know them. (No, this isn't a magic trick where I guess the numbers.) Here they are: the amount of a) money and b) time you’ve budgeted this year for personal growth. Go ahead and write them down. So what did you write? Most people’s answers are: 0 hours / 0 dollars. So I probably could have guessed your numbers after...
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