Posted: February 7, 2017 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building

“If I asked people what they wanted, they would say they wanted a better horse” -Henry Ford

Last month I was meeting with a client who had a big problem:  His business was growing too fast.  He had built his success by giving excellent service and managing relationships well.  Now all that was at risk.  Things were slipping through the cracks, important details were getting overlooked, and his team was “dropping the ball” far too often.

When a situation like this occurs, it is important to define the problem so that we come up with the right solution.Read More…

Posted: February 1, 2017 | Categories: Leadership

After decades of business coaching, I have found that there are two “absolutes” of a top-performing team:  They don’t make excuses and they don’t blame others. That is because they are not afraid of making a mistake.  Strong leaders make room for failure and the opportunity to learn from it.Read More…

Posted: January 26, 2017 | Categories: Leadership

“I will speak ill of no man…and speak all the good I know of everybody.” – Ben Franklin

Several years ago a client of mine asked me to coach one of his sales team leaders.  His name was Carl, and his production was below expectations.  Even though Carl worked as hard as any team leader, he just kept coming up short.  John, his boss, knew the problem.  Carl was in the habit of saying negative things about other team members behind their back.  We don’t have to be a genius to figure out the repercussions of this habit: Read More…

Posted: December 28, 2016 | Categories: Leadership

We all make mistakes.  That is a given.  We have also realize that we can learn from our mistakes.  Even though learning is positive, making mistakes always hurts a least a little.  We want to make sure a mistake doesn’t hurt us twice.  We need to admit it and own it as quickly as possible.  Read More…

Posted: November 22, 2016 | Categories: Leadership

“Part of good leadership means having a delicate sensitivity towards others and walking with them side-by-side”   -Charles Hobbs

Effective leaders are very good at filling up emotional bank accounts.  Here is a story from Stephen M.R. Covey’s book “The Speed of Trust”:

“One afternoon we were preparing for a special dinner in the home of the president of the University.  The following day was commencement, and that night we were hosting a dinner for major donors to the university and the honorary doctorate recipient, a prominent government official from Latin America.

As we were setting up the tables, a delivery of beautiful floral centerpieces arrived, obviously ordered by the university development office.  The wife of our university president came over to him in a dither and said, “We have a problem.”  She held up a plain-looking margarine tub containing violets from the garden.  As it turned out, Lola- an older woman from Europe who had been their housekeeper for many years – had already prepared the “centerpieces” for the event. Read More…