Posted: February 12, 2016 | Categories: Leadership, Self-Improvement, Team Building

When I help companies coach their teams to higher performance, there are four pillars that must be solidly in place:  Ownership, clarity, and accountability.  These pillars rest on a solid platform of trust.  Without this foundation, the three pillars crumble.

Just yesterday one of my clients asked me, “If we need to build more trust on our team, how do we do it?”  I hear this question more than any other.  While there are many things we can to strengthen trust, let’s start with three “bomb-proof” fundamentals that have stood since civilization has begun.Read More…

Posted: January 29, 2016 | Categories: Leadership, Self-Improvement

Strong leaders know how to build trust.  A leader is someone we want to follow.  We trust and respect them.  With that in mind, here is what I have found to be the most powerful trust builder:Read More…

Posted: January 6, 2016 | Categories: Sales, Self-Improvement

23 years ago a fellow team member and I were sitting in a lobby waiting to see a prospect.  My buddy Joe brings out a copy of Golf Digest to read.  This was the issue that listed the top PGA money winners of the past year.  Joe pointed out who was in first place:  It was Fred Couples.  He had made $1,344,188, participated in 22 events, and his average score per 18 holes was 69.38.  Then Joe showed me the stats for the person in 130th place.  His name was John Mahaffey, his total winnings were $101,512, he participated in 28 events, and his average score per 18 holes was 71.99.  Think about that!  The difference between the person in first place and 130th place was only  a difference of 2.61 strokes per 18 holes.  Does that sound unusual?  Not really.  A major league baseball player  whose career batting average is 300 will probably end up in the Hall of Fame if he plays a full career.  This is what champions call the slight edge.  It means that the person at the top and the person in 2nd are not that far apart.  Instead of thinking we need to be twice as good as our competition, often all we need to do is develop the slight edge.Read More…

Posted: December 28, 2015 | Categories: Self-Improvement

We’ve all heard that one.  The problem is that New Year’s resolutions only have a 10% of success.  As we approach the New Year, would you like to increase your resolution success percentage from 10% to 80%?   I will tell you how:  Learn and consistently practice the “Three D’s”.  The Three D’s are Desire, Discipline, and Determination.  Read More…

Posted: December 10, 2015 | Categories: Leadership, Self-Improvement, Team Building

When I was in my late 30’s, I was attending a 6-week leadership seminar and learned a valuable lesson:  Be careful when you tease.  The subject was teamwork, and the instructor brought up the topic of teasing.  He said, “Teasing can be one of the most subtle forms of cruelty.”  He went on to say, “Have any of you ever been in situation where someone said something to you in jest, you chuckled, and then later had second thoughts?”  “You may have thought to yourself, “I wonder what he meant by that”.Read More…