In today’s hyper-competitive market, traditional competitive factors like product design, technology and distribution channels are harder to sustain. Eighty percent of the U.S. gross domestic product comes from services and information which are created and delivered by people. So, your people – and the performance they deliver – are the defining competitive advantage for your organization.…
Plenty of books are filled with lists of questions, but asking questions without a clear objective is like playing the question lotto. Very occasionally you might get lucky and win, but most of the time you will come up empty-handed. That’s a loss for you and for your team member. There is rarely a…
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. This applies to employees, children, students, a volunteer committee – whoever sees you as a leader. Caring meets one of six fundamental human needs, that when fulfilled, ignites Passionate Performance in your team. But like most things we hold true and important for…
My work with Millennials for the past 10 years and independent research reveal three key workplace needs of Millennials. As a leader, if you fulfill these needs, you are on your way to motivating Millennials to achieve great things for your team. They are the need for Purpose, Autonomy and Mastery, all of which…
How often do you hear people speak with envy about companies with “real heart”? Companies like Starbucks, Ben and Jerry’s, Southwest Airlines, Harley-Davidson, Google and FedEx to name a few. Outsiders are constantly looking for their “secrets” to success. The secret lies in the hearts of their employees… working together. Nothing we achieve in this world is…
To capture the hearts of our team and ignite their passion, we must meet one of their most basic psychological needs – to contribute to something bigger than a job, to find true meaning in their work. Picture this scenario: Three people were crushing rocks side by side on a construction job. When they were…
Your team looks to you for their model of leading and learning. Does it look like you have arrived, like you know it all, like you have all the answers or like you are just cruising? The key to being a great coach is being a good student. It all starts with you! Excellent leadership is not just…
We all know that asking questions it a powerful leadership tool, but most leaders are ill-equipped to apply this knowledge with their team. Bob Tiede has studied and written about asking questions for years and offers really practical questions in his new, free e-book, Great Leaders Ask Questions: A Fortune 100 List. Here is an…
College fraternities and sororities understand the power of rituals. They use rituals to make members feel connected to one another through unique yet common experiences (mostly legal experiences, hopefully). Their rituals include secret passwords and handshakes, special chants and songs, required activities, pre-game tailgate parties, goofy antics for pledges and time-honored initiation ceremonies. Their special…
Have you ever tried to pull some aluminum foil out of the box and the entire roll just jumps right out of the box as you pull? Then you have to put the roll back in the box and start over. The stubborn roll always comes out at the wrong time! Well, whoever looks at…
