Healthy leaders are bridge builders. One important bridge they build is between a team member’s work and a bigger purpose. There are two levels of purpose that leaders connect employees to: organizational purpose and team purpose. Organizational purpose relates to making the world a better place or improving the human condition through work. For instance,…
The most common type of expectations leaders set are deadlines. This is only natural. We live in a world that trains us to meet deadlines, starting in grade school: your paper is due May 1; finish your community service hours by Aug. 1; taxes are due April 15; the budget is due Nov. 15; your…
As a leader, it’s powerful to involve your team to help define or refine the purpose. And you can bet, if your team is part of the process, they will be more engaged and committed. Work with them to answer these questions: Why do we exist as a team? Since people tend to respond with…
I have a family tradition of writing and reading letters to each family member for holidays, birthdays, and special occasions. The letter might contain encouragement, advice, a blessing, a reflection, or a story. I hit a milestone birthday a couple of years ago... yep, I turned 40 :). So, I wrote this letter to my…
The fall semester of a college-bound, high school student’s senior year is filled with many decisions about his/her next chapter. One of these is whether or not to select “early decision” for a given college. “Early decision” means that you have decided, in advance, to commit to that university if they choose you and thereby…
Just as winning in sports starts with practice, winning in business starts with understanding the performance process and expectations. If you wait until after the work is done, you are simply imposing consequences rather than inspiring performance. That’s why aligning with your teams on expectations is a good predictor of winning results. The large majority…
When was the last time that you did something for the first time? Last year, I mentioned to my husband that I wanted to learn stand-up comedy. It made me nauseous to think about it, but I knew I needed to lean into it so I could grow. So, a few months later, Lee bought…
One of our clients, Cindy Lewis, is Executive Chairperson of AirBorn, a manufacturer of high-quality, custom electronics. She uses the “Rule of Six” when clarifying important information, such as the company’s vision. The idea is that you should not expect team members to fully understand or internalize any message until they hear it repeated at…
If you really want team values to take root, involve your team in the process of clarifying them. People are committed to what they help create, so let them interpret the values and define behaviors (within your acceptable boundaries). You can facilitate this process by asking questions like: What do our team values mean to…
Values like teamwork, service, integrity, and excellence are just concepts. You cannot measure and manage a concept. However, once you convert your values into actions and behaviors, then you can observe, measure, and manage them. That’s how you bring your values to life, by describing, communicating, and modeling behaviors that demonstrate each value. This clarity…
