Execution is an easy concept to talk about, but it's a hard one to well ... execute. The main problem is that it is a real challenge to measure and manage a concept. However, once you convert concepts into behaviors, you have something you can observe, measure and manage. The three components of execution and…
Rules of engagement help define how your team will interact. They are like the "We Card." signs you see in every convenience store. Those signs were created to help the store workers identify and prevent age-restricted sales of tobacco to minors. In the past, convenience store workers had to ask each customer wanting to…
Some people literally change the world, like Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Ben Franklin, and Steve Jobs. Although it's an ambitious goal to change the world, you might underestimate your singular power to change the world of those around you. You don't have to be Oprah giving away new cars to positively change someone's world. You have…
I sit in my ergonomic office chair gazing out my window at a beautiful tree line. It’s a welcomed mental break from considering a particular client’s challenge and outlining a new book. My eyes catch my favorite painting of my father’s, the Dove of Peace, neatly placed under an arched window. This painting makes me…
With the large majority of today's communication transmitting through emails, more and more of my clients are attempting to bring structure to email communication. The informality of the email channel facilitates a loosening of standard structure and conciseness from the old school business letter. That, in and of itself, is not a huge issue, but…
Asking questions is the most powerful, yet underutilized, tool you carry as a leader. Questions force your team to think. Questions reveal assumptions and thought processes by the answers they elicit. Questions start a dialogue. Questions involve the other party in creating solutions, which builds commitment to those solutions. It all starts with questions…
I had the opportunity to attend a luncheon which honored the Top 10% of my daughter’s high school. Before the event, I ran into one of our favorite teachers of all time, her 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Tina Dodson. Her presence was unusual since this was a high school event. As we caught up with…
Keeping things simple helps your team stay focused. This seems like it should be easy enough, but as billionaire investor Warren Buffett says, "There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult." We do, in fact, live in a complex world of advancing technology, global competition, brand abundance, unprecedented…
At one time, Andrew Carnegie was the wealthiest man in America. He came to America from his native Scotland when he was a small boy, did a variety of odd jobs, and eventually ended up as the largest steel manufacturer in the United States. At one time, he had 43 millionaires working for him. In…
Charlie Jones is a sportscaster who has covered several Olympic games in his long career. At the 1996 games in Atlanta, he was assigned to announce the rowing, canoeing and kayaking events – a situation that left him less than thrilled, since it was broadcast at 7 a.m. and the venue was an hour's drive…
