The greatest opportunity for your company to create a sustainable competitive advantage is during a tough economy. However, leading a company during a slowing economy has plenty of challenges. What should you change, stop or continue doing? Organizational change is just a concept. Organizations do not change—individuals change. If enough individuals change, you start to reap…
Leadership is an inside job. We must lead ourselves to a higher level before we can inspire extraordinary results from our team. We cannot lead where we dare not go. We cannot credibly ask others to pursue team excellence if we do not pursue personal excellence. Great leadership requires skill and character. Our character is,…
Unfortunately, this has been a banner season for hurricane trackers. A hurricane’s outer bands can extend a few hundred miles from the center. Hurricane Andrew's (1992) rainbands reached 100 miles out from the eye, while those in Hurricane Gilbert (1988) stretched over 500 miles. The hurricane's eye is a relatively calm, clear area usually 20 -…
Leadership matters! It is the single most important factor for achieving employee and business growth. Today's worker is more purpose-driven, conversational and development-focused. So, today's effective leader must: Start with him/herself Build awareness and intentional use of thoughts, words and actions to have a positive impact on others. Seek new learnings and acknowledge vulnerabilities. Inspire purposeful work…
Last week, I shared the account of a high school student’s suicide and a local professor’s compelling and practical message to her classmates. The next day, I received a note from a gifted photographer and friend, Tom Fox. Tom’s images and words are featured in The Nature of Excellence gift book that has inspired many thousands worldwide. With Tom’s…
In 1951 Toyota launched their Creative Idea Suggestion System and it is still going strong. Toyota receives one million ideas per year from its employees and at one point, Toyota received more than three million ideas from employees in one year. This level of involvement is not achieved by using a suggestion box. It is achieved by engaging the minds of…
Necessity might be the mother of invention, but our brain is the father of innovation. Through structured thinking, we can turbocharge our ability to innovate. Barbara Frederickson’s research has shown us that positive emotions enable us to broaden our perspective and see more options to consider. Alternatively, our brains respond to negative emotions by limiting…
The sustained nature of the current remote working environment has moved past virtual happy hours and daily check-in calls to build a positive culture. Continuing to lead remote teams is now forcing leaders to elevate their culture-building creativity and skills. So, how do you build and nurture a positive team culture today and moving forward?…
The sustained nature of this remote working environment has moved past virtual happy hours and daily check-in calls to build a positive culture. Continuing to lead remote teams is now forcing leaders to elevate their culture-building creativity and skills. Before to the current pandemic, an intact team had prior connections and a shared history once…
William James, the father of psychology, stated that the most fundamental psychological need is to be appreciated. We all want to feel fully appreciated for our work. The payoff for inspiring leaders is that people do more for those who appreciate them. Although leaders widely recognize the need for appreciation, it tends to be a…
