For years, Julie and I had a date night each Wednesday night while our children were young. We would often go to dinner at a local Tex-Mex restaurant. An experience during one of our visits helped me see the direct, positive business impact of passionately performing employees. An energetic waiter came charging up to our table…
All of us are in search of a clear and driving purpose for our lives; we want to contribute to something bigger than ourselves. The world of work offers a great opportunity for people to connect with a purpose. The reality is that people care less about working for a company and much more about…
With Independence Day right in front of us, I wanted to share this video from a visit to the Statue of Liberty to illustrate how passion enables us to perform ordinary tasks in extraordinary ways. https://youtu.be/86ad8SmgkiU You can inspire your team to deliver passionate performance by fulfilling six universal needs: 3 Intellectual needs: Achievement, Autonomy,…
A business is not simply a collection of people doing individual tasks. The glue to any successful business is the way employees coordinate their work with others, communicate expectations and updates, collaborate on ideas to innovate, and share customer insights. Looking for the simplest way to perform job tasks to gain efficiency and maximize employee…
A few years ago I had my first skydiving experience. Yep, that's me in the photo free-falling at 14,000 feet. I don't like heights at all, and would not be disappointed if I never rode another tall roller coaster again. So, it was an adventure in overcoming my fears. The keys for me were feeling comfortable with…
https://youtu.be/a3sx7KktGkE William James, the father of psychology, stated that a fundamental human need is to be appreciated. This idea is supported by many studies that show the number one need expressed by employees is to feel fully appreciated for their work. The bottom line: We do more for those who appreciate us. Although leaders…
Here is an excerpt from Leadership Matters. It contains 31 daily insights to inspire extraordinary results. day 7: Connections How often do you hear people speak with envy about companies with “real heart”? Companies like Starbucks, Ben & Jerry’s, Southwest Airlines, Harley-Davidson, Nordstrom, The Container Store, Apple, FedEx, Fossil and Google, to name a few.…
In 7 Moments… that Define Excellent Leaders some of my favorite stories appear under a moment to invest. Here is one of them… In the late 1890s, two young men were working their way through Stanford University when, during the semester, their funds got desperately low, and they came up with the idea of engaging Ignacy Paderewski,…
A common misperception among leaders is that once you get to a certain level, you should consider only a 30,000-foot perspective (i.e., the big picture) of your business. Although a high-level perspective is necessary for leadership success, it must be accompanied by an in-depth understanding of your team’s operation (e.g., your drivers of cost, profit,…
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…
