Is It Because You’re a Great Leader?
When business is going well, is it because you’re a great leader? It can be tempting to think so, but you’d be wrong. Success isn’t about you. Leadership is about Vision and Strategic Direction. It’s also fundamentally about attracting and engaging the right people who will generate desired results, then providing them with the resources, […]
Leading: What to do when something goes wrong
Leading, and managing a business within that broader concept, is challenging enough when the economy is strong, your labor force is plentiful and motivated, resource pricing is stable and customers are hungry for what you have to offer. It’s fun to lead when that revenue and earnings chart is pointed upward and to the right. […]
Leading: Adjust the Sails
“Our Destiny is shaped by our Thoughts and Actions. We cannot direct the wind, but we can Adjust the Sails.” I’ve kept this picture on the corner of my desk for quite a few years. It serves as a daily reminder to me, and to those who come meet with me, that it’s necessary for […]
Leading: How do you sustain company momentum? Reward Results.
Once you’ve assembled your talented team, focused them in pursuit of a compelling purpose, dialed in the details, then figured out how to measure what matters, there should be massive energy and forward motion in your business. A great deal of deep thought and determined effort are required to get things moving the way you […]
Leading: How to Measure What Matters
It’s exciting to lead a talented and energized team, working together in an environment of mutual respect and trust. For the leader to get the most out of all that effort, however, requires a conscious effort to measure what matters. Without clarity regarding goals and what constitutes “success,” a team cannot sustain a high level […]
Leading: Seven Genres of Business Communication
The essence of leadership lies in a person’s ability to communicate ideas and information in a manner that inspires and guides others. Business communication is more art than science and lends itself to being classified into genres, as with other art forms. The applicable genre for the art of business depends upon the situation. I’ll […]
Fired Up!
I was enjoying dinner on an outdoor patio at a busy downtown restaurant, when it began to sprinkle rain from a fast-moving cloud. At that moment, a waiter who was visiting with patrons at another table looked up at the sky and then came racing down the patio, loudly exclaiming “PLEASE, NO!!”. I appreciated his […]
Leading: Set the Tone
You’re being watched. No, not by the NSA, or some other clandestine agency. It’s your employees, and your customers, who have their eyes on you. They watch what you do and know it’s much more important than whatever you say. As a leader, you set the tone: Good, bad or indifferent. When you’re a leader […]
Leading: Look and Listen
You can’t lead from behind a desk—or over the telephone. If you want to be a leader, you need to personally look at the front-line reality in your business, where your employees meet your company’s customers. In the military, it’s what leaders would call learning the “ground truth,” which can be very different than what […]
Leading: Details, Always
The third crucial leadership skill is paying attention to the details, always. Once you’ve assembled the right team (People First) and galvanized them into a cohesive group focused on your shared vision (Purpose Second), the key to achieving success is embedded in paying attention to the daily details that add up to make a huge […]