One of my favorite questions to ask leaders when they are unhappy with someone’s performance is “knowing what you know now, would you hire them today?” Usually, the answer is an immediate “no.” Then the harder, follow up question is “so what are you going … Read more
Sometimes organizations get lazy. This happens when they have long periods of success and start to take it for granted. They assume that the customers and money will just keep coming in and they stop doing the things that got them to that point in the … Read more
At its core, most of the work I do is about change – why it has to happen, how to move through it, how to lead it and most importantly, how do we come out the other side better than we were before. Humans are … Read more
A recent piece in the Wall Street Journal discussed the rare worker that thrives on negative feedback. The author makes the point that leaders often shy away from giving this feedback, but in fact, it can be motivating for the person receiving it. I’ll agree … Read more
When coaching leaders about “trust,” I often find myself using the phrase “trust but verify.” It turns out to be a good way to hold people accountable as well. It’s the reason KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) exist– to verify and measure that things are getting … Read more
It’s always surprising when you hear a leader talking about some “unexpected” event as if it had just happened out of the blue when all the signs were there for some time. Or a scandal that has been brewing for a while and everyone, except … Read more
The annual Labor Day holiday weekend just ended, and the true meaning of this holiday is often lost as people now typically think of it more as a sign it’s the end of summer. The holiday was originally created to honor the Labor movement and … Read more
As a leader, you are always being watched. What you say, what you do, your reactions, your comments, your behavior, everything. Inadvertently passing someone without a “hello” or acknowledgment of their existence could be viewed as a slight by the receiver. Even though that was … Read more
Recently, I’ve had several conversations with leaders dealing with performance and behaviors that are out of alignment with the company’s culture and performance standards. The conversation usually starts with “I’m going to go ahead and make an exception this one time.” There are always valid … Read more
When I hear leaders say, “I have no choice,” I always remind them that in fact, they do. Everything we do in life is a choice, albeit sometimes the lesser of two evils, we always do have a choice. One of my favorite books called, … Read more