I worked with a brilliant man once who was in the “culture change” business. He went into large companies and helped with mergers of two disparate cultures to move the united company forward or came in after a leadership change to reinforce the new culture. … Read more
I read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Office Influencers are in High Demand” that talked about the efforts companies are making to engage, and dare I say “use,” those who are good connectors and in turn, good influencers. Salesforce.com has an … Read more
Those of us in Seattle are still celebrating the first Super Bowl win for the Seattle Seahawks and the 12th man. It was an awesome day for the team, the fans and all of us here in the Northwest. You’ve all heard the negative media … Read more
This is the launch of a new monthly feature I call, “Leadership Puzzlers.” The “Puzzlers” are stories in business that I will share to show where one of the puzzle pieces was not properly in place, or not being utilized, and how ultimately the problem was … Read more
It’s the beginning of the year and a lot of us are working on goals for 2014. When it comes to goal-setting I often get asked which is more important to track – the result or the activity? The answer is, it depends. Both are … Read more
As you review the performance of your investment portfolios, there is one investment that you might want to look at as well – your business. There seems to be an emotional blindness to looking at one’s business like you would any other investment, but CEOs … Read more
Once or twice a year, whether you like it or not, it’s “performance evaluation time” at your firm. This is usually not a pleasant time of year for you or your employees. So rather than do what you’ve always done, (unless of course everyone at … Read more
Leadership blind spots? We all have them. Sometimes we refuse to admit them even when the consequences are staring us in the face. Unfortunately, however, until we recognize them, organizations are stuck in slow motion, doomed to either repeat the same cycle over and over … Read more
I saw an interesting post on LinkedIn by a former colleague of mine that reads: CFO asks CEO: “What happens if we invest in developing our people and then they leave us?” CEO: “What happens if we don’t, and they stay?” I’ve heard the first … Read more
As entrepreneurs and leaders sometimes we move so fast that we forget to “smell the roses,” as they say. One of those roses often ends up being recognition of our employees. And let’s be clear, without our employees, there is no company. So in honor … Read more