A lot of people ask me, “What’s the difference between leadership, management, and supervision?” Most people think it’s about where you are in the hierarchy—if you’re at the top, you’re a leader; if you’re in the middle, you’re a manager; and if you are closest to the people who are actually dealing with the customers, […]
Someday I want to be CEO
For the next few blog postings, I want to answer some questions that I’ve received numerous times over the years. Let’s start with the big one: What do I need to do to reach my goal of being a CEO? Some young people have the goal that they want to run some big operation someday […]
Full Steam Ahead! – Ken Blanchard on Being Excited About Vision
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzFFEtxqQYo
What’s Your New Year’s Resolution?
It’s getting to be about that time when people talk about New Year’s resolutions. What do you want to do differently in 2011? What would you like to be different in your life a year from now? Just a couple of suggestions on New Year’s Resolutions: Don’t make too many of them. I’ve known some […]
Create Autonomy Through Boundaries
One of the key steps to empowering people is to create autonomy through boundaries. A problem in the past was the assumption that empowered people could do anything they wanted; they were in charge. That theory just doesn’t make sense. A river without banks is just a large puddle—what permits a river to flow is […]
Saying “No”
One of the most difficult things I have had to do over the years is to learn to say no. As a people-oriented person, it is very difficult for me to say no to anyone—I don’t want to hurt their feelings or make them feel unimportant. As a result, ever since I was a teenager […]
Transferring Training to the Workplace
I’m constantly amazed at how employees and managers seem to consider training for themselves and their people not as an important opportunity but as a fringe benefit, reward, or social occasion, with little if any plan or expectation on the part of attendees or their managers to maximize the investment. This is a shame. I […]
Dos and Don’ts of Reprimanding
When reprimanding, what you do is often not as important as what you don’t do. Since no one really enjoys a reprimand, it’s easy for people to be put on the defensive when receiving criticism. I suggest remembering these “don’ts” when you must reprimand an individual. If you don’t observe these points, you may find […]
If I Had My Life to Live Over
I recently saw a wonderful piece about “If I Had My Life to Live Over.” I thought it was worth sharing with you. It’s from the late Nadine Stair of Louisville, Kentucky, who wrote it when she was 85 years old: If I had my life to live over again, I’d dare to make more […]
Season of Service
In San Diego we’re in the middle of a six-month “Season of Service” movement with businesses, civic agencies, and churches all pitching in with community volunteers to serve others. For years I’ve been dreaming about how we can make San Diego a servant leadership town – how in the near future people will come here […]