I had a wonderful experience when I coauthored the book Lead with LUV: A Different Way to Create Real Success with my good friend Colleen Barrett, president emeritus of Southwest Airlines. Colleen has a delightful point of view about vulnerability in leadership. She says: People admire your strengths, but they respect your honesty regarding your […]
Sharing Information About Your Organization
Sharing Information About Your Organization is, in fact, one of the SLII® micro skills—the fourteen directive and supportive leader behaviors I’ve been discussing in my last several blogs. I’ve always been a big believer in sharing information. As a college professor, I used to give out the final exam on the first day of class—and […]
I Care—Do You?—the key to great customer service
One of the books I’m working on this summer is a customer service book with Kathy Cuff and Vicki Halsey tentatively titled I Care—Do You?: The Essentials of Delivering Legendary Service. A recent experience I had at my vacation home in upstate New York beautifully illustrates what we are trying to capture with this new book. […]
5 Keys to Connecting With Your People
I was talking with some friends at a recent morning men’s group. Our focus was on the importance of being connected to other people and what it means. We came up with five things we think help you really get connected to others—at work, and in all aspects of life. How would you rate yourself […]
New Year’s Resolution Time!
It’s time again to think about New Year’s resolutions. I like to picture myself sitting here one year from today, looking back on 2012 and smiling because I’ve accomplished two or three things that I wanted to accomplish over the year. I’m patting myself on the back! So what would you like to do between […]
Leaders Don’t Need Charisma
A lot of people wonder if they can be a leader if they don’t have charisma. I’m not sure I really even know what charisma is. I think what you need to do as a leader is be who you are. I think sincerity and caring are the qualities people look for in a leader—not […]
The Firing of Legendary Penn State Coach Joe Paterno: An Ethical Dilemma
The firing of Joe Paterno as coach of Penn State has dominated the news this week. A legendary coach with the most wins in the history of major college football, Joe was dismissed for not doing more to stop the alleged sexual abuse of children by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. The news came as […]
What should leaders be doing to motivate their people in times of downsizing, salary cuts, or an uncertain economy?
With the challenging economy these days, where companies are losing money and people are being downsized, a very important question I get asked is, “How can I, as a leader, motivate my people in these tough times?” I think there are three things you can do. The first thing you need to do is to […]
Lead with LUV – We’ll Miss You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR005DxdBc8
Lead with LUV
I’m really excited about my brand-new book, Lead with LUV, that I wrote with Colleen Barrett, President Emeritus of Southwest Airlines. The reason I’m excited about it is that if I were asked to leave a legacy of my thinking today, this would be it. The world is in desperate need of this message of […]