People often ask me how I became successful and what keeps me going. One of the biggest factors is that I’m a big believer in ongoing personal and professional growth. As Mark Miller and I wrote in Great Leaders Grow, “The path to increased influence, impact, and leadership effectiveness is paved with personal growth.… Our capacity […]
3 Lessons I Learned from a Worldwide Pandemic
It’s hard to believe that it’s been three years since the COVID-19 virus upended all our lives. So much has changed since March 2020. My wife, Margie, often says, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Meaning that when things go wrong, she looks for the opportunity in the crisis by asking, “What’s good […]
September: A Time to GROW
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I love September, because I always associate it with my days as a college professor. This was the time of year when everyone returned from summer vacation and we began again, refreshed and renewed. When we’re students, the start of the school year […]
Training Plus Coaching: A Formula for Success
Several years ago, someone asked me a thought-provoking question: “What has been your biggest disappointment in your career?” After careful reflection, it occurred to me that what bothered me most was that while my books were widely read and our training programs were used around the world, people were not following through on the concepts […]
2021 Trends: Learning and Development in a COVID World
After a year like the one we had in 2020, wouldn’t it be nice to have a crystal ball to see where things are headed? While no one can accurately predict random events like pandemics, we can study the impact of those events on people’s thinking. Recently, The Ken Blanchard Companies® surveyed over 1,000 leadership, […]
The 2020 Silver Lining
As we approach December 31, it’s a good time to reflect on this historic year. I’m sure there are many things we’ll all want to leave behind. Yet there may be some things we will want to carry with us into the future. There’s no question that 2020 has taken a toll on tens of […]
Providing Rationale
As a leader, there’s a lot you can do to help people get things done while also boosting their motivation and confidence. We call these leader behaviors SLII® micro skills. Continuing our series about these leadership skills, in this post I’ll discuss Providing Rationale—a supportive behavior that too many busy leaders overlook. Answering the Question […]
5 Powerful Questions to Reboot Your Work Life
As most of us settle into the COVID-19 working-from-home life, I’m reminded of just how important learning is in our lives. Whether we’re doing it for personal or professional development, learning keeps our minds and skills sharp. It not only staves off boredom, it also keeps us from becoming boring people! Getting older—or getting seniority […]
Three Best Practices to Help People Learn
One of the hallmarks of great organizations is their commitment to constantly retraining and educating people so they have cutting-edge knowledge in their work. But how do you assure that your investment in learning pays off and produces measurable results? You can’t just send people to a seminar or give them an online course and […]
3 Simple Ways to Master Learning and Make Things Happen
Years ago, a dear friend of mine asked me what my biggest disappointment was with my career. That thoughtful question motivated some real self-reflection. I realized that what bothered me most was that my work was not having lasting impact. While my books were widely read, many people were not following through on the concepts […]