Many years ago, my late, great friend Hyrum Smith was a member of a team that discovered the Reality Model, a brilliant visual way of describing how people look at life. Hyrum was so taken by the concepts in the model that he published a book about it and spent much of the rest of […]
Acknowledging and Encouraging
Most leaders genuinely intend to manage people well. Unfortunately, many of them fail to engage and motivate others. Why? I believe it’s because you can’t just hope to be a good leader; you have to consistently practice proven leader behaviors. As I’ve been discussing in my last several blogs, there are a set of directive […]
Helping People to Develop Problem Solving Skills
In my last blog post, I wrote about Setting SMART Goals, a Directive behavior. In this post we’ll talk about Facilitating Self-Reliant Problem Solving, a Supportive behavior. To refresh your memory, Supportive leadership behaviors are things you do that develop mutual trust and respect with your team member, resulting in increased motivation and confidence. If you want the […]
A Fresh Look at SMART Goals
If you are familiar with SLII®, our company’s leadership program for powering inspiring leaders, you know that effective SLII® leaders are highly skilled in the two primary areas of leadership behavior: Directive and Supportive. We define Directive leadership behaviors as “actions that shape and control what, how, and when things are done” and Supportive leadership […]
Keep a Positive Perspective on Today
I’ve been thinking lately about how important it is to have a positive perspective and live life in the present. I have a journal I read frequently where I have written inspirational thoughts as well as motivational quotes. I try every day to live by these three positive thoughts: • You make a living by […]
When the Thrill Is Gone: Dealing with Decommitted People
One of the biggest challenges managers face is how to respond when they notice a direct report has decreased motivation or confidence to do a job. We call this decommitment. For the most part, leaders avoid dealing with decommitment, largely because it is such an emotionally charged issue and they don’t know how. When they do […]
New Year, New Goals: Don’t Go It Alone!
The New Year is fast approaching and here it comes again: New Year’s resolution time. Have you ever made New Year’s resolutions you didn’t keep? My experience is that all of us have had good intentions we didn’t follow through on over the years. We usually start out enthusiastic about the change but after a […]
It May Be Time To Revisit Your Vision
Multiple priorities. Duplication of efforts. False starts. Wasted energy. Do any of these working conditions sound familiar? If so, it may be time to revisit your three-part vision: What is your purpose? What will the future look like if you are successful? What values will guide you as you work toward your picture of […]
If You Choose Your Attitude, You Get to Change Your Life for the Better
Does your busy schedule sometimes require you to do one thing when you’d really rather be doing something else, and it leaves you feeling a little grumpy? Once in a while when this happens to me, I think of a story I heard several years ago about the late, great opera singer Beverly Sills. At […]
Remembering Stephen Covey and Zig Ziglar
Two great men who were mentors and friends to me passed away this year—Stephen R. Covey in July and Zig Ziglar just this past week. I’d like to share a few thoughts about these wonderful guys. Stephen Covey was a devoted husband to his wife, Sandra, and dedicated father of nine, grandfather of fifty-two, and […]