People have studied the character traits of great leaders for years, and I believe humility is one of the most important qualities of a successful leader. I’ve always described humility in leaders like this—people with humility don’t think less of themselves, they just think of themselves less. They put others first. I recently spent some […]
Managing By Values
Many years ago, I heard John Naisbitt give a speech on his book Reinventing the Corporation and was intrigued by a concept he called “Fortunate 500” companies. We all know about Fortune 500 companies that are ranked on revenue, profits, and market value. But John defined Fortunate 500 companies as organizations measured by the quality […]
Coaching—the Most Essential Part of Performance Management
Performance management has three elements—planning, day-to-day coaching, and evaluation. When I ask managers which of these elements takes the most time, they almost always say evaluation. Sometimes I hear long statements full of frustration about the forms, activities, and deadlines involved in the evaluation process. It makes me realize that people are putting the emphasis […]
Coaching: The Key to Being an Effective Manager
Why is it important to use coaching skills if you want to be an effective manager? Because when people get the coaching they need, they perform better. Managers who provide day-to-day coaching have more effective teams, grow and retain their key people, and experience higher productivity overall. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Over the years when […]
The Simple Truths of Service
When was the last time you received customer service that was so great you wanted to tell others about it? Okay, now what about the last time you had a really bad experience as a customer? My guess is that the bad experience will pop into your mind a lot more easily than the good […]
Building a High-Trust Work Environment
Building trusting relationships is one of the most important elements of being an effective leader. The good news is that turning around a low-trust environment isn’t rocket science. It starts with performance evaluation. If you are evaluating your people’s performance with a judgmental mindset, I guarantee you are eroding trust. But if you partner with […]
Do Your People Trust You?
Trust has taken a hit lately in all facets of our lives, but especially in organizations. A dwindling level of trust between workers and leaders is one of the unfortunate consequences of financial mismanagement and economic meltdown within the working sector. So, how can you tell whether or not your people trust you? Watch what […]
A Kick-Start for 2017
You’ve probably had your fill of articles and blogs about how New Year’s resolutions don’t work. So I want to give you a positive framework to begin the New Year. Creating your personal vision for the future is a different way to look at setting and achieving goals. A clear vision is made up of […]
The Importance of Celebration
All the December holidays are a time of great joy, but they can also be a time of great stress as people try to balance work, family, and extra activities. I encourage you to focus on the celebration part of the season instead of the stress. You don’t have to do something outrageous to celebrate—in […]
Walk Your Talk
A few weeks ago, my blog focused on leading by values and the importance of communicating your organizational values clearly and constantly. Another critical element for leaders to practice is what I call walking your talk. Leaders must make every effort to become living symbols of their organization’s value system. Walking your talk means that […]
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