by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Oct 27, 2008 | Executive Improvement, Kevin Berchelmann
It took me 50 years (as of today, thankyouverymuch) to learn these lessons, and they only really mean something to me, but hey… this is my blog anyway.
Kevin’s Lessons From Living Fifty Years (in no particular order):
1. I gotta be me. Sammy Davis Jr. nailed that one a long time ago. Any successes I’ve had in life — personal or professional — have come from “me being me.” There’s little value in trying to be something I’m not, though like most people, I’ve tried that a few times.
Some people like the “real” me, and that’s good. Some don’t, and that’s, well, their loss. To coin another old song, “It don’t matter to me.”
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by Triangle Performance Staff | Sep 26, 2008 | Kevin Berchelmann, Organizational Effectiveness
Frequently, we wonder Why don’t these people get it? Can’t they understand that this change is good? That we all will be better for it??
Well, in a word, NO.
“They” don’t understand because we’ve done a lousy job explaining this change to them. And probably the three thousand changes that occurred just before this one. Yes, our folks did notice those myriad changes before.
Some of which were successful, many were not.
Remember, there’s only two people who really, truly, no-kidding,appreciate change at face value: The person controlling the change, and the person(s) personally benefiting from it.
Everyone else needs to be sold on the advantages, purpose, and reasons for the change(s). Note to Leader: That’s your job.
As usual, success in leadership distills down into the most basic form — communication.
Until later…
by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Sep 22, 2008 | Executive Improvement, Kevin Berchelmann
I mentioned earlier that leaders must lead from the front. I observed something last week that reminds me that they must also lead “from the ground.”
No matter who we are, what title we have, how many people are working for us, or how much money we make… we can never forget that we lead others, and that those others are the ones who are on the ground — the front lines — of our organizations. Making money.
You may be able to manage from your office on the 32nd floor, or the front corner of your plant, or from A-space, downtown offices detached from the real operations. You can manage from there, but you cannot lead from there. (more…)
by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Sep 16, 2008 | Executive Improvement, Kevin Berchelmann
Recently, I was working with the front-line supervisors of a large client of mine. We were discussing how far senior leadership had come since we began down the path of change, evolving from a more “controlling” environment to a more empowered one, with resulting communications, performance expectations, etc.
It’s been an interesting ride. (more…)
by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Aug 29, 2008 | Executive Improvement, Kevin Berchelmann
Bullies. Jerks. Egomaniacs.
All have been used to describe domineering bosses. Leaders who are abusive, raise their voices, and intimidate. Personally, I call them something else.
Failures.
A leader who resorts to intimidation, brow-beating, threats and coercion is self-admitting the inability to successfully lead. I call it “business card leadership.” The sole source of this leader’s authority comes form a business card that says “you must obey me.”
Remove the business card, and these unsuccessful leaders couldn’t get a wolf to follow them while carrying raw meat. (more…)
by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Jul 30, 2008 | Executive Improvement, Kevin Berchelmann
Strategic Planning is dead. Long live strategic planning…
An interesting conundrum; we know that strategic planning is valuable. Intuitively. Yet, we seldom march lockstep behind that big blue binder when it’s complete.
Why is that??
I have an opinion (surprise!). During a recent strategy session, the client’s chief executive stated that he doesn’t even consider it strategic planning at all. He doesn’t even like the term.
He uses Strategic Discernment.
I hate doing this, but I visited dictionary.com for the definitive definition of discern/discernment…
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