Coaching News
Leaders–Dance with who brung ya…
Not too long ago, I worked with a group of division presidents for a fast-growing company. Two things struck me as interesting, and somewhat of a paradox: First, they were all reasonably successful in their jobs (and their jobs were substantially the same, just...
HELP!
-- I hate to ask, but… “Can I do something to help?” “No thanks; I’ve got it.” Sound familiar? At the office? At home? Yes, that short conversation takes place millions of times every day across this country in the workplace, in stores, in the kitchen, between...
The Simplicity of Leadership
--quit complicating the uncomplicated By that, I mean that leadership is not complex. Can it be difficult? Certainly. But we need to remember to keep things as simple as humanly possible. We read books, articles, white papers, etc.… All in search of a silver bullet, a...
Leaders & Laggards November 2016
Leadership Leader I travel quite a bit; I know many of you do as well. In fact, I was on the road for 10 of the last 14 days. Four flights, two rental cars, multiple Uber rides and four different hotels. And one bus ride (don’t ask). The relevant number for this story...
Timeless Leadership Marches On
Leadership is Timeless I’m a military veteran. As such, I frequently read old military books, discourses, and papers to compare corporate leadership today with historical military leadership. The similarities are astounding. A 1941 book published by the Military...
Minimum Wage… Get real, but get ready
First, the fiasco in Chicago was averted — we should all stand and cheer. For those living on Pluto (the new “non’-planet), Chicago attempted to vote in a “big box” minimum wage, a wage higher than what all other employers must pay, as a penalty for simply “being” a...
Competition vs. Collaboration
- "Can we all get along?" Rodney King III Late in my Air Force career, I had the great fortune to command a fantastic group of diverse, talented Airmen. The only downside was that we lacked sufficient personnel and resources to be fully capable of executing our...
Leaders & Laggards September 2016
Leadership Leader Arnold Palmer, a Leader’s Leader. I was an Arnie fan. A soldier in Arnie’s Army and damned proud of it. When I grew up, you affiliated with a particular golfer; Jack Nicklaus if you were textbook methodical (Mack, in my H.S. golf team), Gary Player...
Wells Fargo: Bull$h!t and the impact of crooked leadership
I hate to call anyone a crook. It sounds unseemly and judgmental, and just a tad juvenile… Ah, to hell with that. Wells Fargo, you guys are a bunch of crooks. Specifically, the leadership involved in the fraudulent account processing debacle. Yes, the leadership, not...
Where Is Everybody? The war for talent rages on…
Don’t get caught with your pants down. That idiom has its origins in the Roman Emperor Caracalla, later known as Marcus Aurelius. He was known as one of the bad-ass Emperors somewhere before 200AD. Legend has it he was killed while relieving himself, hence “with his...
Why do Leaders Make This So HARD??
This is an area where mediocre leaders just don't get it. And because of their egocentric defensiveness, they lose a ton of credibility. Without writing a treatise here, suffice to say that there are three very simple things that a leader can do to set himself apart...
They Let Me Do My Job
As do many of you, I travel a bit. During the last several months, as I travel around, I’ve been asking people I come in contact with two questions: Do you like your job? Why or why not? Creates some interesting conversations, I’ll tell you. Almost missed a flight out...
Leadership—Empowerment Done Right
-- Put ‘em in a box and learn to say ‘yes’ I used to believe that empowerment and delegation were the same thing… that we just invented the term “empowerment” because so many managers sucked at delegating. I was wrong. I try not to say that too often (just ask my...
