Experience is the best teacher. Learning from your mistakes is powerful. Innovation requires taking risks. But how much tolerance should leaders have for repeated mistakes? What is the difference between someone on the learning curve versus an employee who is incompetent? This subject came up when I was chatting with the senior leader at one…
DetailsAny person who selects a goal in life which can be fully achieved, has already defined his own limitations. – Cavett Robert In his book, Winning Every Day, legendary football coach Lou Holtz shares a story about a man whose car tumbled into a ditch. He called a farmer for some help, but the farmer…
DetailsIf you are trying to gain cooperation from your staff, persuade or influence a client or co-worker, close a sale, make the right impression, ace an interview, or convince an audience, you must first connect with them. Below is a checklist of the active ingredients in creating lasting connections. How many of these are you…
DetailsBack in the 90’s the Royal Bank of Canada had a series of TV commercials touting the theme, “Building a Better Bank, One Customer at a Time.” The message, as I recall, was that RBC treats each customer as a unique individual and strives to win them over, one-at-a-time. I frequently refer to this ad…
DetailsThe people’s capacity to achieve is determined by their leader’s ability to empower.– John Maxwell Bart Starr, the former quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, was describing to a group of businessmen how his coach, Vince Lombardi, held absolute power. He stated that, as you entered Vince’s office, you noticed a huge mahogany desk with…
DetailsYour greatest success might be disguised. That was the case for William Wrigley, Jr. You recognize the name from Wrigley chewing gum. What you might not have known is that Wrigley started out as a soap company, using chewing gum as a promotional giveaway inside the box of soap. Perhaps your greatest success is lurking…
DetailsBefore diving into my first leadership role I was advised by a well-respected member of our Management team. She told me, “Don’t get too close to your people, you will get burned”. I countered her advising with the thought that creating a monarchy would isolate me from my team….to which she said “exactly”. I didn’t…
DetailsAh, Mark Zuckerberg. The brainchild behind the product that everyone wishes they created. Okay, when you think of a leader, Mark Zuckerberg is probably not the first person you would automatically draw inspiration from. He’s not the best speaker, wears t-shirts no matter the occasion, and gives mediocre interviews. And as a result there are…
DetailsA pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. – Winston Churchill A story is told some years ago about a young energetic man who began work as a clerk in a hardware store. Like many old-time hardware stores, the inventory included thousands of dollars’ worth of items…
DetailsSome days I feel like I’m on walking upward on a down escalator — my 25 years of supervising and managing experience isn’t getting me the results I want. This past few weeks, the managers in my own department have been teaching me a few things: 1) Know the “style” of the decision-makers in…
DetailsFront line supervisors and managers can place employees in a prison of performance by affixing a label. Once the label is attached to the person it can prevent the leader from seeing the potential for the individual. If the label is troublemaker, then the supervisor or manager might be reinforcing the very behaviour they would…
DetailsPeople finally matter at work. Lip service be damned. – Marcia Conner A story is told in The Book of Business Anecdotes about marketing whiz Stanley Arnold working at Young & Rubicam in the 1950’s. He was asked to help with a marketing campaign for Remington Rand. Its chairman at the time was retired General…
DetailsI am a sports fanatic so my Leadership style is rooted in metaphor to any number athletic competitions. With the NBA season on the brink of collapse let’s talk some basketball. I am a firm believer that there are two ways to motivate basketball players: 1. By the Bench 2. By the Basket There is…
DetailsPeople are not necessarily difficult but different. In other words if someone sees things different than us we might think they are “difficult.” To deal with these “difficult” people follow these rules: Realize that people who are angry feel justified in their anger -Whether it’s a perception or reality there is “real” reason for their…
DetailsAs you might imagine, as a paid expert on communication and leadership, I get some well earned ribbing at home from my wife Robin because of my poor listening skills as a husband and father. Once I made the comment that she just didn’t pay me as well as my client’s did for me to…
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