What you do when you don’t have to will determine what you’ll be when you can’t help it – William D. Hersey In his book, The Grace Awakening, Charles Swindoll tells a story about Thomas Jefferson and a group of companions who were travelling across country on horseback. They came to a river which had…
DetailsStudies have shown that the forces, trends, and pace of the business environment have the single greatest influence on shaping organizational culture. But there are even more global forces affecting the business environment in subtle, but profound ways that define how organizations must interact with customers and respond to competitors in order to achieve sustained…
DetailsThe Four Drive Model of Employee Motivation was presented by Lawrence and Nohria in 2002. The model is a holistic way of looking at employee motivation beyond the typical “pay” model that is prevalent in the corporate world today. I will not go into detail regarding the model here, but just give an overview and…
DetailsToday’s business literature is replete with models of leadership and an entire industry has grown up around coaching leaders. Leadership is arguably one of the most valuable of human activities, yet despite the vast literature on the topic, many people remain unable to identify the basic building blocks that define what leadership is. As Elliot…
DetailsAdmit it; you’ve had managers you wanted to see succeed and you’ve likely worked for others that you didn’t respect or trust. And you’ve had occasions where you threw everything you had at your job and other times where you dialed it back to idle. Managers and supervisors often think that the wages or salary…
DetailsThis tool is useful for visualizing the steps in a typical strategic planning process, from the initial environmental scan to the narrowing of strategies and developing of related performance targets. Managers and leaders can use this tool to communicate their planning process to other managers, employees, board members and other stakeholders. This tool is best used…
DetailsFor many of you, finding new leaders is an on-going challenge. In HR world, they call this the “bench-strength” issue and it can be a game changer. As companies expand, new divisions are formed, requiring fresh leaders to guide them to effectiveness. For startups, this is even more critical. Pick the wrong one and you…
DetailsNever hold discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room – Winston Churchill The early American Indians, as the story goes, had a unique practice of training young braves. On the night of a boy’s thirteenth birthday, after learning hunting, scouting, and fishing skills, was put to one final test. He…
DetailsLeadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitudes and in actions. – Harold S. Geneen In his book the 360° Leader, John Maxwell shares a story about President Harry S. Truman speaking at the National War College. In the speech, Truman said, “You know, it’s easy for the Monday morning quarterback…
DetailsThe key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear. – Brian Tracy Writing in Reader’s Digest, Carol Mann tells the story of golf immortal Arnold Palmer as he recalled an important lesson about self-confidence. It was the final hole of the 1961 Master’s tournament, and Palmer…
DetailsIf I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me ‘A faster horse’. – Henry Ford Analyzed by Main Street, the Better Business Bureau recently released their Top 10 list of the most complained about companies of 2010. As reported, consumers in the United States and Canada filed 1.1 million complaints…
DetailsChange the changeable, accept the unchangeable, and remove yourself from the unacceptable. – Denis Waitley The story is told of Karl Benz, who in 1866 drove his first automobile through the streets of Munich, Germany. He named his car the Mercedes Benz, after his daughter Mercedes. The machine angered the citizens, because it was noisy…
DetailsWhen your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier. – Roy E. Disney A group of friends went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under the weight of an eight-point buck. “Where’s Harry?” he was asked. “Harry had a spell…
DetailsLeadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality – Warren G. Bennis One of the emerging stars of the 2012 London Olympic Games is Gabby Douglas. If you missed her performances with her teammates, the Fab Five, you missed quite a show. Douglas won the gold medal in the all-around contest and in the…
DetailsYou cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. – Emerson British statesman and financier Cecil Rhodes, whose fortune was used to endow the world-famous Rhodes Scholarships, was a stickler for correct dress, but apparently not at the expense of someone else’s feelings. A young man…
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