A Most Common Daily Mistake

People will often share with me that they wish they had more time to think about the future and be a more intentional leader. I remember talking with one fellow about it and asked him what prevented him from finding the time. I really appreciated his answer. He did not say that his time was [Read More]

Dig Below The Surface

Greetings Leaders, A couple of weeks ago, I had an arborist come out to look at one of my trees. By mid-summer, its leaves were starting to turn brown and fall off, much earlier than normal. The arborist dug down below the surface and found what is called a girdling root. That is a root [Read More]

The Value of Belonging

Greetings Leaders, How connected are the people in your department feeling these days? With team structures such as remote, hybrid, and blended becoming more permanent in work, one’s sense of connection – and feelings of belonging – might not be as strong at the moment as they need to be. Survey results published by Deloitte [Read More]

Struggling With Trust

According to recent Gallup polls, trust is declining again, especially in some of the major institutions. It is probably not surprising that Congress, television news, and newspapers tend to fall at the bottom of the list of organizations most trusted. Trust and confidence in big business also remains low. On the other hand, small business [Read More]

Power of Purpose After Loss

Not too long ago, I lost my wife of 45 years to cancer. Do I still grieve? Yes. Are there still moments of great sadness? Yes. Do I find my eyes occasionally welling up with tears? Yes to that as well. Am I aimlessly floundering? Absolutely not. For you see, I discovered a lesson in [Read More]

Intentional Growth

For many, springtime is a time of becoming reinvigorated. Trees are blooming, flowers are blossoming and the dormant, brown yards turn green almost overnight. There is something about the reemergence of life after the dead of winter. New growth is an incredibly inspiring thing. Leaders, much of your role is about growth, ensuring that people [Read More]

The Need for Looking Ahead

In a recent global CEO survey by McKinsey and Company, the need for forward-looking and visionary top officers – during and after a crisis – was reinforced. 48% of executives rank presenting an inspiring vision as the most important individual leadership behavior during a crisis; 45% rank it as most important after a crisis. 42% [Read More]

Leader Competencies for Today

Given all of the changes in the work environment lately, I have been reflecting on some of the leadership competencies/behaviors which seem to be increasing in need at the moment. See what you think. The first is about “sense-making.” Every day people are being bombarded from all sides with facts, figures, opinions, spreadsheets, conspiracy theories, [Read More]

Enabling People Working Remote

I recently heard some fascinating comments about the changing worker landscape from Karin Kimbrough, the Chief Economist with LinkedIn. You are all aware of the massive worker shortage. Well, that is because somewhere around 20 million quit their jobs during the last half of 2021. When asked why, Kimbrough remarked that many were looking at [Read More]

What Do You Fear?

Once a year I am supposed to change the filters in my furnace. They get dirty and prevent proper airflow which can put unnecessary strain on the motor. The same is true with the air filter on my car – and likely with my lawnmower, vacuum cleaner, and every other motorized device I own. To [Read More]