Trust-based leadership is trickier, more important, and simpler than people acknowledge. My fear of loss sabotages my dreams for me and my company. And so does yours. Maybe you’ve read Stephen M.R. Covey‘s book, The Speed of Trust. Its thesis is that as trust goes up, the speed of business goes up and the cost […]

Have you decided that it is (or that it may be) time to fire someone? There’s no best way. Firing people sucks. Dark topic… I hope to shed some light. And to mix a metaphor, this article will give you the key — heck, 7 keys — to the least worst way to go about […]

“You’re nice,” is a compliment. Many of us would like to be seen as nice. Truth is… Nice isn’t necessarily good. Nice at work — and in so many other areas of our lives — can be destructive. And now you’re probably as tired of the word “nice” as I am. Good. Maybe you’ll stop […]

Recruiting effectiveness is a competitive advantage. Maybe it’ll be your competitive advantage over your competitors. Maybe it’ll be their competitive advantage over you. Up to you. And in a tight labor market like this, the field of competitors is spread — the best are further ahead than even the next best. In this season of The […]

Unemployment… 3.5%. Burnout percentage, unknown. Open seats you may be having trouble filling. When it comes to their teams, one of the top concerns we’re hearing from business leaders is burnout. “My team’s burning out. I’m burning out. I can’t afford for the people I have to burn out.” The conventional wisdom is that to […]

Leaders — even the best among us — are only human. And as such, we’ve all got blind spots that harm company culture. Blind spots lead our best laid plans to backfire. We intend well. We don’t see clearly. We stumble and blunder into obstacles we cannot perceive, and wonder how we got all these […]

What do your company and diapers have in common? They’ve got to be changed regularly. It’s not your fault. You’re not doing anything wrong. Your company (unlike diapers) isn’t full of crap. Rather, we live in a changing world and you’ve got changing goals, and so what got you to the present you’re in won’t […]

A Riddle That’s Not Funny When is a job requirement not a job requirement? This may be a riddle, but it’s no joke. When there are no consequences for consistently missing a job requirement, then it is by definition NOT a job requirement. It’s an item on the employer’s wish list. When a leader says, […]

What’s this? This is episode 2 of our new show… It Ain’t Easy Being a Human. In this episode, we explore the importance of the tremendous impact leaders can have on the emotional experience, and the sense of wellbeing of the people in their care. Main Points… 1. When your people believe you may be […]

“How can I improve accountability in my team?” That’s the question we get again and again. Sometimes that question comes in different words. And when we dig in, we often find this is the question underneath. Looking for Accountability in Your Team A breakthrough in accountability on your team could become your company’s unfair advantage. […]

We get a lot of people asking us about the ‘F’-word. Feedback Almost every question we get is about how to deliver effective feedback. And that’s a great question. Often overlooked and at least as important… How to receive feedback. People who receive feedback well perform better. They learn and grow faster. They develop more […]

Team maintenance is easy to overlook. You’ve got stuff to do. Your team has stuff to do. THE PROBLEM People are the best part of your business, and they’re the hardest part. Your team has an operating system, an engine, that defines the way it functions. Company culture. And Deloitte gives us a few striking […]