While the foundation for the residential construction projects I was involved with in my teens was on a much smaller scale than the skyscrapers I alluded to earlier, they were no less important to the long term stability of the home. The same holds true for the core values in a business of any size....
Just like the work required for laying a foundation to any building to stand the test of time, establishing routines that model the core values that will ultimately serve as the foundation our organization is built on can be incredibly difficult. Before moving on, I’ve gotta ask.. Is it just me or d...
I was able to observe most of the practices while our son wrestled. It was interesting to watch how the best coaches had those kids go through new moves again and again slowly until each movement was almost natural. During the few times I’ve dropped by my friend’s mixed martial arts gym, I’ve notice...
For the first several years Cindy and I provided our Emerging Leader Development course for individuals and organizations, I was adamant that I DID NOT want to market any type of “coaching” tied to that course or anything else we offered. I had seen so many charlatans embed themselves into different...
In the fifth lesson of our Emerging Leader Development course, I share a story detailing how a friend once introduced me and Cindy to some of his business partners. With a somewhat puzzled look on his face after a few seconds of trying to come up with a reasonable description, he simply said “they’r...
My first full time gig in construction started about a month after I turned fifteen. Earlier that spring, my dad asked if I planned to get a car when I was old enough to drive. “Of course I do!” was my immediate response, and he went on to let me know that I’d probably want to consider making some m...
We started this look at how values serve as the foundation for every organization and how things can go wrong when that foundation isn’t in place. From there, we worked through the importance of clearly defining our organizational values, and how doing so can truly rally our team members, earn buy-i...
To build a reputation that drives results, one that each person who ever hears about us will connect with our core values, being intentional in our approach to providing world-class service and being sure to detail why we’re willing to do it is part of our responsibility as leaders. But doing any of...
Even when we’ve done everything in our power to model the core values our business is built on, we can’t just assume that everyone who cares about those values will automatically connect our behaviors to the reputation we’re working to establish (or maintain). It’s up to us to explain why we’ve chos...
During a conversation Cindy and I had with Carly Fiorina several years ago, she emphasized the importance of taking a “clear-eyed look at our existing state” if we wanted to have any hope of achieving our desired future state - personally, professionally, and with the entire team we’re leading. The ...
Prior to me starting at that manufacturing facility in early 1996, and for the first fifteen years I worked there, one of the largest and most reliable sources for identifying new candidates was a referral from a senior employee. As you can likely imagine, the referrals from the best employees dried...
I’ll ask you once more: Who ultimately cares about your values? Our immediate team members most certainly do. And so do the clients we serve directly as well as the community we’re a part of. But everyone else who hears about us will too, and all of that will impact the results we achieve in one way...
