In the fifth lesson of our Emerging Leader Development course, Cindy and I share how important it is for anyone with leadership responsibility to build time into their routine to reflect on the progress they are making. All too often, those of us who take on the role of a leader get consumed with...

Between the time we returned from our honeymoon in late April of 2000 to when we were both working exclusively in Dove Development & Consulting, we had done a lot to hone our clear purpose - albeit still quite what we’re working to achieve today. But even the ever-evolving purpose we...

Getting a taste for what it was like to work toward a clear purpose offered a feeling I hadn’t really experienced elsewhere in my work life. Seeing the direct impact I could have on someone else’s career, and how that impacted their entire life, by sharing things I had learned that...

After nearly two decades with the same company, and most of that in one facility, I knew just about everyone I worked with daily on a first name basis. I also knew many of their family members and a fair amount about what the majority of them enjoyed doing during the little bit of time they had...

After more than a decade of leading the behavior-based safety process in my home facility, supporting other plants across North America with their processes, having a hand in other various Lean Manufacturing initiatives, and helping out with multiple human resource functions, I had the...

Since we started this look at the importance of leading with a clear purpose, I’ve shared a few references to the definite purpose that drives me and Cindy today, and I promised to go into more detail on that before we wrap things up. Before I do that though, I'll emphasize once more that...

If empowering our team members requires a significant change in our approach, as compared to what they’re used to seeing from us, we’ll likely receive some curious looks and even some resistance - at least at first. We recently heard an example detailing exactly that as we kicked off...

John sharing the perspective on work/life harmony - rather than work/life balance - opened up a whole new world to me. Working hard, and working a lot, wasn’t something I should be ashamed of. And I wasn’t putting myself at risk of burnout, like far too many people suggest as the...

Early on in this look at Leading With a Clear Purpose, I shared examples of close friends who have dedicated (and risked) their lives through careers serving others; military, fire, and law enforcement. In detailing those, I even provided some average starting wages for police officers and...

Earlier, we looked at how important it is for anyone in a leadership role to paint a clear picture of the organizational purpose they’re working toward so each member of their teams could have something tangible to connect with. While that was a broad reference that I only touched on in...

Once we’ve been intentional about adjusting the pace we use to help each of our team members latch onto a purpose that drives them and yields engagement, we can shift our attention to the second piece of the pattern that Marston identified; is our team member more focused on the task at...

As we work to verbalize a purpose each of our team members find fulfillment in and connect with, something they can rally around as a genuine purpose in their life, it won’t be as simple as throwing the proverbial mud against the wall and hoping something sticks. This will require us to be...