A Clear Picture…

If we want to have any hope of capturing even the slightest bit of the profit we’re currently throwing away by not developing the most authentic influence we possibly can with our teams and eliminating all that waste that’s so often tied to miscommunication, we need to have an...

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The Cost of Leadership

Before we even begin unpacking any of the specific action steps you or would need to consider to capture even the slightest bit of that profit lost due to poor leadership, I believe it’s absolutely critical to quantify just what we’re likely leaving on the table. I mean, I’ve...

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What’s Killing Your Profitability?

Organizations of all sizes invest significant amounts of time, money, and energy on improving their processes with hopes of becoming more profitable. Sometimes this is based on a goal of becoming best-in-class but sometimes it is just to stay competitive with customers or in attracting talent....

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More Than Words...

No, not the 1991 single by Extreme! I’m talking about what you and I need to provide to set the tone in our organizations - especially since we’re far more likely to get what we are then just what we want! 

Whether they’re listed in the employee handbook, on a document in a...

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A Real Life Example of Leadership

Since we’re gonna get what we are, and not necessarily what we want, I believe it would serve us all well to consider some real life examples of leadership that yielded teams of people who did what they did. Interestingly enough, my internet search for specific leaders who did this yielded...

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People Do What People See…

Expecting anyone to blindly Follow the Leader is more than a little naive, especially over extended periods of time or in performing difficult tasks, because our teams are much more apt to do what they see us doing when we’re in similar situations! But let’s be honest with ourselves...

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Follow the Leader...?

Having just worked through the importance of responsiveness, especially when it comes to showing we value the teams we lead and maintain the influence we’ve worked to earn with the folks on those teams, I want to challenge you to really think into this question: Why is it important to lead...

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A Leader’s First Customer

I believe making responsiveness a priority is considerably easier when we understand just how much impact it has. Think about it, would you even consider not responding to a customer or client who represents tens of thousands in profit for your company? I’d guess most of us would put our...

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Proactive Leadership: Respond and Communicate

I’ll say it again, we don’t necessarily need to have every answer but we do need to respond! If we’re not willing to at least acknowledge the questions, issues, or even outreach of the folks on our teams, should we really expect them to consider us as their leaders? This is...

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A Response, Even if it’s not an Answer…

One of the most valuable things Cindy and I have been able to do through our Emerging Leader Development program has been reading the immediate action steps that participants detail following each lesson. Seeing how individuals with varying levels of leadership responsibility absorb then apply...

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A Leader’s Response…

It can be frustrating enough when we hear “I’ll get back to you on that” from a friend or family member who we know likely won’t follow through, but how much more frustrating is it when it happens with someone in a leadership role?

Let’s be honest, we hold the folks...

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Sending Two Messages at Once...

Since we can’t realistically expect others to just be patient indefinitely and maintain any level of leadership with them, or any respect for that matter, let’s look at what we can each do to make sure we’re sending the message we intend to - knowing that failing to reply...

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