As I (Cindy) write this, I'm thinking of every leader who wants to be better tomorrow than they are today. That takes reflection. In the fast-paced world of leadership, it's easy to get caught up in the immediate demands of decision-making, managing teams, and driving results. However, reflection st...
Throughout Leading With A Clear Purpose, I emphasized how important it is for everyone in a leadership role to understand exactly why they do what they do, to share a message with our teams detailing why our organization exists, and to help each team member understand their own purpose while connect...
For the casual observer, it could appear as though the results each of the businesses Craig and Kim have acquired are the primary reasons so many solid candidates have applied to join their team. After all, who doesn’t want to be part of a winning team? Where I’d challenge that casual observer, thou...
Having looked at how much folks within our organizations need us to exemplify what we’re holding up as core values and detailing how unlikely we are to build a great team without those values being a legitimate part of what we’re doing on a daily basis, let’s dig into some practical steps each of us...
Whether it’s because we’ve compromised our values, losing credibility with some of the best folks who had previously carried our team, or we simply didn’t put enough intentional effort into rallying everyone around a clearly articulated set of core values, the highest performers in our organizations...
I’ll say it again: even the most talented individuals rarely form a great team without clear values serving as the foundation. For more than two decades, I’ve heard John Maxwell emphasize how “everything rises and falls on leadership.” When it comes to building a foundation on those values, those of...
As I opened the second section of Leading With A Clear Purpose, I shared the story of my fondest Major League Baseball memory, the 2004 American League Championship Series where the Boston Red Sox narrowly avoided being swept and came back to win four straight games against the New York Yankees befo...
Leaders who are strategically growing are open to receiving feedback from others, recognizing it as a valuable source of insight. In contrast, a leader lacking growth may resist or dismiss feedback, perceiving it as criticism rather than an opportunity for improvement. As a young leader, this was me...
As I shared what I’ve observed personally over the last several years for what I believe is a textbook example of using core values as a foundation for an organization, I mentioned how I’ve seen Craig and Kim work to ensure every member of their team understands exactly what each value looks like in...
 Since I had no direct authority over the team of behavior-based safety observers supporting me, earning and maintaining their trust was a crucial part of why they chose to remain engaged in the process when it would have been easier for each of them to focus solely on their actual job requirements....
Let’s assume your organization has done a solid job of listing what your values mean and you’ve worked to remove all possible ambiguity by connecting those values to the daily activities of each team member, then what? As leaders, the ball most definitely remains in our court.
An Inc.com article ca...
Make no mistake, providing behavioral examples that define our core values doesn’t have to be through some elaborate presentation for the world to see, or even done with a nifty slideshow in small groups. It’s far more important that we exemplify the appropriate behaviors personally and that we reco...
