Over the last several years, I’ve seen more and more references - through basically every media channel I pay any attention to with ties to the overall workforce - to the importance of soft skills. More often than not though, these references are generalizations tied to manager and...
In March of 2000, as a 23 year old 250 ton stamping press operator (and carpenter on the side), I applied for and was somehow offered a position implementing the latest and greatest Lean manufacturing initiative the company I was working for was pushing down from the corporate office. I had been...
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....
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...
Let me emphasize it again just in case we’re not on the same page… Quiet quitting may be a relatively new term but it ain’t a new thing! And while I’ll never suggest I’m OK with someone giving less than satisfactory effort expecting a world-class reward, I’m...
We don’t need to hold a press conference, but it really is something we should have been keenly aware of for years! Now that I’ve made a case that quiet quitting hasn’t necessarily taken the place of Covid on the pandemic scene, and in some cases it may actually be the current...
I’ve been seeing the term Quiet Quitting more and more over the last few months. To be very clear, I’ve never been one to jump on many bandwagons. This catchphrase was definitely one that got me to scowl more than a few times! And in complete transparency, I just haven’t been...
Last time I referenced how terrible it was to work for one of the most miserable human beings I’ve ever been around. Just in case you think I may have been embellishing it, you’re welcome to reach out to Cindy and ask for the rest of the story that I shared with her shortly after I...
To this point, we’ve dug into HOW teamwork really can make the dream work in our organizations and we looked at a few core competencies we’ll need to develop for effective team leadership. Now it’s time we really hash out exactly what skills we need to apply on a daily basis if...
OK, so maybe teamwork can make the dream work with regards to helping drive profitability in our organizations… And maybe employee engagement and teamwork are directly correlated with one another… But how do these fairly fluffy ideas become reality and who’s responsible for...
We started down this path by defining the differences between an executive who owns or manages a company and one who truly leads their company. Then we took a detailed look at the process Cindy and I have developed locally to help a dozen or so executives focus on identifying the solutions they...
I heard John Maxwell say, “Anyone can find a problem, but it takes a leader to find a solution,” (or something along those lines) for the first time nearly twenty years ago. In fact, I remember him sharing a story about the time he started requiring anyone on his team bringing him a...
