More than twenty years ago, I learned what’s proven to be one of the most impactful lessons I’ve ever heard around communication from a friend who was a practicing veterinarian. He explained that he could kill my dog and as long as he told me the right way, I’d bring every other dog I ever owned bac...
An article from Harvard Business Impact called “Good Leadership? It all starts with trust.” opens by saying, “Trust is one of the most vital forms of capital a leader has today.” The author then defines trust as “a belief in the abilities, integrity, and character of another person.” A Forbes articl...
Earlier, I mentioned the HR Manager I worked with for over a decade providing a great example of having the confidence to connect with others and build relationships through the process. Whether it was during his time managing the human resource department locally or after he accepted a role based o...
As we looked at why many folks in leadership roles avoid feedback, I shared examples of how some leaders aren’t necessarily avoiding feedback; they just aren’t getting honest input from the folks closest to them on where they have opportunities for growth. In most cases, these leaders are in little ...
To have any hope of taking advantage of the untapped power of honest feedback, we absolutely must develop the skill set of accepting that feedback without justifying our existing performance or allowing the feedback to eat away at our confidence. I mentioned earlier how much it stung, especially ear...
I’m sure if we were having a conversation over coffee, we could list no less than a dozen reasons someone with leadership responsibility would avoid soliciting honest feedback. Before moving on, I’ll emphasize my intentionality for using the phrase “someone with leadership responsibility” rather tha...
Here’s where I found myself: riding high and feeling mean, one of just four people selected to lead the implementation of an exciting new process throughout a nearly one million square foot facility with close to a thousand employees. What an incredible opportunity for a kid who barely graduated hig...
A recent Harvard Business Review article shared that although 95% of people think they are self-aware, only 10-15 % of people are truly self aware.
Self-awareness has two components: internal and external. Internal self-awareness involves understanding one's values, personality traits, strengths, a...
With a clear picture in your mind of someone you know who always says “I’ll get back to you on that” but rarely does, and a firm understanding for the importance of being responsive as a leader, let’s consider one of the biggest challenges I hear from folks with leadership responsibility when presse...
Think back to the scenario I shared as we started digging into the biggest challenges we’re facing in the workplace today where my friend told his students they’d better have a really good excuse for not performing well in his class… He wasn’t just being harsh, he showed up with one good limb even a...
I maintain that I’ve never seen anyone truly value something they didn’t earn… I can’t think of classmates through high school who had some of the fanciest clothing, cars, or whatever but treated those things with very little respect. I remember watching numerous folks party their way through colleg...
As we move from the DRIVEN folks we looked at last time who only make up about 10% of the population to this next group who are just as Fast-Paced and make up around 30% of everyone we’ll ever interact with, there are some very key differences we need to consider as we prepare to have a candid conve...
