Diversity in West Michigan
I have a client who has become a fast-friend over the past two years since he’s lived in West Michigan. He really likes what we are doing at Leading by DESIGN and agrees with us that West Michigan could be the hotbed of great leadership in the country. It’s really...
Looking Back and Forward—A New Year Ahead
It’s that time of year again. The start of a new year, right on the heels of the closing of last year. I once heard someone say that looking back is a good thing, but probably only in the same ratio that the rear view mirror takes up in your field of vision when...
Vulnerability and the Johari Window
Remember the Johari Window? Many of us were introduced to the Johari Window in the chapter on Feedback. If you went back to your slides, you would notice that there are 4 quadrants. In the upper right is the “I know, You know” box. In the lower right is the “I...
The Value of Business and the Business of Value
Today’s posting is a little different. Most of our topics fall clearly into one of our three main categories of topics from LEAD 365: 1) Being a person worth following; 2) building a great team; or 3) creating clarity around purpose, vision and value. Today’s topic is...
Why Feedback Is Uncomfortable — and What To Do About It
Many people struggle with giving negative feedback because they don’t want to hurt the other person or strain the relationship. But plenty of people struggle with giving positive feedback to others.
“The Emperor’s New Clothes” and the Need for Feedback
It’s easy to laugh at the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes and at how ridiculously the characters behaved, but I believe that we live out this story every single day.
Great Onboarding
(This post was first published here on December 19, 2016.) Part of building great teams is getting the right people on the bus. And getting the right people on the bus means having a great onboarding process. This is indispensable to helping them get started on the...
An Unfair Advantage, Part 2
(This post was first published here on May 29, 2017.) Last week I shared some observations I've noticed over many years of studying leaders regarding what gives some of them an unfair advantage over others. Here's a reminder of what I shared: These leaders don't worry...
An Unfair Advantage, Part 1
(This post was first published here on May 22, 2017.) Over my twenty-five years of studying great leaders, I’ve come to believe that some leaders, maybe only ten to twenty percent, have an unfair advantage when they compete against other leaders. This unfair advantage...
Being a Follower Worth Leading
Yes, I wrote that correctly. Not only do we need to be leaders worth following, we also need to be followers worth leading. It takes two to tango, so if there is a leader, there is also a follower. Of course the great majority of what we do is focused around what it...