Circle of Safety
Three years ago I read Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek and enjoyed many aspects of it. One concept that stirred me up was his contention that people need to work in a “circle of safety" where they don’t ever have to worry about being fired. Sinek’s belief is that...
Vision Accomplished
Many of you know that over five years ago a vision was established. My daughter Morgan and I committed ourselves to summiting the 46 high peaks of the Adirondacks in upstate New York. On July 26, 2013, we summited the first of those high peaks: Cascade Mountain. We...
When Things Get Weird
Remember the Human System? It's the reason so many of us don't do well giving or receiving feedback. Here's a quick recap, worded a little differently than you may have seen it before: We are unique, with different beliefs, values, passions, gifts and voids, wiring,...
Beliefs, Culture, and Grit
(This post was first published here on November 7, 2016.) I am reading a good book right now called Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth. In a nutshell, this book is about the various psychological studies done over many years around what...
The Great Eight: Wrap Up
(This post was first published here on October 3, 2016.) I've served on a whole lot of teams in my life, some great, some not-so-great, and I can say without hesitation that the team I work with at Leading by DESIGN is the best, healthiest, most connected team I've...
The Great Eight: Chemistry
(This post was first published here on September 26, 2016.) Chemistry is the last of our eight characteristics of great teams. This is the most difficult of the eight characteristics to write about as it’s the one I understand the least. I believe we can teach you...
The Great Eight: Grace
(This post was first published here on September 19, 2016.) Grace is a unique aspect of great teams. It’s also something that is seldom talked about by experts in team performance. Do you remember what we meant we used the term “grace” at our offsite where we...
The Great Eight: Knowing Yourself and Others
(This post was first published here on September 12, 2016.) If everyone were just more like me, the world would be a better place—or at least my organization would be—or at least my team would be. Besides being an entirely narcissistic statement, it would not be the...
The Great Eight: Talent
(This post was first published here on September 6, 2016.) In order to be a great team, there are specific tasks that need to be done very well. The word “talent” describes what is required in order to achieve each of these tasks with excellence. Great teams have the...
The Great Eight: Trust
(This post was first published here on August 30, 2016.) As I write this post, there are 6,289 books on trust available under the Business and Money category on Amazon. What can we possibly add to all that wisdom? Maybe nothing. But please keep reading anyway. Trust...