Team & Culture Building
Three-Bucket Leaders
If we were playing Jeopardy, the clue I’m about to give deserves to be the Daily Double: The three “buckets” we are committed to filling in the year of LEAD 365. If you were the first to your buzzer, you would give the following answer (in the form of a question, of course): What is…
Read MoreLeadership Toolbox: Leaning into Healthy Conflict
Alternative Title: How a Lowly Brake Operator Changed Corporate Policy in One Conversation My father spent the last 10 years or so of his career working at a metal-press company in the Kalamazoo area. He was responsible for training new employees how to use the presses and working with them until they mastered the work.…
Read MoreLeadership Toolbox: Feedback and the 5-to-1 Ratio
In the last post in this series we explored how to apply the leadership tool of listening. This week, we’re focusing on feedback and the results you can get when you use this tool wisely. Once again, this post isn’t about HOW to give feedback (for that, go here and here). It’s about the results you…
Read MoreLeadership Toolbox: Listening
Listening—so simple to understand, so hard to do. I’m talking about real listening—listening to understand—not being silent until it’s your turn to talk. This post is not about HOW to listen. (For that, go here or here). Today we’re going to focus on what you can accomplish with the incredibly powerful tool of listening. Last week…
Read MoreLeadership Toolbox: Understanding Living Systems
All leaders, regardless of industry, position, education, or experience, have at least one thing in common: They all work with humans. In fact, leaders are humans themselves! And as frustrating as it can be, humans often behave in ways that don’t make sense. Understanding living systems and the impact anxiety has on a system is…
Read MoreUprooting False Beliefs
There is a certain way our dysfunction manifests itself that I believe is incredibly powerful and potentially destructive: False Beliefs. Beliefs are the things we know to be true but can’t prove. Beliefs drive our behavior; they can be big (like a belief in God) or little (like a belief that being a few minutes…
Read MoreCelebration: It’s Not Just for Holidays Anymore
(This post was first published here on January 4, 2016.) When was the last time your team did something that made a difference? That they went the extra mile? That they hit their goals, or accomplished more than was asked of them? When was the last time you celebrated something with your team? I hope…
Read MoreThe Problem with Perception
I’ve never known anyone who was what he or she seemed; or at least, was only what he or she seemed. People carry worlds within them. I love the quote above by Neil Gaiman. I probably use it too much, but it’s become a mantra of sorts for me. It helps me approach each person…
Read MoreDiversity in West Michigan Part 2
Last month I started sharing my long-time thoughts on diversity. Today and next week I want to continue sharing my thoughts about what I believe is an important topic if West Michigan is to become the Silicon Valley of leadership. As I mentioned in my first posting on this topic, I’ve wrestled deeply for fifty…
Read MoreLiving Systems and High-Impact Listening
A living system is any group of people who spend time together and therefore become “emotionally wired together.” A Living System is the people and the stuff that connects the people in a defined group.
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