Team & Culture Building
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 good to have this affirmation…
Read MoreWhy 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.
Read MoreGreat 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 right foot.
Read MoreAn 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 about who gets credit for significant accomplishments. These leaders…
Read MoreBeing 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 takes to…
Read MoreCircle 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 people who are concerned about…
Read MoreWhen 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, experiences, and so on. We are dysfunctional, and it shows…
Read MoreBeliefs, 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 makes people successful. Of course in these studies they are…
Read MoreThe 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 worked on. I think the four…
Read MoreThe 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 how to grow the other seven characteristics
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