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The latest insights in leadership
Leading through change, disruption, and uncertainty
A few years ago, I was part of an organization that was successfully striding toward accomplishing our strategic goals when unexpected external forces imposed a drastic direction change. Our strategic goals, operational efforts, and daily routines devolved into...
The Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) – rest in peace!
Call it a personal peeve of mine, or maybe just me getting old, but when someone says the phrase, “They are on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP),” it is like nails on a chalkboard for me! Fortunately, I have never been on a PIP, but I have worked with many who have...
Platinum adaptation: how the most successful leaders adapt to their followers
In a recent workshop I attended, a discussion arose around the concept of adapting to others as a leader versus expecting followers to adapt to the leader. We explored adaptation as the “Platinum Rule,” where you treat others as they need to be treated (versus the...
To improve employee retention, start training your leaders sooner
Many organizations don’t really have serious retention strategies. If I had $1,000 for every business leader who used “my kids” as a significant data point, I would have retired long ago. If I had an additional $1,000 for every time someone said something like, “We...
Battling high employee turnover? Top causes of employee turnover and how investing in leadership development can reduce your turnover rate
“I QUIT!” says one of your high potential employees as they enter the office on a Monday morning. You are perplexed and entirely caught by surprise by this situation. What do you do next? I would argue that battling employee turnover does not start when employees...
Defining and operationalizing your expectations
I have a friend whose mantra is “managing expectations.” His point is that just about every disagreement can come back to the fact that the opposing parties had a different expectation when they went in. Let’s translate that to our team. When there are differing...
Strengths based leadership: bring out the best in your team
"When employees know and use their strengths, they are more engaged – nearly 6x more – have higher performance and are much less likely to leave their company." – Gallup Like so many others, I learned to lead through trial and error. It wasn't until late in my career...
Go where the friction is
You can't lead people in a one-size-fits-all way anymore—particularly in the remote environment. And so, as a leader, I need to understand every individual on my team—especially my direct reports. What do my direct reports need, and how do I meet them where they're...
The magic is in the pause between the notes
I spent many years of my youth and early adulthood learning and perfecting my ability to play the guitar. I studied music theory, listened to my favorite artists, and learned to play musical scales as fast as possible. One day, I had the opportunity to sit down with a...
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