In order to get the best results out of your employees, you will need to have some difficult conversations. Whether it be putting an employee on a disciplinary plan or taking accountability for your own mistakes, these conversations lead to better future outcomes....
Natural Leadership
Attitude reflects leadership
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the 2000 blockbuster “Remember the Titans”, it is the story of a Virginia high school football team and their struggle to form a racially integrated unit for the first time during the Civil Rights Movement in 1971. The movie...
How to become a strategic business partner at any level of a company
When I talk to senior leaders in organizations of all sizes, the leadership competency that continues to come up is that companies need leaders to think strategically. What does that look like? What is a strategic business partner? Let's first look at what it's not. A...
Developing your lasting leadership brand: it’s more than a pizza party
Several years ago, I led an organization of over 200 employees. Our work was challenging, and employees worked tirelessly to accomplish complex tasks daily. I wanted to show the team that I appreciated their efforts toward excellence and tried to set a good example of...
How to improve your emotional intelligence
Without people, leadership cannot exist. Each person you communicate with, collaborate with, delegate tasks to, and ask for help from has a unique personality and experiences that influence their relationships and approach to work. If you discount the uniqueness of...
What to look for when hiring your next leader
Leadership drives organizations toward success. How you identify, hire, and invest in the development of your leaders has a direct correlation to the success of your business. The effects of the Great Resignation have resulted in talent shortages for businesses. These...
The Great Resignation’s real driver
One of my favorite lines is, “The plural of anecdote is not evidence.” It means that the story you might hear from your friend or the person-on-the-street interview might not be a good representation of what is actually happening. However, those data points are great...
Creating “strategic stickiness” to improve employee retention
The Great Resignation: Why Millions of Workers Are Quitting, CNBC, October 2021 Why Are So Many Americans Quitting Their Jobs, NPR, October 2021 How Companies Can Improve Employee Retention Right Now, Harvard Business Review, October 2021 Why Are Workers Really...
Leaders control outcomes by focusing on the process
When asked to give a reason why he’s been so successful, University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban stated, “One of the things I always struggle with is we live in such an outcome-oriented world. People want to focus on outcomes, and I think outcomes are a...
Leadership 301: building a team – selection & hiring
This month, our leadership journey takes us up another step on the leadership ladder. If you haven’t read my last blogs on leading yourself and leading within a team, please do so before you read this one; self-care and leadership within a team are foundational...