“If you’re the boss and your people fight you openly when they think that you are wrong – that’s healthy.” – Robert Townsend One of the struggles that many people in leadership roles face on a regular basis is a lack of honesty. It’s not because leaders are surrounded by people who are habitual liars. … Read more
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw So many leaders I talk to express frustration about the situations they find themselves in. The organizations they lead aren’t performing the way they’d like, something’s wrong with their people or products or services, or maybe they … Read more
“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure. It is: Try to please everybody.” – Herbert Bayard Swope One of the challenges that all leaders face is the reality that neither we nor the organizations we lead can do everything we’d like to do. There aren’t … Read more
“What would happen if we spoke the truth?” – Alison Bechdel Last week in this space the topic was truth telling, and the fact that as leaders we give up the right to remain silent when we see things in our organizations that aren’t the way they should be. A few loyal readers pointed out … Read more
“We cannot become what we need to be without changing who we are.” – Max DePree Oftentimes as leaders we fail to see the need for change in our organizations. Sometimes, though, we look at change as obvious. We’re not happy with the results we’re getting or the way we’re getting them and we see … Read more
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw I’ve spent a lot of time recently with an organization that is going through a lot of transition. One of the founding owners is retiring, some new owners are coming on board, there are growth opportunities, etc. … Read more
Today we’re fortunate to have a guest blogger – Julie Noble, PHR, Director of Human Resources, Cain Ellsworth & Company, LLP – thanks Julie! —————————————————————————————— All too often my husband and I find ourselves saying that our kids “never listen”. Perhaps you say the same thing at your home. However, I must admit that I … Read more
“Strategic planning is worthless – unless there is first a strategic vision.” – John Naisbitt In last week’s post I talked about how important it is to plan, and a few key things that make up part of a successful planning process. As a few of you reminded me, there are many other things that … Read more
“We find comfort among those who agree with us – growth among those who don’t.” – Frank Howard Clark Most people’s lives follow a predictable pattern. As we get older, we like to be more comfortable. Part of being more comfortable is surrounding ourselves with people who think like we do, who like the same … Read more
“You don’t lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case.” – Ken Kesey Last week I spent part of a day visiting with a leadership group whose organizational focus is entirely on growth. They’ve been talking about growth for years, and have … Read more
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