This past Saturday, my wife Mary and I went out for dinner with another couple (Mike and Liz) at a local Italian restaurant.After sharing an appetizer of Gorgonzola Garlic Bread, we waited for our entrees to arrive.Mary and Liz had both ordered the Beet Salad. Mike had ordered Eggplant Parmesan. I’d ordered Pan-Seared Salmon.Our waitress … Read more
Happy New Year!Did you create a list of goals for 2016? If you’re like most people, your resolution(s) focus on either achieving a specific goal (e.g., making more money), or improving yourself in one of the following dimensions: Physical (health, wellness) Emotional (relationships, mood) Mental (learning, focus) Spiritual (meaning, passion) It probably also involves taking … Read more
As a leader, you have to influence others. This sometimes means telling them what to do. When you’re leading on-on-one, you can be casual and conversational in your direction, and, for the most part, can get your point across. If the person you’re leading doesn’t get it, you’ll have direct and immediate feedback that they’re lost. … Read more
It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question. Eugene Ionesco In a knowledge economy, your ability to create value is in direct proportion to your ability to ask a good question. Let’s be honest: You’re not really interested in getting more information. What you want is insight. Insight fuels your ability to make better … Read more
Every leader (and organization) has its strengths. Where do the strengths serve well? Where do they incur costs? I led the following awareness-building exercise with a team of leaders at a manufacturing organization. You can try it with alone, or with your team. Leadership Quality Awareness Exercise Think back on all the leaders you’ve ever … Read more
When was the last time you were in a meeting, and heard the presenter say: I know this next slide is an eye chart, but… And then you see something like this:Your eyes scan the page, but can’t stop moving.Your head starts to swim.You get nauseous.You want to run from the room screaming.Welcome to Death … Read more
How do your customers like working with you? Customer (in this context) can be either external or internal. External customers are what we think of as the ‘traditional’ customer.Internal customers can be anyone who is upstream or downstream in the value chain: colleagues, direct reports, managers, suppliers, contractors. We all like it when our customers are easy … Read more
obesity mcdonalds walking dead bank When I first picked up my local paper last week and read the front page of the “Cities & Towns” section, my first thought was that the three finalists for Police Chief at UMASS/Amherst had to perform together playing tiny guitars.Not quite.I’d come my erroneous conclusion by connecting … Read more
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Will Rogers As a leader, you know that first impressions matter. When take to your stage, you have less than a minute – a tiny window of opportunity-to build real rapport with your audience. If you don’t connect, the window slams shut. It doesn’t … Read more
Ken is a nice guy.Everyone says so. A senior VP of strategy at a major aerospace company, Ken prides himself on being pleasant and agreeable to work with. Ken works really hard to be nice. So what’s wrong? Being nice is killing Ken’s effectiveness and efficiency at work.It’s also impacting his team, his peers, … Read more
