What separates high achieving leaders from the rest?Don is the general manager (GM) of a fast food restaurant. Year after year, he’s won GM of the year within his region of about 100 restaurants. At a conference last week, I had a chance to speak with Mike, Don’s boss and the district manager of his … Read more
How do you help people to perform at their best?One answer may surprise you.James had always been a “middle of the bell curve “employee. An engineer for a technology company, James had been a solid performer for 32 years. Solid, but never outstanding. Given his performance, James had been passed over for promotions and … Read more
Are you on a team that’s only a team in name only? If so, you’re not alone.This past week, I worked with a Executive Operating Committee (EOC) of a global pharmaceutical organization. Twenty persons strong, EOC members had flown into New York City from around the world to spend two days together. The EOC has … Read more
It’s January. A New Year. For many companies, this means the annual rite of setting performance goals is in full swing. Sadly, some leaders are much better at setting goals than others. Over the past month, I worked with a midsize manufacturing organization to help them improve their goal setting process. In my initial interviews, … Read more
My twelve year old son, Alexander, just got braces on his teeth. In case you don’t remember or never had them, braces hurt the first few days. A lot. Alexander is a trooper, and knew that the pain in his mouth would eventually subside.But that first afternoon, he was extremely uncomfortable. Later that evening, around … Read more
My head was in a fog. I could barely move. All I wanted to do was sleep. This wasn’t my usual week. I was in the throes of a particularly brutish cold. And still- I had stuff to get done. All the momentum on my projects ground to a halt.I didn’t feel like doing anything.In … Read more
On Saturday, I got to be a guinea pig in an experiment on leadership, coaching, and motivation.I didn’t plan for this. It just worked out that way.The laboratory? My local CrossFit gym. The experiment? A group workout, where were matched up to work in teams of two. Saturday’s workout was a 5000 meter row on … Read more
The strangest thing happened to me last week. I was at BDL, also known as Bradley International Airport, just north of Hartford CT. BDL is my home airport, and I’ve flown in and out of it hundreds of times. On the way to my departing gate, as is sometimes the case, I had to use the … Read more
Um, hold on a second, just let me close the door to my office. The conversation was about to get a bit more interesting.I was on the phone with the Jan, the head of Human Resources of a privately held consumer products company. The company had notched 102 straight years of profit- until this last year. … Read more
Last Wednesday was a sunny, crisp, beautiful Fall New England morning. That’s when it all went terribly wrong.It was already 8:10 am, and I was hurrying to get Miranda, my nine-year old daughter to school on time.Her school’s about a mile from home, and thus far this school year, we’ve been riding our bicycles to … Read more
