There is a huge difference between leaders and managers. Never sell managers short, they are the stewards of resources. Their problems will cost you money Leaders are the stewards of culture. If the organizational culture is toxic, it is the fault of the leaders. Their problems will cost you your whole organization. …
This is just a quick note to thank Laurie MacDonald from MacDonaldConsultants for hosting a wonderful leadership panel on 18 May at the Centre Club Tampa sponsored by The Suncoast Business Leaders organization.
<tap> <tap> CEOs <tap> <tap> Are you out there? Anybody? <tap> <tap> COOs? CFOs? <tap> <tap> Is this thing on? I really want to be that motivator guy. You know, the guy that runs around and pumps everyone up. I want to throw those pithy motivational quotes that seem deep and meaningful, but also contradict…
I had a podcast interview with Jonathan Pritchard over at A Life Well Designed. Jonathan uses design principles to analyze challenges in life and business, then applies design techniques to find elegant, effective solutions. (For some reason I had a tough time enunciating, but I hope the messages were clear.) I enjoyed the interview immensely,…
What is the point of all of it? Millions of dollars are spent each year on personality assessment tests. But, nobody can express a clear reason why. “Two and a half million Americans a year take the Myers-Briggs. Eighty-nine companies out of the US Fortune 100 make use of it, for recruitment and selection or…
We cannot avoid the influences and effect of power in daily life. It is a dynamic, complicated byproduct of social interaction and constantly changes even in a single relationship between two people. How often has the phrase “where do you want to eat?” come up and how often was that decision based on your desire…
Sitting in a chair does not make you a leader. (Not even if it is a really nice chair). I struggled for a long time over the difference between being a leader and being a manager. I knew there was an important way to parse the two, but it took me a while to figure…
Leadership, like any human attribute, comes down to DNA and culture – Nature versus Nurture. I am firmly convinced that every skill necessary to be a great leader can, unequivocally, be learned and mastered by anyone. Full stop. That is the “Nurture” part. The skills and the theory represent a limited field of knowledge. With…
I discussed performance recognition in earlier posts and have a few additional comments. Genuine, honest praise pays dividends in morale, performance, and retention. Reinforce the recognition. Take the opportunity to recognize achievement at each lower level. I mentioned several ways of recognizing performance: individual recognition, peer recognition, formal group recognition, industry awards, industry travel and conferences.
(Continued from “Recognize Performance, Part 1 of 2“.) It is a real challenge to be a good boss. There are a number of actions you can take that can make you the “best boss” someone ever had. One of the most important, and perhaps one of the simplest, means of connecting with subordinates is the…