“A leader’s lasting value is measured by succession.” – John C. Maxwell In my younger days, I was an aspiring baseball player, relegated initially to the bench for a couple of seemingly endless seasons. One coach I remember distinctly used to tell us ‘bench-riders’ that we could never just sit there if we really wanted … Read more
“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” – Max De Pree It seems like every conversation I hear these days is about the challenges of virtual communication and leadership. In the pre-pandemic days, I focused on scheduling “face-to-face” … Read more
What are the most effective tools in your toolbox for establishing, nurturing, and leading your company culture to grow into a ‘Level 5’ culture? Here are two proven methods (in detail) that you can start using right away to maintain the momentum going towards that ultimate goal: 1) Develop an Integrated Process Team and Charter … Read more
There’s a reason why “micromanage” is often considered a dirty word. The idea that a single leader can handle every aspect of a task, down to the smallest detail, is truly a myth. Even if someone could handle it all themselves, it would result in the crowding out of other team members. Micromanagement will only create … Read more
How do we know how we measure up? We need a point of reference. To benchmark is to compare yourself against the highest standards. How do we benchmark our organization’s culture to see how it is performing? I describe how in “Benchmarking Your Culture,” Part 6 of my video blog series, the Leadership Journey of … Read more
One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned as a leader is embodied in The Big Six® principle, “Trust and Empower.” It wasn’t that I didn’t want to empower others; yet, I always seemed to drift back into being more controlling. And, throughout my career, I had to continuously step back and try to see myself … Read more
