I didn’t always understand what a great culture looked like. In fact, as a young West Point cadet and later as an Army officer, I only had a vague notion of what a culture was at all. We had a set way of doing things, to be sure, but it was pretty much taken for … Read more
By now, you’ve seen the term Level 5 used a lot around here. It’s even in our name! You might be wondering what we mean by Level 5. Here’s some explanation. Over the course of four decades, I’ve been exposed to each of the five levels of culture described below. For brevity’s sake, I’ve given … Read more
Listening can feel harder to do than ever. There’s always going to be outside distractions. Emails, texts, meetings, presentations, it can seem to go on and on. It can be easy to get lost in a sea of noise. How do we become better listeners? One tool to do so is called the backbrief. The … 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
I don’t think I’ve ever been involved with an organization where some, if not all, of the leaders felt the meetings they held or attended could be much more productive. Most surveys indicate unnecessary and poorly conducted meetings are one of the biggest irritants in the workplace. Even worse, we typically don’t hold the most … Read more
