The Power of the First Impression — Getting Onboarding Right

One of the most important ways you can determine if your organization’s culture is moving in the right direction is to review and adjust your onboarding process. Remember, it is the first major experience your new recruits will have with your organization, and that first impression can make a serious impact. Whenever a new person … Read more

Growing Great Teams

Some thoughts on growing great teams and the leadership ideals that can inspire them: One person who embodies the leadership qualities of growing high performing teams that contribute to developing a Level 5 culture is General (retired) Colin Powell. I had the privilege to serve on his personal staff when he was the Chairman of … Read more

Leaders Vs. Teams

In my ongoing multiple series of blogs, I’ve described the importance of developing leaders in your organization, with the goal of reaching Level 5 leadership. However, there’s an important distinction between Level 5 leadership and a Level 5 culture. Just because you have a corps of strong individual leaders, it does not mean that they are … Read more

Speaking Last and the Nominative Group Technique

You may have encountered this situation before: you’re in a meeting, and the team leader seems to be using it as an opportunity to remind everyone who is running things, dominating the conversation and setting the agenda without any consultation. Maybe you haven’t been part of a situation quite as severe as that, but it … Read more

The Backbrief: A Tool For Better Listening

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