Category Archives: Leadership
Want a great culture? Focus on these three things
The culture of your organization will either ensure your long term success or potentially leave your organization vulnerable to external threats. An effective culture leads to innovation, agility, great customer service, higher profit margins and high employee engagement. A weak …
Should you manage like Steve Jobs?
As I make my way through the biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson I am struck by the apparent incompatible realities of Steve Jobs. As a manager, especially in his early days, Steve Jobs was as autocratic, manipulative and …
Helping or Harping?
When front line supervisors and managers are asked to share some of the characteristics of the best manager or supervisor they had ever worked for, they will include “supportive” on that list. One participant was even more emphatic – his …
Fear of mistakes or search for success?
Some organizations, especially ones that are more bureaucratic can begin to develop a culture where the punishment for mistakes exceeds the praise for success. Organizations can get bogged down because employees are focused on playing it safe, fearing career-limiting consequences …
Leadership whack-a-mole?
When we head to the amusement park, a favorite game is Whack-a-mole where the little critters stick their heads up and you try to whack them with a mallet. The person with the highest score wins a prize. Management and …
Employee Performance: Terminate or Rehabilitate?
Today we look at the one or two bottom performing employees you might have on your team or in your company. It could be job performance related or it could be negativity or behavior problems. Can they be ‘fixed’ or …
Is laziness a powerful motivator?
Could laziness be the most powerful motivator of all? And if it is, how can you use this to your advantage? As a people watcher have you ever noticed that the majority of people gravitate to the easiest way of …
Decision making waste?
When asked, the majority of executives, managers and supervisors agree that they frequently make decisions, answer questions and solve problems that should be handled at one or two levels below them. By handling these problems, decisions and questions at the …
Negativity saps productivity
After nearly five years since my last flight as a private pilot, it felt great to get out flying again with an instructor. It was amazing how much past knowledge came back so quickly. That shows the power of repetition …
Hiding in plain sight
Have you ever worked for a manager who was extra fussy about policies, procedures and doing things in a very specific way? One of the exercises in our Front Line Leadership program involves having participants act out different leadership styles …
