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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 …

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 …

Making amends

Should a leader apologize when he or she makes a mistake, or is it a sign of weakness? In the front line leadership course we have two case studies on balancing friendship and leadership. This is a unique situation faced …

Teamwork requires conflict

If the title of this article makes you scratch your head, consider for a few minutes the concept that a strong team with a high degree of trust requires its members to challenge one another. Ian Thomas, a professional speaker …

Poor listener? Listen up

As you might imagine, as a paid expert on communication and leadership, I get some well earned ribbing at home from my wife Robin because of my poor listening skills as a husband and father. Once I made the comment …

Employees Listen With Their Eyes

Whenever a leader is within the sightline of his or her employees, communication is occuring. What message is your face and body language communicating without you even having to open your mouth? Communication continues to be a problem for virtually …

Frustrations be gone

Do you want to be less frustrated at work? An engineering manager shared an insight in a leadership course I was teaching a couple of weeks ago. He said that being frustrated is simply a sign that you are avoiding …

Massacre of Morale: How to Diagnose and Repair a Rapid Decline in Morale and Attitude

It caught me by surprise to see a dramatic change in morale and attitude with a client I have worked with on a number of occasions. When I last met with them in early 2008, everything was very positive and …

Disconnected Leadership: How to align senior management and front line leaders

“My boss needs to take this course.” This is what we hear from supervisors and team leaders who take our front line leadership course.   On the other side of the equation I hear the frustrations of senior executives as …

Modelling the McJob: Why Managing Like McDonalds Might Be Good For Employees

Last Wednesday (May 5th) was McHappy Day at McDonalds Canadian operations. It is a big fundraiser for Ronald McDonald Houses across Canada. I had the priviledge of working as a volunteer that day for the fifth time.   I’m guessing …