Build a great company on a powerful foundation!
Last week I talked a bit about the sprint to the finish line, or other periods of gathering together to do the good hard work.
After that hard work, there should be time to celebrate what we’ve been through. Depending on the difficulty of the experience, we should take time to express gratitude and appreciation.
As a leader, this is one of your primary roles. People look to you as the heart of the organization.
Read the rest of this entry »When we’re faced with a huge challenge, it’s time for everyone to get busy and help out. We know we have hard work to do, but doing it together makes things go easier.
There’s a very special energy in aligning as a group!
And it works best when everybody jumps in, from the boss to the bottle washer. It’s a very democratic endeavor that way.
Read the rest of this entry »We have this big distinction in the USA – and many other countries – about structuring as a non-profit entity versus for-profit. We have to recognize, though, that we’re intermingling two quite different concepts. It’s important to not get confused.
The first concept is that a non-profit is somehow heart-centered and oriented toward unselfish benefits, while a for-profit is somehow … not? So it must be profit-centered and oriented toward selfish purposes. But we’ve grown comfortable with that distinction, even though it’s inaccurate and often wrong.
The other concept we mix with this is the tax structure and, generally, the relationship with the government. Non-profits take on extra restrictions and reporting requirements in trade for being exempt from certain kinds of taxes.
So where does this overlap lead us astray?
Read the rest of this entry »When I try to explain to people why coaching can be so powerful, I often include the fact that I try to nurture a sense of optimism, lightness, even humor.
Now, our work is often about serious things and serious situations. Business can be tough most of the time. But I find that the weight of this can easily push my clients to feeling stuck.
I don’t see any good alternatives. I’m out of ideas. There are so many negative effects of any action I might take.
Read the rest of this entry »I caught the end of a report recently which was talking about the difference between top-down organizational initiatives, and bottom-up. This is something that I’ve thought about for many years.
Back when I was in the corporate world, it bugged me that people would declare that the first step in doing something significant was to get an “executive sponsor.”
I understand the logic, but it’s also an excuse to blame inaction on someone else. You’ve disempowered yourself.
Read the rest of this entry »There’s no such thing as too many heartfelt thank-yous.
This principle has served me well, even though I’m not as good at it as I’d like to be. But it’s a habit that I’ve been trying to form as a manager, as a leader, and as a contributor to various groups.
But it’s not as simple as it sounds.
Read the rest of this entry »As a leader, you probably spend most of your day responding to stuff. There are a million little things which demand immediate attention – many of them small and quickly dispensed with.
It makes you feel important, because you’re busy all the time. We’re all busy.
But busyness is not productivity. Productivity is launched from having actual thought leading to useful activity.
Read the rest of this entry »True leaders understand that their role is to serve others.
That sounds like a contradiction, right? When we think of the typical boss/employee model, it’s very clear which direction serving should go.
You’re the boss, and others aren’t. So they should serve you.
The reality is that this isn’t sustainable.
Read the rest of this entry »I’ve had a surprising number of conversations recently with people who are planning to move from one stage to the next – personally or in their business.
What usually comes with this is a sense that “I’ve never done this before.” So big disorientation and unsettledness.
Everything seems upside down.
Read the rest of this entry »This has been an extraordinarily distracting time for me recently. Family concerns, changes in my business, and other groups … a whole lot going on!
Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.
– John Lennon (perhaps)
So my task right now is to enjoy life as it’s happening, and to not try to fight it. Right?
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The Values-Based Business 