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You may not notice, but everything you do as a leader is affecting your people. If you’re having a lousy day, your folks pick that up and will reflect it by being brittle and tense.
Which then affects customers and everybody else.
But you also don’t want to live life behind a mask, right? Just put on the “inspiring, confident leader” face 24/7?
Read the rest of this entry »Leadership is weird.
We’re stuck in this space of always striving, always reaching. Never satisfied with the status quo.
But that wears people out – physically, emotionally, intellectually. So what’s the difference between a leader who uses this effectively, versus just burning people out?
Read the rest of this entry »I was listening to a great conversation with Ed and Peter Schein recently. They threw out a powerful concept:
“Accountability and transparency are needed when you don’t have trust and openness.”
Since I’m a fan of both trust and transparency, this challenged my thinking. But I think they have a great point which is worth exploring.
Read the rest of this entry »Cleaning up after a meeting, I asked, “where’s your recycling?”
I wasn’t that surprised to find out they had no recycling bin in that office, so I simply took the can home with me. No big deal.
I wasn’t trying to be “that annoying guy with an agenda”, but trying to move the needle, even fractionally.
Read the rest of this entry »I have a fun exercise that I’ve developed for business owners. It’s similar to the discussion of varied roles you have in life: worker, leader, parent, participant in a group, and so on.
But this is a little different.
I’ll help the client to realize that there are different personalities going on: owner, primary employee, sales person, chief financial officer, and so on. This can be a whole lot of “people” bundled into one for someone who is a solopreneur or has a very small company.
Read the rest of this entry »We all know compassionate people, those who brighten the world by their very existence. You just know they’re making the world a better place.
Business doesn’t have that reputation. It’s about making products. Delivering services. Being profitable. Attacking competitors.
That’s a very functional feeling, even hard-edged. Especially when you’re talking about the numbers.
As your business grows and matures, it is almost inevitable you will ask yourself whether to buy or lease space from which to operate. Here are a few key considerations when making this decision.
So what does it mean for a company to have a more compassionate approach? And does it matter?
Read the rest of this entry »Business can be so stressful and serious. Deadlines. Money. Missed commitments. Disagreements.
So here’s the question: Do you permit yourself to have any fun in the business? I sure hope you have enjoyment in your personal activities and hobbies, but what about when you’re working?
Even if you’re not the boss, you can still do that, you know. But when you ARE the boss, it’s actually part of your job as a leader.
Read the rest of this entry »How enthusiastic are your customers about your products? Your company?
Of course, you have the most amazing products and services. You strive every day to promote them and to constantly improve them. That’s fantastic.
But … enthusiasm for your company? That’s harder to answer.
Read the rest of this entry »I’m a member of a local organization of professional coaches. We recently had a very powerful meeting, and one of the attendees described it in a way which really stuck with me:
“An encouragement based community.”
In fact, that does describe how I feel about this group. More importantly, it got me thinking about how we often use “support” but not “encouragement.” In groups, communities, and the workplace.
Read the rest of this entry »We’re all looking for the magic key to managing employees. But despite all the support, the benefits, the encouragement … they never seem to care as much about the business as you do.
That’s natural. They haven’t poured their heart and soul into it for as long as you have. And, if you’re the owner, you may have your entire life savings tied up in this.
But it is possible to tap that energy, that passion, that caring.
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The Values-Based Business 