Business is an active, demanding endeavor. Only those who consistently apply themselves succeed. Organizations that thrive require leaders who actively dream, plan, engage, solve, pursue and network. It’s a lot of work, and there is no finish line. But no one can keep up the pace indefinitely. Every leader experiences profound peaks and valleys, seasons…
As a leader, how do you pursue excellence? How do you differentiate between excellence and perfection? Does it matter? Perfectionistic leaders develop the skills to blend reason, logic, emotion and insight. They rely on these tools to affirm their sense of purpose—a strategy that helps them solve and avoid problems, while providing them motivation…
Employees generally agree that leaders with a passion for excellence, quality and accomplishment benefit their organizations. These qualities place leaders at the top of their fields. No one faults managers who give their all and make sacrifices, but too much of a good thing can also pose problems. Perfectionistic leaders may be as damaging as…
Since all leaders mold their culture one way or another, a grateful leader influences their people in ways that demonstrate the benefits of thankfulness. People see the difference and they like it, wanting more of it. Work life becomes more enjoyable and rewarding. Leading by example is the most powerful means to prompt a better…
KEY DRIVERS BEHIND PASSION ADVOCATES In my last two articles, I have been discussing the Employee Passion Deficit as identified in a study measuring employee passion. The study measured both the employees’ passion for their job AND the organization they work for. For the employees who identified themselves as passionate about the job but not…
PEOPLE ARE LESS PASSIONATE ABOUT THEIR ORGANIZATION Last week my post started the discussion on Bridging the Employee Passion Deficit, Part 1. This week, we continue by reviewing the data behind a study published by Keith E. Ayers, Founder Intégro Leadership Institute, Dr. Frank Cahill, Psychologist, BA. Grad Dip Applied Psych, Dpsych, MAPS with Dr….
Are you leading with trust? It is a fact that high-trust organizations constantly outperform others, but oddly enough, few leaders focus on building trust with stakeholders. The leaders I work with are, for the most part, trustworthy. Yet almost everyone could do more to reinforce an environment of high trust in the workplace. There is…
Many managers fail to coach their people, preferring to fix problems and suggest solutions. They don’t take the time to have coaching conversations in which they ask provocative questions. As a result, managers don’t coach and fail to teach people to think things through. I’ve been writing a series about a checklist for initiating coaching…
It’s not always that managers don’t know how to coach; it’s that conversations with employees often turn into project task updates instead of furthering their growth and development. This is not unusual. I see it all the time when I’m called into organizations to coach. Yet it can be avoided by use of a simple…
In spite of wide-spread coach training, most of the time managers aren’t using coaching skills to grow and develop their people. Instead, many managers still believe their role is that of a problem solver, cutting short conversations with employees by providing solutions, advice, and answers. I often observe managers who don’t use coaching conversations in…