He was a new supervisor and he seemed frustrated as we spoke. “Why do I have to ask people to do things? Shouldn’t I be able to just tell them to do it?” The short answer is, “Yes, you can tell them and they should respond.” But is that the… Read More »The Magic and Power of Please and Thank You
Recently, I was in a discussion with fellow members of the National Speakers Association who are also military veterans. We were discussing what our military experience brought to our speaking profession and I noticed a common theme. We had all noticed a major difference between our military experience and… Read More »What’s Esprit de Corps and How do I Get Some
In fact there are several. It’s true that to be most effective, the team should act as a coordinated entity, smoothly working together toward a common mission and shared goals. But, all teams are made up of individuals with their own personal goals and priorities. The leader’s challenge is to… Read More »There is an “I” in Team
It was a cry of despair. The retail employee was waiting to find out if the store manager had decided to move her to a new position as she had requested. After listening to her story, I could see that she really wasn’t being impatient; her request had been made… Read More »How Long Does it Take to Make a Decision?
A common year-end tradition is lists of books experts recommend for the coming year. The lists I see invariably include a number of tomes on ways to be a successful business leader. There are plenty of those lists out there so I won’t bore you with yet another one. Instead,… Read More »How to Find Real Value in Leadership Books
I’m appalled, though unfortunately I guess I’m not really surprised. Amidst all the rhetoric about equality and fair treatment, it turns out there is a lot of inequality and unfair treatment going on. Specifically, ever day now the news brings us another story detailing the sordid details of some new… Read More »I’m Appalled – Enough Already
Command and control (the beast) is not a popular form of leadership these days. Most of the time the method is unnecessary and a sign of a weak and insecure leader who knows no other way to be effective. The most effective leaders find some version of servant leadership (beauty)… Read More »Beauty and the Beast: Servant Leadership vs. Command and Control
Coach. Say the word and different pictures come to mind. Some might think of a favorite sports coach while others conjure images (good or bad) of their drill instructor, or perhaps a favorite teacher. Regardless of the situation, we find that coaches are individuals who provide assistance to someone to… Read More »9 Ways to Create the Perfect Coaching Relationship
We called him Sergeant Joe. He was from Thailand and we could not pronounce his real name. It barely fit on his name tag so he took pity on us and let us call him Sergeant Joe. Three of us brand new aircraft mechanics were assigned as his trainees, which… Read More »A Leadership Story About Sergeant Joe