A Harvard Business Review article on the Power of Mattering at Work told a story about Jane, a custodian. Jane longed to be more than just a janitor, until her supervisor shared a different perspective. This supervisor showed Jane the definition of custodian that said, “A person responsible for looking after something.” This wise leader told Jane that she ...
My friend, Jim, is a retired CEO who, over the years, assumed leadership in multiple floundering organizations. Jim’s experience revealed that a toxic culture can take five to six years to heal. Jim learned, when you try to change a culture, 20% of your workforce will typically embrace the change. 60% will be neutral, but the remaining 20% will ...
Former Chick-fil-a executive, Mark Miller, discovered three words to help any organization build a stronger culture. The first word Mark emphasized was Aspire. You need to paint a picture for your team of what culture you aspire to for your organization. Mark shared that Truett Cathy told the same customer service stories to each group because he wanted to consistently ...
Several studies highlighted in the Wall Street Journal substantiate that “attractive” people experience a “halo effect.” This halo effect means that we tend to assume that good looks are a sign of intelligence, trustworthiness, and good character. A Journal of Economics and Business study found that good-looking banking CEOs make over $1 million more in total compensation than their lesser-looking ...
A recent Harvard Business Review article discussed the culture of busyness that permeates the workforce. Social scientists have begun to call this malady, “time poverty.” The article notes that many organizations reward and affirm busyness, perpetuating such a fast pace that employees have little time to find adequate solitude and rest to perform at their best. Studies show that extreme ...
The 2023 Freedom at Work Survey, performed by Ipsos, found that 42% of potential job seekers are much less likely to apply to work at a company whose work culture is hostile to their religious or political views. In my opinion, many workplace diversity programs are signaling employees that their personal religious views are secondary to the politically correct programs ...
In this series, we’re discussing some of the snares that can surface when a business leader begins experiencing success. The snare I want to address today is privacy. Seeking privacy is important for time of reflection and rest, but some leaders who begin experiencing success take privacy to an extreme. Some go into isolation due to personal insecurities; others choose ...
Early in my career I observed a couple of guys who were both working hard to climb to the top of the corporate ladder. Over time, one of the two became a ruthless competitor. He would do anything to reach his goals. Although these two were best friends, they eventually found themselves vying for one key position. The ruthless one ...
On August 11th, the day my mother passed, the funeral home sent someone to her memory care facility to take my mother’s body away. As I followed my mother’s body out, a parade of nurses and caregivers formed. The entire crew who had devotedly cared for my mother stood quietly as her body was slid into a van. Some ...
In my opinion, one of the biggest complements a small business can receive, is that their culture feels like belonging to a family. Naturally, some families can be dysfunctional, but when times get tough, a family sticks together and helps each other. In 1 Timothy 5:1, The Apostle Paul challenged the leaders of the church with the following directive, “Do ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
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