My wife, Kathy, and I recently toured the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. Occasionally, you hear of a politician that was well-loved. President Lincoln, on the other hand, was well-hated. Most southerners hated Lincoln, resulting in immediately after President Lincoln’s election, the southern states seceded from the Union. In Washington DC, the political establishment hated him. Even many slaves and former ...
One evening Jaime and her son were watching the TV show, “Shark Tank”, when he asked what being a “shark” in business meant? Jaime’s quick response was that sometimes in business, people can be called “sharks” because they are aggressive, and scary. Her son’s eyes widened, and Jaime realized she didn’t want him to have this perception of business leaders. ...
We all have blindspots. The point of seeing blindspots in others is not to understand how to help them, but to understand we have the same blindspots. Here are four steps to help you identify some of your most glaring blindspots. Ask your friends to tell you of your blindspots. Spend time away from your comfort zone. Spend time alone ...
As a young banker I took a Dale Carnegie course on “Effective Public Speaking.” The first night we were asked to share why we were taking this course. One person who spoke was a newly appointed union president. Through clenched teeth, and with rising intensity, this man said, “I’m taking this class because when I speak to the members of ...
My son, Jeremy, works at a sheltered workshop. If you think working with your staff takes patience, imagine managing an entire team of adults with special needs who all have individual quirks and challenges! We are so blessed that Jeremy has an amazing boss named John! Due to Jeremy’s autism and obsessions he can be moody at times even to ...
Edith Onderick-Harvey wrote in Harvard Business Review about five behaviors of leaders who embrace change. Since change is constant and necessary, we’re discussing these five behaviors this week. The third behavior is to seek out what’s not working. There’s always a need for discovering problems, but especially when major change is happening. I once worked for a CEO who began ...
In 1776, our Founding Fathers grounded their argument for independence from Great Britain in their declaration “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” They may have declared their independence from Britain, but at the same time they were noting their interdependence upon their Creator. Many people break away from employers ...
Dan Cable, author of Alive at Work, shares in a Harvard Business Review article about a consumer banker in China named Jungkio. Jungkio’s predecessors had regularly scheduled times at each branch to pressure staff to cut costs, causing the staff great anxiety. Jungkio eliminated the meetings and instead began arriving at branches unannounced. He started by serving the staff breakfast. ...
One of the most important roles of leadership is listening — really listening. Empathetic listening. Active listening. Unfortunately, the voice you occasionally get to hear is that of whining. As difficult as it may seem, as a leader, you’re to empathize and listen. Consider the story of Job who whined to God about His circumstances. God patiently listened before setting ...
Tom’s a CEO who had a leader who was struggling at work. He needed some additional oversight until he matures into his potential. But he was reluctant to release any control. Tom knew that if this leader didn’t accept his recommendations willingly he would likely sabotage any help he sent his way. He needed to prove that he was teachable, ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
