Have you ever thought about your role models and what they are teaching you? Once I started thinking about it, I have had a lot of people in my life, in addition to my dad, who were good role models for me. Continue →
Leadership
Effective Leaders Wear Two Hats
Going back to when I was young boy and over the years, I have observed that my bent, or bias was toward building relationships (leading). Continue →
The Truth About Leading and Managing
Some things that happen in life hit you like a tidal wave. My father’s unexpected death was like that for me. The year was 1973. I was 20 years old and a recent university graduate when my father died. That is when I became the new leader of our small family business of five employees. A second wave of surprise and disbelief hit me when I discovered our business was carrying a huge (I mean Continue →
Give Me 5 Minutes and You’ll KNOW if You’re a Leader or a Manager!
As July 4th quickly approaches, I'm reminded of the courage of our founding fathers but more specifically, George Washington and his tremendous inner strength. He had a bent (natural leaning, propensity) that was recognized by others at an early age. Ultimately his bent toward courage and leadership resulted in his appointment of commander of the Continental Army and his unanimous election Continue →
How to Discover Your Core Values and Create Extraordinary Results
Every year around Valentine’s Day, I try to do something extra special for my wife. The holiday serves as a reminder for us to celebrate our 42-plus years of marriage! One of the best ways I’ve learned to demonstrate my love to my wife is with acts of service. I’ve also learned that acts of service are an everyday opportunity and NOT a one-time event on the calendar that I must do. I have Continue →
How Could Value Cards be so Dangerous?
Warning! Warning! Warning! Danger Will Robinson! That was what the robot would say to the young boy in the TV series Lost in Space, with his arms flying in the air, up and down, up and down. When I was a young boy, I really enjoyed that TV series and related to Will Robinson because I wanted to be an astronaut. Just like Will, we can encounter danger too. I guess right now, I'm waving my Continue →
Super Bowl Core Values Wins Championships
Last year’s Super Bowl had a viewing audience of 111.5 million people! It has become the most-watched American television program in history. The Super Bowl game is a wonderful annual event, and the two teams there have gone through a very lengthy season (a process) to arrive at this event. Continue →
Why Some Companies Generate Super Bowl Sized Profits
Why do only a few companies have Super Bowl sized profits, while the rest never make it to the top level of competition? What do these super successful companies know that the rest of us do not? I asked myself these questions when I was trying to grow our business. And the answers I found should bring hope to any struggling organization! Continue →
Asking Questions and Listening – a Summary
About 30 years ago, I served as the youngest District Governor in the world for Rotary International service clubs. After serving, I was shocked when they asked me to … Continue →
Three Ways to Shatter the Communication Barrier
Picture yourself standing on one side of a pane of glass, trying to communicate with people standing on the other side of the glass. You can see them. They can see you. But what you are trying to communicate just bounces off the glass. Sometimes that’s how we feel when we roll out a new idea to our employees! We plan a big meeting, what we are going to say – even how we’re going to say it. Continue →