I have written several blog posts about the differences between leading people and managing things. This post is a summary of the series where we highlight our conclusion that BOTH leadership AND management are necessary to produce healthy and thriving organizations. Continue →
Management
Do You Focus on Efficiency or Effectiveness?
Boy, did I “open a can of worms”! At a recent family dinner, I posed a question for some fun discussion. I challenged everyone to come up with word pairs that are almost always said together, and they have the word “and” between the two words. Continue →
Participative Management Yields Powerful Results
Have you ever noticed when you read or hear something, you may learn some interesting information or knowledge, but when you experience something, you gain understanding? How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. Proverbs 16:16 ESV Continue →
What Type of Manager are You?
Throughout my entire life, I have always been asked to lead. You are probably thinking, “so what?” Here is the interesting part - I never sought out a leadership role in anything. And I think I understand why. Continue →
Why Some Managers Stink – and What to do About It!
Have you ever played the airport game? I recently took a trip and was forced to “play”. On the return part of my trip, I ran into problems and thus the game began. First, my flight was delayed, then they changed the gate, then my flight was delayed again, etc, …finally they canceled my flight and left me wondering how to get home – game over! 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 →
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 →
Are You Investing in Training and Development?
Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve been intensely curious. I also have a passion to add value to others. I’ve discovered that before you can add value to others and really help them, you must first grow yourself. Continue →
Four Excuses that Destroy Effective Leadership
Think of how you might feel if you arrived at work one day and your work-station had been moved. You didn’t know it was going to happen, and you don’t know why it happened. Then you learn that your senior manager had decided they wanted to ‘rearrange’ the seating so it would be easier for them to remember your names, or your faces, and where you sat! Continue →