I have a 15 year-old pet peeve. I hate when leaders use voicemail messages to promote themselves. This pet peeve should be older. Unfortunately it is a habit I had to break myself before it became a pet peeve. At some point I realized I was sending messages to my team that included information that […]
If a tree stops growing, it starts dying! A team is a living organism. Just like a tree, the team and the individual team members need to grow in order to stay healthy and thrive. Too often, leadership is so focused on meeting the immediate deadlines or quotas of the business, personal growth becomes an […]
Character is now a buzzword. I use the term buzzword here to describe words that we hear frequently yet are rarely defined by the speakers. The Presidential campaign is full of buzzwords. I hear athletes described on Sportcenter using some of the same buzzwords as the politicians use. The problem is, if you dig into […]
Organizational or personal values describe HOW we operate. Many organizations claim to follow certain values because they list them on their websites, or they are on a poster in their offices. However, many employees will say their organization has values published, but admit those companies do not live by them. Why? I believe there are two reasons: […]
Becoming a leader of character is a process that never ends. It is a never ending road towards a destination you can never completely reach. But, leaders must take this road daily in order to grow and lead well. I had the benefit of my father, General Jim Anderson, and four years of training at West […]
Leadership is a blend of competence and character. BG (Retired) Jim Anderson, my father, taught me that. In 41 years in the Army, including two tours in Vietnam, he saw a lot of great leaders and a lot of leadership failures that formed his philosophy.
Brett was stealing from the company. Primarily, he was stealing his salary because he rarely worked a full day. However, I even found out after I fired him that he was also using his company credit card for personal household purchases! In the interview Brett was great. He had a great resume and was a […]
“There is a difference between success and leadership.” -Ross Strader, Senior Pastor Recently, while spending time with my good friend Ross, he made that statement as we discussed leadership in our church. His point was we often look for people who are successful in their jobs to find leaders for our churches, and we miss […]
When I relocated to Texas after 5 years managing in Buffalo, NY, I took over a team where one of the representatives had gone through initial training with me. Lori and I had known each other for 10 years. Two months into being her boss, Lori asked me point blank, “What is your problem? This […]
Below is the You Tube video to David McCullough Jr.’s speech to the graduating Class of 2012 at Wellesley High School. This is an in your face yet inspiring speech to the coming generation. The Bottom Line: His last words to them are about being selfless. Being selfless is truly the most likely way any […]
