Dad: “Did you do what your mom asked you to do?’ Son: (Without looking at his dad.) “Yep.” Dad: (Eye brow raised) “Excuse me?” Son: (Starting to walk away and dripping with annoyance) “Yes Dad. I did what mom asked me to do!” Dad: (Firmly) “Hey bud! Look at me.” The boy turns and looks at his […]
Any time a new ingredient is added to a cookie recipe, the flavor of that cookie changes and can’t be changed back. I cannot undo it. The cook can add chocolate chips or pecans-Dark chocolate or milk chocolate. The recipe is usually an intentional combination of ingredients. However, once one ingredient changes, the flavor of […]
I spend a lot of time in the bleachers at my kids sporting events. I love it. I am a gym rat who loves to watch both practice and games. It is one of my favorite things from my childhood that I did with my dad, The Master of The Sword at West Point. Sometimes […]
I am one of those guys who does not always get to control the TV remote in my house. Because of this dynamic, my desire to watch Deadliest Catch or SportsCenter is put on hold so my wife can watch one of her cooking shows. One thing I often hear on these shows is to […]
Over the last 4 weeks I have been sharing my experiences taking over new teams and my insights based on times when I did it well and when I did it poorly. I learned new things each time and believe what I am sharing can help anyone stepping in to lead a new team. The […]
All leaders would love to have a low maintenance team (LMT). A LMT allows a leader to focus on the big things and avoid the day to day hassles that could and should be handled at lower levels. When a leader does that, the leader and the team are more engaged and burnout and turnover […]
Adversity builds character. I find that the people I admire have not always had things easy. Somewhere, at sometime in their past, these people overcame circumstances in their lives that changed them. They walk with a limp. Through my 15 years of interviewing, hiring and training people I discovered that finding people who walk with […]
When a new leader steps onto a new team, they have one chance to get it right. I got it right sometimes and other times I didn’t. The effort I put in up front always paid off later in better relationships and more productive teams. Over the last two weeks I focused on what to […]
Leaders when I say the words Low Maintenance Team a lot of you smile and think about a favorite team from your past. Some of you are wishing you had a Low Maintenance Team right now. I’ve had both low maintenance teams and high maintenance teams. And I know, WE ALL WANT TO LEAD LOW […]
Who’s in charge? I’m not. Not as a new leader stepping in to lead a new team. I must move my ego aside and realize that if I want to make things happen on my team. I must rely on influence leaders to drive for awhile. This is the third in a series of six […]
