Perhaps the greatest gift a leader can give to their team is a vision. Without a vision, people wander. Developing one can be hard work, but a good vision is always worth the effort. As an elementary school student, I rode the bus to school. Mr. Haase (pronounced ”hass”) was… [Read more]
Reward Your Ideal Customers
Your definition of an ideal customer includes certain behaviors. Perhaps it’s the way they communicate, or refer you to others, or remove obstacles for your success. Your values and processes should always benefit (and never penalize) ideal customers. A Tale of Punishment A few years ago, my wife and I… [Read more]
How to Become Great at Feedback
Feedback–both positive and constructive–is vital to the growth of individuals. Yet, many leaders avoid giving it, or deliver it so poorly, it negates any benefits. Positive feedback should be easy to give. Yet it often remains undelivered. For some, it’s unnatural to give compliments. It comes across as awkward or… [Read more]
The Right Questions to Encourage Innovation
Early in my career, I worked for a small, privately held technology company. On multiple occasions I walked into the owner’s office to share an idea on ways to improve our offerings. Each time he would listen to the elevator pitch and respond with the same five words. “Let me… [Read more]
Become Better at Expressing Approval
Three people working together. A plate of five cookies available on the break. Each took one. Social norms dictate that no one take the last (fifth) cookie, but what about the fourth? Such was the inquiry of the “cookie experiment” reported by Keltner, Gruenfeld & Anderson (2000). Groups of individuals… [Read more]
Why Details Matter
The rhythmic sound of my running shoes hitting the pavement in a quiet neighborhood on a sunny day ushered in the deep trance of thoughts. As an Enneagram 5, I was in heaven. But my tranquility was shattered by the roar from the engine of an old, weathered pickup. Its… [Read more]
How to Get Your Content into Evernote
My wife and daughters love playing the card game Skip-Bo. At the start of the COVID-19 stay-at-home hiatus, out came the deck. But it didn’t seem as fun as they remembered. My wife counted the cards. Several were missing. So it is with Evernote. It’s just not the same value… [Read more]
Do Your Best, Take a Rest
The best nap I ever had came after completing a series of difficult finals in college. I had given it my all for the week—waking up early to study, turning down invitations to celebrate with those that had finished, and ignoring a persistent thought in my head that I “deserved”… [Read more]
Tools to Increase Your Family Productivity
Personal productivity is a popular topic. Everyone wants to do more in less time. Yet many of us don’t spend most of our life as independent individuals. We are part of a committed relationship, often with children. A family. We share meals, beds and the television remote. We also share… [Read more]
Three Simple Steps for Growing Your Impact
I was sitting in the front row, ready for my team lead to begin his presentation to forty key customers. He had invited me as a courtesy, or so I thought. Imagine my reaction when he walked to the front and announced, “I have another meeting to attend and must… [Read more]
Five Things Great Leaders Do
My friend looked forlorn. “I’ve been reading a lot of books on leadership,” he shared, “and the topics are foreign to my manager. He looks like he just ate something disagreeable when I raise a concept I’ve learned and he quickly changes the subject.” Unfortunately, that’s all too common. Leaders… [Read more]
New to Remote Work? Start Here.
It’s happened: you’ve been given permission to (or told you must) work from home. But a month in and the novelty of wearing your pajama bottoms to meetings and taking care of errands during low traffic hours have left you unsettled. Perhaps even nervous. With the outbreak of COVID-19, many… [Read more]