Sensing Something? Just Ask.
If your intuition is that what you’re doing —whatever it may be —is making someone upset, why don’t you simply ask: Is what I am doing making you upset? I recently asked this question to one of my direct reports who is a manager within the company. I had previously set up meetings with their […]
A Leadership Experiment
Want to be a better leader? Stop using navigation apps for the next 30 days, and ask for directions. Always ask, even when you think you are sure you know where you are going. Listen to the advice you are given. Discern the good advice from the bad advice. Make a decision on the route […]
If you are going to hold people accountable…they’d better know how to do what you want them to do.
Sarah and I could hear our two sons playing, laughing, and yelling. The only problem was the time. It was 6:04 a.m. They are not supposed to get up until 6:30 a.m. Leaders confront these kinds of issues, so off to the bedroom I went. I asked Will – our 6 year old – what […]
Are you a de-escalator?
Imagine someone on your team sends a mass email to you and the rest of the team that seems to challenge you or your ideas. What’s your response? Or, imagine that your four year old has disobeyed you for the 34th time since lunch. They’re pushing all the right buttons, and you feel like you […]
The Break Room Doesn’t Lie
I was speaking recently with one of our plant managers when they shared a tremendous insight: “The break room does not lie.” What they meant by this statement is that in order to understand what is really happening in their plant, they needed to go to the break room and listen to their team. To […]
“Your bid is not competitive?”
If you’re in the business world, you’ve been turned down by a customer claiming that your bid just isn’t “competitive.” What exactly does that mean? Does it mean: They can buy it cheaper elsewhere? Everyone else is cheaper? That our competitor has better quality than us? That they deliver faster than us? That they’re more […]