Posted: April 28, 2017 | Categories: Leadership, Management

Last week I was talking with a business owner who operated several franchises in the Chicago area.  She wanted to do some teamwork training, and when she went to her Controller, he talked her out of it.  He said, “Look, our numbers our fine.  Sales are where they need to be, and we are making a profit”.  That was his whole argument.  Here is what he did not pay attention to:

• The employee turnover rate was 20% above the industry average.
• The absenteeism was up 40% over last year.
• Their district supervisor referred to the store managers as a “bunch of dummies”.

Most of us would say that these symptoms are not good, and very costly.  We wouldn’t have to be brilliant to predict that this company is headed for trouble.  Eventually, the sales numbers will go down, and by that time, the river may be too wide for crossing.Read More…

Posted: February 24, 2017 | Categories: Leadership, Team Building

As a professional coach, I help companies build top-performing teams.  This week I was reminded of one of the biggest challenges in building strong teamwork:  The ability to confront someone who has either made a mistake or needs re-direction.Read More…

Posted: February 7, 2017 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building

“If I asked people what they wanted, they would say they wanted a better horse” -Henry Ford

Last month I was meeting with a client who had a big problem:  His business was growing too fast.  He had built his success by giving excellent service and managing relationships well.  Now all that was at risk.  Things were slipping through the cracks, important details were getting overlooked, and his team was “dropping the ball” far too often.

When a situation like this occurs, it is important to define the problem so that we come up with the right solution.Read More…

Posted: February 1, 2017 | Categories: Leadership

After decades of business coaching, I have found that there are two “absolutes” of a top-performing team:  They don’t make excuses and they don’t blame others. That is because they are not afraid of making a mistake.  Strong leaders make room for failure and the opportunity to learn from it.Read More…

Posted: January 26, 2017 | Categories: Leadership

“I will speak ill of no man…and speak all the good I know of everybody.” – Ben Franklin

Several years ago a client of mine asked me to coach one of his sales team leaders.  His name was Carl, and his production was below expectations.  Even though Carl worked as hard as any team leader, he just kept coming up short.  John, his boss, knew the problem.  Carl was in the habit of saying negative things about other team members behind their back.  We don’t have to be a genius to figure out the repercussions of this habit: Read More…