Posted: February 12, 2016 | Categories: Leadership, Self-Improvement, Team Building

When I help companies coach their teams to higher performance, there are four pillars that must be solidly in place:  Ownership, clarity, and accountability.  These pillars rest on a solid platform of trust.  Without this foundation, the three pillars crumble.

Just yesterday one of my clients asked me, “If we need to build more trust on our team, how do we do it?”  I hear this question more than any other.  While there are many things we can to strengthen trust, let’s start with three “bomb-proof” fundamentals that have stood since civilization has begun.Read More…

Posted: February 4, 2016 | Categories: Leadership

About 15 years ago, I was facilitating a leadership class of about 30 participants.  Some of the folks I had signed up for the class while the remaining were enrolled by other reps.  After each class, I decided to write a detailed email to each rep about their participant, and how they did in class.  I would mention any recognition or breakthrough they had, and also identify some areas where I was challenging them.Read More…

Posted: January 29, 2016 | Categories: Leadership, Self-Improvement

Strong leaders know how to build trust.  A leader is someone we want to follow.  We trust and respect them.  With that in mind, here is what I have found to be the most powerful trust builder:Read More…

Posted: January 5, 2016 | Categories: Leadership, Team Building

If you are a boss or a leader, one of your main jobs is to build others and make them more successful.  Sometimes we need to re-direct our subordinates when they are falling short or simply being too complacent.  The question is:  How do we do this without creating resentment? Read More…

Posted: December 10, 2015 | Categories: Leadership, Self-Improvement, Team Building

When I was in my late 30’s, I was attending a 6-week leadership seminar and learned a valuable lesson:  Be careful when you tease.  The subject was teamwork, and the instructor brought up the topic of teasing.  He said, “Teasing can be one of the most subtle forms of cruelty.”  He went on to say, “Have any of you ever been in situation where someone said something to you in jest, you chuckled, and then later had second thoughts?”  “You may have thought to yourself, “I wonder what he meant by that”.Read More…