Posted: November 19, 2025 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building

I was 19, and it was a hot summer day in Southeastern Kansas.  I was working a summer job in a bottling plant and I was finishing up a long day.  My final duty for the day was helping the route drivers empty and refill their trucks.  All of the drivers had been working hard since 5am, and often, when they drove in, they weren’t always in the best mood.  There was one exception:  His name was Tim.  No matter how hot the day had been or how sore his muscles were, Tim came in with a smile thaat brightened our day.  He would call us by name, had a great sense of humor, and was kind and respectful.  He was the kind of person that inspires good will in others, and me and the loading team would always go the extra mile for him.  He inspired us to do our best.  You may wonder what happened to this young 21-year old as time went on.  I know what happened to him:  He married my sister and they were married for 51 years until her death in 2019.

When I think back to that day in the bottling plant nearly 60 years ago, I realize that every fine leader I have coached has those same qualities that Tim had.  He was positive, friendly, helpful, respectful, and genuinely interested in others.  It is no surprise that he spent his entire career in high-level leadership positions in major corporations.  Tim knew how to “start by starting”, work hard, and work well with others.  Wherever he was planted, he knew how to bloom, and take others along with him.

Posted: October 17, 2025 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Presentation skills, Self-Improvement

 “Hope for the best…prepare for the worst” – Chris Bradford

A prominent leader was once asked what the most important advice he could give someone to have a successful career. He replied, “Prepare relentlessly”

Have you ever found yourself getting jittery about an upcoming presentation or event?  If you are, my question to you is: “How prepared are you?”

Several years ago, I experienced a cheap lesson in the value of being over-prepared.  I was scheduled to facilitate some training at the headquarters of a major corporation.  I had put together a PowerPoint presentation and I was assured by the event coordinator that all I needed to do was bring the presentation downloaded on a thumb drive.  As a backup, I decided to bring my laptop.  It is a good thing that I did!  When we began setting up for the session, the tech set-up person ran into some difficulties.  The system would not work.  He began to panic.  I didn’t.  Instead I pulled out my laptop and it saved the day.  The session went smoothly, and I felt good about it afterwards.

When you are anticipating a future event, here are two questions I have:

1. What are you concerned or stressed about?
2. What can you do about it?

Answering that second question can lead to some additional research or rehearsal.  I will leave you one of my favorite quotes from Dale Carnegie:

“When you go through life unprepared,, you won’t go alone…FEAR will be your constant companion”

Posted: September 9, 2025 | Categories: Customer service, Leadership, Management, Team Building

In my decades of team coaching experience, one of the most important capabilities of a highly productive team is clear and timely communication. The good news is that there is something we can do to have near-perfect team communication and it will only cost us $15. Permit me to explain:

Last Saturday morning I bought a dozen donuts and took them to the shop that does my car repairs. They had just completed working on my car, and the job they did was above and beyond. I wanted to show my appreciation so I bought the service team donuts. The service manager smiled, thanked me, and simply took the box of donuts and put them on the desk behind him. Within two minutes, I saw this large group of team members moving towards the office area. I thought management must have called an important meeting. Nope. The group was headed in a beeline straight for the box of donuts. How did this happen? I hadn’t observed any texting or phone activity. The information spread quickly and was communicated with resounding accuracy.

I am not suggesting we can build our team communication on a solid flow of fresh donuts. Not only is that impractical, it would probably be unhealthy. My questions is: “What can we do (feasibly) that will create the quality and the clarity of the communication generated by that box of donuts?”  If we can answer that question, we can save our company those costly errors caused by poor communication.

Posted: August 13, 2025 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building

The date was June 20th of 1993.  It was game six of the NBA championship finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Phoenix Suns.  The Bulls were down one, and there was 10 seconds left in the game.  Bulls coach Phil Jackson noticed his star player, Michael Jordan, reverting back to a bad habit of his tendency to hog the ball.  Phil called a time out and motioned Jordan over.  All he said to Jordan was a question consisting of two words:  “Who’s open?”  Jordan got the drift, nodded, and went back on the court.  Soon afterwards, he passed the ball to teammate John Paxson.  Paxson went for a 3-pointer and made it.  As a result, the Bulls won the championship.  The interesting point is that according to Phil Jackson in his book “Sacred Hoops”, John Paxson was the weakest player of the 5 on the court.  As demonstrated in this example, so often the most effective coaching can come from good questioning rather yelling and chewing people out.

As leaders, parents, and managers, we know that there are patterns of behavior that are productive, and other patterns that hold us back.  I’ll never forget the time early in my career when there was something I needed to do that I kept procrastinating.  After several reminders, one day my boss asked me the killer question:  “What can I do to get you started on this Steve?”  Yikes!  I was right on it.  What a “move the needle” question that was!

Here’s my advice:  When we see a pattern of behavior in someone that needs to change, think of what questions we are going to ask before we write out some speech.  Doing so increases our chances of redirecting the non-productive pattern.

Posted: August 12, 2025 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Self-Improvement, Team Building

“Whatever you can do or dream…begin it!  Boldness has genuius, power, and magic in it” 

-Goethe

Last week I was talking to one of my clients in healthcare.  He was so excited about his work that you could almost envision a glow around him.  Noting his ebullience, I asked him what gets him so fired up.  He answered, “I love my boss’s vision and I want to help him make it happen”  I know his boss very well, and what he said was true.

His boss, (we’ll call him Todd), has lived with a vision he’s loved for as long as he can remember.  It is related to healthcare for the elderly, and everything he does himself and with his team are driving that vision.  When we think of phenomena like Apple, Microsoft, or the Pyramids of Egypt, they all have one thing in common:  A big, powerful vision.  When a vision is in full force, we clearly see and fulfill our purpose, and our emotional drive is full throttle.

Surveys have shown that the majority of workers today don’t like their jobs.  If you ask anyone in this category what the vision of their company is, you would probably not get an exuberant response.  Conversely, when you ask someone who is embraced in and is totally engaged in their company’s vision, you will likely receive a lively response.  Be prepared to sit back and listen.  They would love to tell you all about it!

So what is the vision that is driving you?  Are you excited and clear about where you are going and determined to get there?  If you are, you are headed for a life you can look back on with a big “thumbs up”.