Posted: September 21, 2026 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Self-Improvement, Team Building

Now that we are into football season, we have our eye on our favorite team,  and we may even have our own fantasy football league.  Yes, football is a nice pastime.  We also want to win!

A championship team needs competent people who know how to work as a team.  If you are a coach or in leadership and you know how to select the right people and get them to work together as a team, there are probably a lot of people who want to talk to you.  Let’s talk about selecting the right people.  Author Patrick Lencioni gives us a simple, reliable model about how to do this in his book, “The Ideal Team Player”.  Here are the three qualities:

HUMBLE

HUNGRY

SMART

Humble means “refraining from boasting and minimizing personal accomplishments in favor of building others”  Hungry means the individual has an eager desire to excel and make a contribution to the championship.  Smart means the person knows how to work well with others.

It is nice if we can hire a person who is strong in all three of these qualities.  Since such folks tend to be the top “draft picks”, we often have to settle for 2 of the 3.  Patrick  Lencioni tells us that if we only have 2 of the three, choose “eager” or “smart” as the weakest.  Getting someone to be humble can be very difficult and time consuming since the cause of it often is from an insecurity from the past.  If we need someone to be more motivated or have better people skills, leaders help build that all the time.  The most important thing is to get the right people on your team from the beginning, and make sure they are humble!

Posted: September 17, 2026 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Self-Improvement, Team Building

I am an executive coach, and for over 40 years I have worked with companies and organizations to build highly-productive, winning teams.  Top-notch teams are disciplined, unselfish, and hard-working.   They rarely find themselves in a petty conflict.  If a team wants to be the best, they have no time for such things.

As I help teams get to the highly-productive status, I coach both one-on-one and in groups.  Progress needs to be measured, and one metric I use is in my one-on-one coaching calls.  I always note the amount of time we spend in advancement and goal achievement, and I also identify the reason a coaching call gets bogged down.  80% of the coaching conversation should be accountability and creativity on the action plan.

When I start working with someone, the majority of the call time deals with problems with communication and personal conflict.  We know how important those two factors can be.  The most common reason for this is a couple of team members who are not team players.  This problem must be resolved.  In many cases this is a training issue.  Some folks need to learn interpersonal skills.  They must be willing to admit the gap, and commit to improving.  Sadly, there are situations where inflexible team members are not humble enough to admit their shortcomings.  These individuals are much less likely to change, and the sooner they are off the team, the better.

A winning team consists of people committed to always getting better.  Remember the maxim, “Get better or get beat”!

Posted: July 14, 2026 | Categories: Customer service, Leadership, Team Building

Strong leaders are good at building trust.  To put it another way, “A leader is someone we want to follow”.  That is easy to say, but how do we build that trust?  Let’s think of the people in our lives we look up to.  It is almost a sure bet that these people take the time to show a genuine interest in others.  They are also excellent listeners.  If we want to strengthen our trust with others and be better listeners, we can start by observing people who have developed this ability well.

Last week I was in the therapy pool at the health club.  As I was doing my exercises, I heard a woman talk with great excitement about her past and future travels.  As she was talking, an elderly woman entered the pool.  The newcomer was quite old – my guest is she was nearly 100.  She graciously engaged in conversation with the woman talking about her travels.  The elderly woman had a wonderful smile that radiated her interest in listening to the “traveler”.  She smiled, nodded, affirmed, and ask questions to learn and understand more.  From her questions it was clear she had also done extensive travelling in her many years, yet in the 15 minutes of conversation with the traveler, the traveler never once asked the elderly woman anything about her experiences.  If she had, she likely could have uncovered a wealth of valuable information that could help her plan her future travels.  It was a one-sided conversation.  The traveler showed no interest in the elderly lady.  It was a missed opportunity.

If we want to be a strong leader, we need to make sure we show genuine interest in others.  Get the other person to talk about their favorite suspect…themselves!  (When was the last time you received a compliment for being a good listener?)

Posted: April 14, 2026 | Categories: Customer service, Leadership, Sales, Self-Improvement, Team Building

It was in the early 1990’s, and I was reading an article about James Michener, the most popular historic fiction writer of that time.  The article showed a picture of Mr. Michener seated at his desk in front of an ancient Underwood typewriter doing his work.  Word processors were widely available by that time, and most of his books were over a 1000 pages.  In spite of that, he chose to use his old manual typewriter to write.  Hmmm…

A few months later I stopped by a typewriter repair shop to pick up a couple new ribbons.  As I was making the purchase, I asked the store owner why James Michener used a manual typewriter.  His answer came quick and was very simple.  “Feeling”.  Novelists like to put a lot of feeling into their writing, and working on a word processor can blunt that effort.  This answer intrigued me, and heightened my respect for the power of the written word.

So what does the “power of the pen” mean to us?  One benefit is stronger business relationships, which means we improve our ability to create and keep customers.  For 20 years I was a leadership training facilitator.  I would often write a note on a 3×5 card in the spur of the moment to class members.  It was quite common that years later I would encounter an alum from my class who carried one of those 3×5 cards I had written to them.

The Declaration of Independence shows us that when you put a pen to a blank sheet of paper, great things can occur.  Go ahead.  Try it.  Go to a quiet place, put on your “thinking cap”, grab a pen and sheet of paper, and let your mind flow.  It could be an idea or simple note of encouragement or appreciation.  Make a bigger impact!

Posted: January 15, 2026 | Categories: Management, Team Building

Several years ago, I was meeting with the owner and founder of a mid-size manufacturing company that employed around 200 people.  We will call him Jim.  He wanted to know if I could help him work with his people to prepare for the eventual sale of his company.  Jim was in his late 60’s and ready to sell his company.  When I asked him what his biggest concern was, he said, “Seeing  one of my loyal employees on the street after I have sold the company – especially if I knew things weren’t going well with the new owners.”

Since this conversation, I have heard many retired owners say the same thing.  What can we do to help ensure that the leaders who follow us are able to build a working environment just as good as we did, or even better?

Step #1: Start early:  A good rule of thumb is at least five years from the handoff.

Step #2: Get the right people in key positions:  Look at the key positions and make sure we have the “right people on the bus”.  Our leaders must be proud of their work and the special qualities they bring to the company, and this enthusiasm must show.  There also must be a way of measuring their progress. If someone is not the strong leader you are looking for find another place for them.  Don’t waste precious time with someone you know isn’t going to work out.

Step #3:  Strengthen communication and teamwork skills:  Hire a performance coach to work with your team so that all departments develop the ability to work together seamlessly.

Step #4:  (Two years out) Hire a succession consultant:  There is a process involved in selling your company that needs to be followed  You can figure about two years to allow proper time for each step.  You will have a timeline.

Most owners procrastinate and don’t do these 4 things well.  Don’t be one of them!  Have a happy sale!