As a leader, one of my biggest mistakes was believing I should treat everyone equally.  This is a societal fallacy that has moved into HR driven management training.  In fact, treating people equally is management not leadership. Treating all people equally is a management strategy that is meant to prevent litigation.  It is a strategy […]

Confronting your boss is not fun. When I have done it, I have been met with anger, indifference, and/or passive aggressiveness. I have also seen some very positive reactions as well. When I speak to groups about Building A Culture of Leadership within an organization, I always discuss the need for those without the title […]

Why doesn’t my team act like a team? Why am I always dealing with politics, bad attitudes, and distrust among team members? Why haven’t we come close to reaching our potential? I am always putting out fires. I never seem to have time to focus on bigger issues. The day-to-day tyranny of the urgent seems […]

In a nutshell:  Inflicting pain on myself or someone else is a test of character and courage. There are some decisions I make in leadership, I know are going to hurt.   They may hurt me, or they may hurt others.  In these situations, it may not be my integrity being tested. It is most likely […]

Would you recommend the company you work for to your best friend? The answer to this question says a lot about the culture of the company. In the Dallas- Fort Worth Metroplex a survey involving over 82,000 employees and 315 companies asked this question and others to determine which companies were the best places to […]

There is really only one person on earth who truly knows your character – YOU. All of us have strengths and weaknesses in our character. But do we stop and really look at ourselves in the mirror? We have developed the My Mirror Character Assessment for just that purpose. You will get a snapshot of […]

Naïve.  That was me. When I was an entry level salesman, I looked at my boss and believed his job had all the perks.  He was paid more, was in control and got to travel to great cities for meetings.  Being a leader had to be better than being where I was. A lot of […]

Dave Anderson interviews Social Selling Evangelist Mario Martinez Jr. Topic: Leaving Corporate Leadership and Leading as an Entrepreneur. (30 minutes) Social Selling Evangelist and Keynote speaker Mario Martinez of M3Jr Growth Strategies. Learn more at www.m3jr.com. All past and current podcasts also available on iTunes. (Over 5 Million downloads to date!) Please rate us on […]

I eat healthy most of the time.  I am in a good mood most of the time.  I am prompt most of the time.  These are all statements that describe me.  I could strive for better, but those are probably good enough. I need to face the fact that I am a hypocrite when I […]

Should someone continue to pay me for doing part of my job? I have encountered people who think that doing a good job in parts of their work is enough to expect continued employment and in some cases promotions. Here are some examples: A nurse who is strong clinically, but consistently fails to correctly document […]

My best friend, Donnie Tillar convinced me to go to West Point.  He was a year older than I was.  Thanks to his persuasiveness I joined my childhood friend as part of the Corps of Cadets.  This is a Memorial Day tribute to Donnie. This is worth reposting annually. Continue Reading… Friends, I need a […]

“If you ever find yourself trying to read me, stop it.  I am not intentionally being vague.  I am just being a bad communicator at that moment.”  This statement became part of my introduction to people joining my team. Most people reacted to that statement in two ways. Some seemed relieved.  Some were confused.  Whether […]

Every time people around me use statements or questions from the list below, I feel an aneurysm coming on.  They make my head hurt just reading them. “We need to study this further.” “Are you sure?” “But what if…” “We need to cover all our bases.” “Can we run some more numbers?” “Who’s going to […]

“What can I do?  If I step up and try to lead my peers, I don’t think they will follow.  I’m not as direct as you are Dave. ” The quote above is representative of a lot of conversations I have inside of companies who ask for my help.  There are many people who know […]