Today, I was thinking about what I dislike about meetings.  It was a huge chunk of my morning.  I obviously dislike meetings a lot!  The scary thing is, I thrive working in a group environment.  I figured out that it was not being in a meeting I disliked.  It was how people run them. That’s […]

All leaders would love to have a low maintenance team (LMT).  A LMT allows a leader to focus on the big things and avoid the day to day hassles that could and should be handled at lower levels.  When a leader does that, the leader and the team are more engaged and burnout and turnover […]

One of the best books I ever read on leadership was John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.  In fact, I recently gave a copy to a young man who just graduated from high school as a gift. 28 years ago, I was a recent high school graduate as well.  I was a brand new […]

In my fifteen years of leading sales people I rejoiced with my new hires when they had a great first year. But, experience also taught me that early success could be the worst thing for some people. Success in sales or in any aspect of business is often determined by a person’s response to failure. […]

“Troy.  Believe it or not, I am glad we got snowed-in tonight in Buffalo.  I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you better.” “Me too, Rick.  When I called my wife and said I was trapped in Buffalo with the boss, I was only half kidding.  This has been great.  Now it’s going to be even […]

In 2001, the team sat in disbelief when they heard Mason was promoted into a leadership position.  Now eleven years later, the four remaining people from that old team sat at a table together after dinner at another national sales meeting. Paul looked up from his iPhone, “Contrary, insubordinate, incompliant, and rebellious.  According to Webster, […]

The story ended as they all seemed to end, Terry as the hero.  The sales team sat quietly and nodded their heads.  The story that Terry had meant to use to inspire greatness in his team, fell flat. On The Phone Once in her car, Sandi called Erin to vent.  “Has Terry ever made a […]

The litmus test for good leadership is character.  Rarely do I read history, watch the news or read the paper and learn about a leader who failed because of incompetence.  The most common reason a leader fails is a shortfall in character. What happens in the months, days, or minutes that lead to a fatefully […]

In a nutshell:  My decisions in these moments often determine the culture of my team. I couldn’t believe she said it!  I know locker room talk.  I know the stories soldiers tell while on deployment.  But this woman just made me blush!  She also made all the other males at the table laugh.  This was […]

In my time in leadership in a big Fortune 50 company, I spent a lot of time practicing conflict resolution.  Mainly, I was helping other people resolve their conflicts.  I saw anger, distrust and pettiness prevent people from moving forward and getting things done. Some people may call me a Polly Anna.  But, I truly […]

Brad decided to write a book about effective management techniques.  The title:  How to Win, described his leadership philosophy.  Just win baby!  That was his motto and it had served him well. Brad had won some good awards at work.  It was time to let others in on his secret.  He made a list of […]

The meeting ground to a halt as soon as Sean spoke.  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” This all too familiar phrase had killed many great ideas within Sean’s team.  But, Sean’s people had hope.   A recent restructuring placed a new leader between the team and Sean.  Maybe the new guy could get things done. […]

Craig’s boss left the company suddenly due to an ethics issue. Now Craig was leading the team. The team had been on a down hill slide for a while. But now, both performance and attitudes were in a nosedive. “How can I turn it around, Dave? People are angry, hurt, and wondering about their futures. […]

The Oxymoronic Leader is not one person.  He is all of us.  I have been him and so have you. Merriam-Webster defines an oxymoron as: “a combination of contradictory or incongruous words (as cruel kindness); broadly : something (as a concept) that is made up of contradictory or incongruous elements” Am I leading if the […]