The following was originally posted in the May issue of the Leader Letter. I’m posting it here now to give some background to new subscribers. As longtime subscribers to the Leader Letter already know, one of the themes I come back to again and again is change. Change in the workplace. Change in the home. […]
Read post »I love to get comments like this one from Sharon, a subscriber responding to a recent Improvement Point she received. Whether it’s in a workshop or an e-mail, comments like hers so wonderfully bring alive the point I’m trying to get across. For those of you who don’t know, Improvement Points is a free subscription […]
Read post »I recently gave a keynote at a conference where another speaker also presented on leadership and using technology to maintain a competitive edge. During his presentation he talked about downloading music from the Internet for his personal collection. Since some services were shut down by recording companies’ legal action for copyright infringement, he discussed the […]
Read post »You may have noticed that I’ve been trying to get a lot of feedback via surveys recently. One of the surveys was for folks who own a copy of Growing the Distance. If you have the book and haven’t filled out the survey, please take a few minutes. Click here to take survey Kathryn took […]
Read post »The later part of Jeff’s e-mail provides an excellent example of coaching and career development. As Jeff reports, this is the kind of activity that high performing people find very valuable and increases their engagement with the coach and the organization he or she is leading. In his third paragraph, Jeff asks for more resources […]
Read post »I am not sure if I’ve cut the Gordian Knot Layton refers to in his message below. I certainly continue to appreciate his ongoing support for my work. Layton is referring to our latest survey for Growing the Distance readers and the new Growing the Distance: Self-Study System I produced to go with it. Here […]
Read post »The later part of Jeff’s e-mail provides an excellent example of coaching and career development. As Jeff reports, this is the kind of activity that high performing people find very valuable and increases their engagement with the coach and the organization he or she is leading. In his third paragraph, Jeff asks for more resources […]
Read post »Here’s a note I recently received from the president of a company we’ve been working with: “I am looking for a book/information on organizational structures. However, there’s a twist. We are currently set up as most companies are, with a vertical (silo) model. I want to change this. Part of our vision is to be […]
Read post »I received an e-mail from a visitor to our web site asking for “your thoughts about leadership within volunteer organizations and what can be learned for people who provide leadership for ‘paid employees.’“ Here’s my response: I have long believed that managers who provide leadership for paid staff can learn a great deal about true […]
Read post »One of the Timeless Leadership Principles in our Leadership Wheel model (view the model at timeless leadership) is Responsibility for Choices. I have come to emphasize this one more heavily than the others because so many people in my keynote speaking and workshop audiences feel so helpless and powerless. It’s so easy to get stuck […]
Read post »I adapted an article called “Cultivating Leadership” from The Leader’s Digest for Restaurant News. It outlines the differences between management and leadership, and uses my personal gardening analogy to discuss the nurturing aspect of leadership. You can view the article here. I write a column for a local publication here in the Waterloo Region called […]
Read post »I just finished delivering a highly customized two day Leading @ the Speed of Change workshop with a delightful Client at a ranch resort in the foothills of Alberta’s beautiful Rocky mountains. This was a group of 21 managers and supervisors for a mid sized family business. They were highly participative and keen to improve […]
Read post »My favorite leadership book of the nineties is Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras. I have referred to and quoted from this profound book many times since reading it in 1994. Based on extensive research of 18 “visionary companies” and 18 corresponding “comparison companies,” the authors explore […]
Read post »I invest about a day per month in writing my monthly Leader Letter. Our support staff then spend about the same amount of time fixing my mistakes, cleaning up after me, and “prettying it up.” I do get fairly frequent e-mails and comments from people I meet at various speaking engagements and workshops about how […]
Read post »“I love the format of your articles on the Improvement Points e-mails.” Wendy Morin, VP of HR & Administration, Central One Federal Credit Union, Shrewsbury, MA Improvement Points is a free service providing a key thought or quotation from one of my articles, provided three times per week, directly to your e-mail inbox. Each complimentary […]
Read post »Our local daily newspaper runs a feature in their book section each Saturday asking local personalities and community leaders what they’re reading. Here’s what ran in The Record on the same day as the world famous Elmira Maple Syrup Festival (the little town of Elmira, ON swells in size by ten times for this event […]
Read post »Each year I run a public Leading @ the Speed of Change workshop here in my hometown of Kitchener, Ontario (just 45 minutes from the Toronto airport). Since my keynotes and workshops are always private sessions tailored specifically to the organization or association I’m working for, this is one of the few opportunities most people […]
Read post »“In the last few decades much research has proven the superiority of group decision making over that of even the brightest individual in the group. There is one exception to this rule. If the group lacks harmony or the ability to cooperate, decision-making quality and speed suffer. Research at Cambridge University found that even groups […]
Read post »An editor for a major Information Technology (IT) publishing firm contacted me for an interview on how the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and IT staff have a tendency to focus narrowly on technology and down play teamwork, communication, and “people issues.” But, as she rightly pointed out, “soft skills are becoming increasingly important as IT […]
Read post »One organizational problem that keeps repeating itself is the high failure rate for implementing new organizational improvement efforts like increasing customer service levels, re-structuring, mergers/acquisitions, introducing new technologies, performance management systems, leadership training, and the like. I recently wrote an article on this recurring problem for a new column I am writing for HR Professional […]
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