A key component of providing focus to an organization calls for leaders to identify "strategic imperatives" or "must-do's." There is only so much we can all give our attention to, so we need to ensure that we're aiming at high improvement targets that really matter.
Read article »Designing statements, putting them into action and consistently showing what the organization stands for.
Read article »Examples from history illustrate the importance of seeing the potential of new ideas.
Read article »Today's tools have changed and our society is organized differently. But the human habits and characteristics that determine our success with today's tools and society haven't changed.
Read article »The 3 Ps — picture or preferred future, principles, and purpose — are critically important. Our answers to three basic questions define the team and/or organizational culture we are trying to create.
Read article »We have found that customer and partner focus can be boiled down to these three broad steps: Identify current customers and partners, prioritize expectations, and gap analysis.
Read article »Customer-focused organizations build internal communication processes around the valuable players that deal directly with the public.
Read article »The tyranny of the urgent lies in its distortion of priorities. So we've got to choose — from all our long-range options, alternatives, and possibilities — to establish short-term goals and priorities.
Read article »The paradox to be managed is: Companies that exist only to produce a profit don't last long and companies that don't pay attention to profits can't exist to fulfill their long-term purpose.
Read article »Highly effective leaders energize others by noticing and recognizing the field of wheat. They thank, appreciate, recognize, and celebrate accomplishments. We all draw a lot of energy from sincere recognition and honest appreciation.
Read article »Process re-engineering is a powerful tool in a larger improvement effort, outside in.
Read article »Our leadership development choices raise us up or drag us down. Our development is our choice. Those accumulated choices prepare us to take advantage of unexpected opportunities or weaken our abilities and set us up to be victims of change.
Read article »Too many managers allow today's cash flow needs to crowd out tomorrow's wealth producing activities. If we want to expand tomorrow's wealth, expand today's capabilities.
Read article »Effective coaches are masters at working with people to set the performance bar very high while aligning organizational, customer, and team needs with the individual's personal goals.
Read article »We can't build a team or organization that's different from us. Successful team or organization leadership begins with successful self-leadership. The first step in improving my team or organization is improving me.
Read article »Team spirit is the catalyst every organization needs to achieve outstanding performance. Strategic plans, marketing, technology, and capital investment are clearly important but emotional commitment, of the people using the tools and executing the plans, is what determines whether companies sink or soar.
Read article »Discover the Systems and Structure approaches that can help you to avoid the pitfalls and pave your organization’s pathway to success.
Read article »Key characteristic of learning leaders; they refuse to be trapped by "conventional wisdom" or what others say is or isn't possible. Highly effective leaders go against the odds – or just ignore them.
Read article »Resistance to today's change comes from failing to make yesterday's preparations and improvements. We need to deal with change by improving ourselves. Then our time of success must come.
Read article »Many managers confuse making changes within their organization with making changes to their organization. Both are needed. But they have to be balanced.
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