“Face the brutal facts.” That is a lesson Jim Collins included in his book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t. This book continues to provide an excellent blueprint for any organization that wants to be great. Sometimes the work a company is doing is good; it’s just not enough to achieve the desired goal. It takes courage to look at the brutal facts—about performance issues, market challenges, or other uncomfortable data or insights.…

Do not assume. This thought hit me as I read feedback from attendees of a sales conference. The most often mentioned takeaway is to focus on building relationships. Reading them, I wondered how many of us make assumptions in this area. Do the people we lead know a positive outcome begins by building a relationship? It is not unusual for salespeople to be told to make so many contacts a day. Research likely says a certain…

In my writings and talks, I often quote Cousin Al. Today is no exception. For those who might be wondering…yes, there really is a Cousin Al! His father and my mother were brother and sister, so he is my first cousin. Al has the ability to say things in a way that is memorable and helpful. Much of what I talk and write about focuses on lessons learned from experience. This includes experiences gained from reading and…

When it comes to learning, technology can be very helpful. But we can’t put so much emphasis on tech that we stop learning from others in our field. We win on ideas and what we can learn from each other. We need to be lifelong learners—and it’s important to go to where ideas are flowing in our industry. Yes, reading and listening are big parts of lifelong learning. That means books, blogs, articles, and podcasts both in…

I spend time with organizations that are investing in people. At each session, I ask, “How many have been in a supervisory role (manager, leader) for less than four years?” The percentage of hands that go up ranges from 30 to 60 percent. Next, I ask the group to reflect on their personal journey to a supervisory role. Did they get a degree in how to lead people before they were put in a leadership role?…

Are you a nice leader or a kind leader? Is there a difference? Yes, an important one. Nice and kind are not synonyms. Niceness is about seeming pleasant and agreeable. It’s about keeping the peace and making people comfortable. This is not a bad thing in many situations. Kindness is about real compassion and empathy. It’s taking action from the place of wanting the best for a person or an organization, even when it means telling hard truths and making…

Clarity is key in building and sustaining a high-performing culture. For leaders, this means making sure messages are clear and understood—not ambiguous or confusing—and that everyone knows what they’re supposed to do and how it contributes to the organization’s objectives. Clarity is vital in each part of the organization, and it applies to everyone. (Here, I am talking about clarity as it relates to the workplace. However, the principles certainly apply to life in general.) Peter…

When great results are achieved, the top leader is often asked how it happened. A frequent response is, “The credit goes to the team.” Let’s dig deeper. What makes a team (the people who make the results happen) successful? In studying high-performing organizations, there are common themes. The biggest one is that successful companies invest considerable amounts of time and dollars in selecting and developing talent. I was reminded of this recently at a session…

They are poaching our people. They stole one of our best employees. Such statements are heard periodically. They reflect a misunderstanding of the employee/company relationship. Employees, unless contracted in a way that does not allow departures (or allows them only under certain conditions), are free to work where they want to and leave when they want to. No one “poaches” or “steals” anyone. They might try to recruit an employee, and they might succeed if the…