Most of us have growing pains, or experiences that can be uncomfortable. Yet, when we look back on some of these pains, we can see they created our greatest learning gains. One of my growing pains was when I was told my job was not about how hard I was working or the hours I was putting in. My job was to deliver the outcomes I was being paid to deliver. At that time, I…

A learning that has proved so helpful to me is to “pause to learn more.” What do I mean? There is great value in pausing and taking time to learn more prior to taking action. I’ve found that taking time to ask a few questions and do some digging usually proves very helpful. Some may relate this to a form of appreciative inquiry. There can be words people use that can be misleading if taken as…

There are many items involved in running a financially sustainable company/organization. The intent of this column is to point out three that have a large impact on all operations. They are selection, development of leaders, and messaging.   Companies usually have someone whose main job is to oversee these areas. In the book Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, the authors shared that while someone else may be the main point person in…

This is the tale of two perceptions. One (held by the leader) is “I don’t want to overwhelm them.” The other (held by the employee) is “I am not getting the opportunity to develop. My leader holds on to things I could do or would like to do instead. Maybe my leader does not trust me?” I was talking to the president of a small organization. He had just finished one-on-ones with many people in…

When an organization holds learning events for your leaders, are they leadership development or leadership awareness or both? My experience is that awareness is part of development; however, it is not everything. Many organizations with great intentions provide what they call leadership development, yet after attending hundreds of these, I’ve realized they’re more about introducing a subject, or leadership awareness. The real development comes when people leave the session and put what they learned into…