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…

Years ago, when I was working at Mercy Hospital in Janesville, Wisconsin, a request was made of me. I put other items to the side to make it happen. Later I found out the request was not urgent. I had let other items slide that were more important. How could I have prevented this from taking place? By asking the person making the request about its timeline and relative importance. It sounds simple and obvious,…

Why and how did you first become a supervisor? Was it because you majored in leadership? Was your goal to be a manager? Did you want to make a high salary? I often ask this question during my presentations, and what I discover is that most people assume a supervisory role because they want to be helpful. A nurse does not go to nursing school because they see it as a stepping stone to management. A…