Hi Madeleine, I work in the health profession and I’ve just accepted a position in management at a new facility. I don’t know the staff at all. All I know is that the senior leadership wants a change in the management at the facility. What advice would you have on how to tackle a new…
Ken Blanchard believes there is one fundamental question all leaders need to ask themselves: Is the purpose of my leadership to serve—or is it my expectation to be served? A leader’s answer is important because it leads to two fundamentally different approaches to leadership. As a professional coach, I work with leaders on various skills…
“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” —Lao Tzu Done well, performance management is a partnership where managers and direct reports work together to set goals, work through challenges, and celebrate accomplishments. A leader provides increased direction…
Can you fill-in-the-blanks on these common workplace belief statements? It’s not personal, it is just ________. The purpose of business is to _____ _______. We need to hold people ___________. The only thing that really matters is _______. If you cannot measure it, it _________ ________. We have embedded these beliefs so deep in our…
Have you ever had a leader or associate mention that if you ever needed them, their door was always open? And it was. But it turned out later, they were never in there. Or, they were in there, but they were always busy, maybe because they were studying spreadsheets or some other stimulating thing. Or,…
With all of the changes going on in the airline industry over the last few years, it has definitely been more the exception rather than the rule when getting great service while traveling. However, I had a pleasant surprise a few months ago while traveling back home on United Airlines. Once everyone had boarded the…
I recently had a business trip that allowed me the opportunity to visit my son at college. He is a freshman at Colorado State University-Pueblo and is playing football for them. They are a Division II football program that went undefeated last season and were ranked #1 in the nation for Division II schools at…
Today is Martin Luther King Day in the United States, a time to reflect back on the life and teachings of the great civil rights leader and activist. While most of us will not be called to engage in social activism on the scale that Dr. King did, we can still have a great impact…
WD-40 CEO Garry Ridge and best-selling author Ken Blanchard got some eye-opening responses to questions they asked in a recent webinar. They were sharing some of the key points from their book Helping People Win at Work, and as a part of their presentation they conducted a survey with their audience. They wanted to find…
Boss watching is a fact of life in many organizations. Frontline employees are more concerned with keeping the boss happy than they are with keeping the customer happy. Leaders can help employees focus in the right direction by taking the mystery out of what people can expect from them as a leader. Employees are always…