For much of my career, I was rewarded for being good at work I wasn’t really built to do. But it took me a long time to realize this. I was an engineer and a project manager. And I was good at details. I could take a complicated project, organize it, keep track of everything …
Are You Developing Your Best People or Just Giving Them More Work? Read More »
I’m a big fan of process and structure. They’ve helped me lead some incredibly complex projects over the years. But one project taught me that even a good process can create a blind spot if we’re not careful. Here’s the story behind one of the many leadership scars I’ve collected over the years. I was …
I should have known better. It only took a couple of minutes of crying over my favorite clamps, which were now pitted with rust and corrosion, to realize what I’d done. I’d put them in an environment that was going to destroy them. Not on purpose of course. But that’s what I did. This got …
What My Favorite Clamps Taught Me About Leadership Read More »
As Sid and I wrapped up our discussion, it was clear that he now saw the pattern that had been holding his teams back for years. He was a guy with all kinds of ideas and a “bias for action.” And when he was an individual contributor, that served him well. Most of the time …
When a Bias for Action Becomes a Leadership Problem Read More »
“I didn’t realize I was doing all of this.” Those were the words of a woman I was coaching a while back. I’ll call her Marie. Marie and I were talking because she felt stuck and wasn’t sure what to do. She was looking for another perspective. So she called me. She was overwhelmed and …
Feeling Overwhelmed at Work? Start by Writing Down Everything You Do. Read More »
Last week, I had a surprising realization. A few years ago, I probably wouldn’t have hired…me. If someone had told me: “I help leaders who feel like everything still depends on them develop their people so their business can grow.” or “I help you build a team you’re proud to lead.” I would have immediately …
“What are you doing?” I was in the university welding shop when my boss asked me that. He had more years of experience than I’d been alive and I still had a lot to learn. But the answer to that question seemed pretty obvious to me. I had a push broom in my hands, and …
If you’re leading people, you should be thinking about verbs. A lot. Now it may sound ridiculous to suggest that parts of speech are a critical aspect of developing your people and building an effective team but hear me out. To be clear, I don’t have anything against nouns, pronouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Prepositions, participles, …
The Light Bulb Moment The look in her eye told the whole story. I didn’t see it but my wife, Kiersten, did. I was coaching a young couple at our dining room table. They’re longtime friends of ours from church so Kiersten was there with us. This couple had recently started a business together. I …
A few weeks back I was running my weed eater through what turned out to be a whole bunch of poison ivy. And, while that in itself could be enough of a lesson to share with you today, I’m going to pass along something else I learned while I was cleaning up that ditch. As …