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Listening is a key skill for managers and in life in general.Do people think they are better listeners than they really are?Yes, most people THINK they listen well. In reality most managers and employees really don’t listen well. I see it in training classes when I give instructions. People usually miss it the first time […]

Recently I picked up a new coaching client and he left his previous employer because his newly promoted boss went from being collegial and consultative to being demanding and autocratic. The company lost a great executive and now has to find or promote a replacement and deal with that individual’s learning curve. What’s interesting is […]

Imagine if your organization could take the best attributes of the best employees and replicate those behaviours throughout the organization. Chances are that a small percentage of your workforce generates a large percentage of your results. They sell more, screw up less, waste less and raise the bar for those around them. If you had […]

Family owned and managed companies are responsible for the majority of economic output and pay cheques in Canada and around the world. For family members working or managing in a family business environment, there are some special challenges and opportunities. What are the things family members need to be aware of in their leadership role? […]

You would think that in times of uncertainty, people from different departments would be even more cooperative than usual to make the organization successful. Instead people can become more defensive and difficult because they want to protect their turf. The result is bad for customers and the company’s bottom line. Potential profit dollars end up […]

On the same day as Wiarton Willie, Punxsutawney Phil and five of their marmot-meterologist cousins in North American come out to predict how much more winter we’ll have, many managers keep emerging from their holes to see how much more economic winter we’ll have left. Typically if its clear and sunny, the groundhog sees its […]

Organizations are successful when they have employees who get things done instead of just talking about what needs to be done. There are many more people who are ready to either tell you what’s going on or what’s wrong or what needs to get done – there are far fewer people who will actually get […]

Sometimes we want to do the right thing and yet we get the opposite to what we wanted. Lets call it the law of unintended consequences: Every well-intended action could create exactly the opposite reaction. Let’s look at some leadership actions that can create a consequence that was unintended. Using an All Star Team to […]

We learn best from experience. Even though the school of hard knocks is time consuming and expensive, no amount of management training can completely prepare you for what you will experience as a manager. On your leadership journey, seek out and savour these valuable lessons: Enjoying Success and Experiencing Failure While most of us prefer […]

Now that 2008 is behind us, its time to get back to work and make 2009 better than ever. There are two areas that you can generate breakthrough results in 2009: 1. Customers In a difficult business environment, customers are very fragile and need to have good reasons to part with their money. They still […]