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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 […]

As the holidays approach, many of us are going to spend more time than usual with family members. And while most of that time is going to be filled with joy, it’s possible that some family members might get on our nerves, so here are some ideas to keep conflicts to a minimum. Aggravation comes […]

Employees often take their cues from what the manager or supervisor pays attention to. Although bosses and parents might want employees and kids to “Do as I say, Not as I do” the reality is that employees are often paying attention to what their boss does, more so than what he or she says. We […]