The Tyranny of the To-Do List
Do you feel like you’re on a hamster wheel, chasing your To-Do list? If you are, how do you answer this next very important question: Can you get everything on your to-do list done? If you are like every other leader and professional I have asked this question of over the last 20 years –...
Technical Skills Are Not Enough
Many highly trained technical experts of all kinds – IT professionals, engineers, lawyers, doctors, architects, and other sophisticated experts – know the answers to their clients’ issues before the clients even know what their issue is. The problem is that until a client trusts you to take care of them – especially in an area...
COMMUNICATION – IT’S NOT WHAT YOU SAY: Four Ways to Be a Better Communicator
Do you think since you’ve said the words you intended, you’ve communicated effectively? Think again. One of the most common refrains heard from leaders, managers, and top professionals is, “I don’t know why they don’t get it, I’ve already told them a dozen times.” My response to that comment is, “What’s your point? Your job...
What Every CEO Wishes Their CIO Would Do
What does every CEO really want from their key leaders? The simplest answer is likely to be “better results, faster.” Now it gets complicated. For a CIO who understands his or her role, you’re in the best possible position to make the most difference with every other part of the organization. Done well, you can...
Building and Strengthening Resilience
When is the last time that an obstacle you encountered knocked you down, pushed you around, and kicked you off track? When is the last time you achieved something great and meaningful – without having to face a significant obstacle? The difference between these two situations lies in your ability to be resilient. The ability...
Why You Can’t Manage Change
As important as dealing with change is, the statistics on successfully implementing change in organizations is dismal. According to most studies, more than two thirds of change initiatives fail to achieve their stated objectives. But that does not stop many people from repeating the same old mistakes that have led to this lack of success....
How Company Conflict Creates Great Relationships
Conflict, which is a state of opposition between people or ideas or interests, can be one of the most effective processes for gaining agreement, alignment, and taking action that matters, as well as building great relationships. However, this only works if it’s done well. So many people, teams, and organizations are conflict-averse for good reason:...
Too Many Priorities Equals Poor Decision-Making
How quickly can you and the top members of your team give a consistent response to this question: What are the top three priorities for this quarter and this year? When I ask this question, I often get a long silence and then a recitation of seven to fifteen responses from the leader I’m talking...
Strategic Planning Checklist for Leadership Success
If your strategic planning process and meetings are not highly engaging, energizing, clarifying, focusing, and aligning your team… you’re doing it wrong. Strategic planning, done well, should be one of the most dynamic and even enjoyable meetings of the minds. It should accelerate a leadership team’s ability to come together to clearly and concisely conclude...
3 Key Questions to Create Success and Maximize Impact
A critical key to success you and your organization is to ask three high value questions that are most important to get clear answers to. It is also critically important to not just understand and apply the 3 questions, but to appreciate the order in which you need to ask them. Question #1: If you...