Leadership Skills

Much has been written about The Ritz Carlton Way. The takeaway I always hear is "empower your front line employees to deliver WOW experiences". Today many other organizations follow this Ritz Carlton Way. The intent of this approach is to allow employees to resolve a customer situation and have the customer…

Last week, I interviewed a job candidate and asked about her "Master Plan" - in other words, where she intended her career to go. Without a pause - she said: "I want to get into leadership." Doing my best Columbo act, I asked: "What does that mean? While she looked at me…

A Brief Review of Deming’s 14 Points of Management These 14 points are from Deming’s 1982 book, Out of Crisis. Almost 25 years later, these ideas still resonate. Some are even “new” management fads today. And others have only gained lip service. Origin of the 14 points. The 14 points…

The Train Wreck: I voted this week. What should be a moment of red, white and blue pride was far from it. I selected from two people for whom I have no respect. Yet, with the stroke of my pen, I officially advocated for one to be President of the…

It’s Not My Fault! "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances." -- George Bernard Shaw I was driving to a member’s office when I noticed a bumper sticker on the truck in front of me that said “Don’t move firewood, it bugs…

A Prudent Question Is One-Half of Wisdom Have you ever wondered about questions? Do you know someone who consistently seems to ask all the right questions . . . in just the right way? Have you noticed that these people are also marvelous conversationalists, even though you do most of…

How a Bold, Curious Leader Turned Laclede Chain Around In my new book “On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights,” I share a story about a client, Laclede Chain, that was “on the brink.” Stuck or stalled, however you describe it, Laclede had grown and captured market share but then reached…

Can You Learn Something From a Failed Venture? Building a successful business doesn’t always go in a straight line. Even in failure, hopefully there are some positive outcomes. Perhaps the best of these are “lessons learned”! Case in point: A couple of years ago, I wrote an article in Becker’s…

  Who’s On Your (Learning) Team? Last fall, I delivered the keynote address to the graduates of Seton Hall University’s Master of Arts in Strategic Communication & Leadership (MASCL) program.   What you need to know about these students/mid-to-senior level executives is that they braved this program, not just as individuals,…

"A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together." --Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe A diverse Executive Team of talented, strong, diverse individuals is a great thing, right? Diversity can promote passionate discussions, provides multiple perspectives, create a richer range of options, and, ultimately produce better decisions.…