Category Archives: Leadership

take your foot off the brake

Take Your Foot Off the Brake!

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About once a week, I see a driver on the freeway with their foot on the brake. They’ll drive for miles with the brake lights on. Everyone around them sees the brake lights, but they are oblivious to the drag they are creating.

It’s easy to have your foot on the brake in business. It can show up as risk aversion, being comfortable or not bringing something new to your customers. Others will notice and it will impact your business. If this is you, it is time to take your foot off the brake!

Check out my new book, Leading the High-Performing Company. You’ll find more tips about how to lead your organization to new heights.

strength and flexibility

Do your customers notice when you put your B team out front?

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The fall season has started. It always seems like a long time between the last ballet and the start of the new season. So, I was excited for the upcoming opening. The reviews were mixed from friends who saw it ahead of me. Like many, I have my favorites and was hoping to see them in lead roles. Not only did I not see my favorites, but none of the principal dancers were in lead roles. A few danced in portions of the ballet, but in lesser roles.

At my performance, we had the B team. The soloists. They are good, solid dancers. Someday, they may even be great. But, today there is an element missing that makes you go “wow” when you see them dance. And you could hear it in the audience reaction. The applause was nice, but not what you hear when you see greatness. Even without specific knowledge of ballet, you know great when you see it.

The thing is, people notice when the B team is out front. They may not know it is the B team, but they will know the experience is not to the level it could be. Is that the experience you want for your customers?

Check out my new book, Leading the High-Performing Company. You’ll find more tips about how to lead your organization to new heights.

the race to spend money

The race to spend money

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The end of the year is quickly approaching. And that signals department heads to hurry up and spend money. Use it or lose it. The phenomenon is rooted in ineffective budgeting processes. The budget for next year is based on actual spending this year plus an inflationary factor. And that drives department heads to race to spend money, many times ineffectively, to make sure they have what they believe they need for next year.

Rather than a race to spend money indiscriminately, why not make your budget reflective of your priorities? By building your priorities into your budget, you will be able to track progress. Did you do what you said you would do? Did it generate the results you expected?

You’ll find being deliberate and ending the race to spend money will drive you to make progress against your goals.

Check out my new book, Leading the High-Performing Company. You’ll find more tips about how to lead your organization to new heights.

Are you inspired or intimidated?

Do you feel intimidated or inspired/determined when you are surrounded by people that are better at it than you?

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I love dance classes. For me, it’s hard to imagine a better way to get a workout. Great music and ladies having fun shaking it up for an hour. The thing is, most of the people in the room are great dancers and/or have been at it for years. So, when new people come to class, they have one of two reactions: This looks like a blast! I can’t wait to do it again. Or. I have no idea what I am doing/I’ll never get it. I’m not coming back.

The difference is all in the attitude. Many of the people who come regularly aren’t great dancers, but they have a great time. They see opportunities, not challenges. That’s the difference between successful people and those that aren’t. They look at others as an inspiration and a challenge to get better. They believe that surrounding themselves with people that are better at it than them will lead to better results.

Which perspective do you take? How can you inspire yourself to achieve new heights?

Check out my new book, Leading the High-Performing Company. In the chapter about developing your knights of the roundtable, you’ll find more tips about how to surround yourself with people that will challenge you to grow.

fending off the zombies

Fending Off the Zombie Apocalypse

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It happens every year. The weather starts to change and the sniffles start. Soon, the sniffles turn to colds. The coughing starts and the Purell bottles pop up on desks. But, the work needs to get done. People keep showing up with dark circles, baggy jowls, carrying tissues to blow their noses. It is a cacophony of tooting horns and hacking coughs. The zombie apocalypse arrives.

Have you ever noticed that the zombie apocalypse doesn’t hit everywhere? It seems to hit certain companies harder than others. The ones where the stress levels are high. Where people work insane hours trying to advance causes that aren’t advancing.  It doesn’t hit as hard in companies that are outperforming. Stress levels are significantly lower and things just work. As a result, the zombies aren’t present.

How are you fending off the zombie apocalypse? You can find a number of tips to keep your energy high and be your best in my book, Leading the High-Performing Company.

what are your red flags?

The Pitfalls of Scaling

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Last week, my deck refinishing kicked off when the contractor showed up with the stain chips to choose from. The thing is, looking at a 1 inch square doesn’t give a real perspective of what the color actually looks like at scale. Usually contractors paint a sample to confirm the color, but it was skipped this time. And what a mistake that was! Rather than the red tone I was looking for to match my fence, the stain was peach/orange. Luckily, we caught it early and the stain was swapped out for the color I was looking for.

Scaling is one of the toughest things in business. What works at a small scale, does not always work at a large scale. It could be your vision is completely distorted when scale is reached. Or maybe the technology works in a small environment, but not a big environment. And while most people have experience with scaling gone awry, thinking through what needs to be done to scale frequently gets skipped. It is the classic pitfall in scaling. How do you avoid the pitfalls of scaling?

Check out my new book, Leading the High-Performing Company. You’ll find more tips about how to lead your organization to new heights.

creating a raving fan

The Tamale Lady

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She stands outside of the store with a cooler full of warm tamales. The handwritten, cardboard sign lists the three or four types she has available for sale. And just in case you don’t see her, she politely says “tamales” to passersby. Her tamales are fantastic—and her customers rave about them! It had been a while since I saw her, but there she was last week. Her price had increased since the last time I saw her. As I paid her, she handed me a business card along with the package of tamales. She now provides tamales for parties.

What a smart lady! The store sells tamales for more and they don’t taste as good as hers. She realized she could increase her pricing without impacting her sales. And she is expanding into large orders based on requests from customers. Understanding the market and customer interests is at the core of any business. How well do you understand yours?

what are your red flags?

Want to lose your top talent? Here’s how

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The company was growing rapidly. Desks were tucked into every nook and cranny of the crowded office to accommodate the people recently hired. The days were long and people hardly had time to eat. So as we spoke, I was surprised to hear about the person who wasn’t carrying his load. It wasn’t clear why, but he wasn’t. So, he was transferred to the front to greet visitors, at the same pay. There he could relax, surf the net and greet the periodic visitor. People noticed. They noticed the consequence for not doing work was getting an easier job at the same pay. They also noticed they got more work. That is how you lose your top talent and keep your underperformers.

when better isn't better

When Better Isn’t Better

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My dog’s favorite toys are her blankets. She has a pile of them she drags through the house, creating new piles for playing and sleeping. The flattened piles don’t look like the best bed, so when I was at Costco, I got her a fluffy new bed. It looks great and should be way better than the pile of blankets. Apparently she doesn’t think so. She sleeps on the pile of blankets next to her brand new bed. I think the new bed is better, but clearly she doesn’t.

This is a classic lesson in business. As a leader, it doesn’t matter if you think it is better. Your people, your customers, your investors and the community must think it is better too. You may need to demonstrate why it is better if it isn’t readily apparent. People will change their behaviors when they are better off. So, if you want people to do something different, understand what they believe is better. What is stopping you from getting started?

Check out my new book, Leading the High-Performing Company. You’ll find more ideas about how to lead your business to new heights.

are there new ideas

How Many New Ideas Really Exist?

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The Portland Art Museum is currently featuring an exhibit called the Shape of Speed. It is an amazing display of rare cars primarily from the 1930’s. Each of the cars and motorcycles have been designed with the concept of streamlining in mind. I have to admit they are all pretty cool.

The Scarab caught my eye. Built in 1936, it has moveable chairs and a table. As I looked at it, it reminded me of designs I’ve seen for autonomous cars. It is amazing how many “new” ideas are really inspired by something that already exists. How do you get your inspiration for new ideas?

Check out my new book, Leading the High-Performing Company. You’ll find more examples of inspiration in the chapter about innovation.