Breaking Habits that Led to Success Every so often I find that little nugget of oxymoronic brilliance that leaves me even more impressed by its unusual packaging. You know the ones I am referring to – they usually come as absolute surprises, speed up the greying process, and bring a rush of “Uh oh, what […]
Stronger Connections The potential of a team lies in its ability to work together cohesively. A less informed, less skilled team often beats a more informed, more skilled one that does not coordinate well. Just because you have the talent doesn’t mean you will win. Companies sell products and/or services. If we look at the […]
Mattering More Today I want to share some thoughts on a different type of economy. We are consumers, so everyday we trade our currency for products and services that we want or need. There is another, more hidden economy that we interact with daily as well. Remember, we are people first. Matters of the heart and […]
Standing Corrected With all of the mistakes and misunderstandings that happen every day, it’s pretty easy to spot the endearing trait of great leadership. Witnessing humility in action just seems to put me at ease. Seeing someone step into a situation and stand corrected takes great courage and a certain kind of humbleness. I respect […]
A Pit Bull, a Child, and a Moment of Clarity A couple of times a year I have those “Aha” moments that help me pivot from the frustrating track that defines insanity. Its funny how when there is an elephant in the room, if it sits still and quiet long enough, people will forget that it […]
Rising Above the Haze of Misplaced Bias People, Process, Product, and Performance – the often discussed four P’s of business that need to be monitored and improved to keep a business healthy. What doesn’t get a lot of attention are the changes one must go through as they rise in authority and play a different […]
Demerits, Notions, and Avoiding Comprehension Building great managers and future leaders of a growing service business is all about teaching people to create and celebrate progress, to find the smart paths through alienation, and make it simpler for the next guy. Think about it – how would you define the performance of a manager that […]
Ambitious Advancement of Expectations As providers of construction services in an industry buffeted by disruption, I have learned, and re-learned our opportunity lies in our ability to advance. How we deliver our services matters. The expectations set by the client are too often called “goals“. This is the part where excellence becomes elusive. Our clients’ […]
Something happened recently that really got me talking to myself. It was a humbling, empowering, invigorating, and actionable discussion, though my discussion partner wanted to do more talking than listening… Seriously though, I had a break through because of someone else’s bad “break“. I often talk about actively identifying potential unintended consequences of a decision. […]
The Bias of Neutrality I have been busy trying to initiate and deliver progress to the company. The uncommon sense of the activities is to remain balanced between the robotic strength of progress and the compassionate side of the disruption I am causing. Leading through change can be a lonely existence. The excitement of progress […]
Learning doesn’t happen without failure. Keeping our minds open through our experiences, new and old, allows us to learn through our experience. The other day I found myself at the crossroad of getting something done with constructive or destructive feedback. Mind you I am a firm believer that both types of feedback are needed – some habits […]
“How do you want to see this?” This question is like a key artifact – its very important and even more rare. Much like finding that key relic, understanding how someone needs to see something can unlock the invisible force that prevents the dots from being connected. The other day I had a conversation with […]
I am finally back from my road trip. I spent a lot of focused time thinking about two things – our clients’ needs and our strategy to meet them. The following words are reshaping the way our company is structured. Connect every activity to how it impacts our client’s experience. Know our strategy. Our company […]
“A personal choice to rise above one’s circumstance and demonstrate the ownership necessary for achieving desired results – to see it, own it, solve it, and do it” – Connors, Smith & Hickman in The Oz Principle. Bad joke tellers know the entire joke inside and out. They have everything they need to succeed – […]
This week I am going to share a bit about feedback. I’ve written a lot about it from the point of view of the feedback provider. I’ve written in a way to help the provider provide the difficult and necessary feedback. The other side of finding success with feedback involves how well the recipient is […]
What is best or right, is often overlooked by what is convenient. One of my pet peeves is finding myself revisiting the same challenges over and over. My mantra is “Tomorrow’s challenges better be different than today’s”. I’ve been receiving a lot of feedback to remind people about prior messages and encourage discussions about them. This […]
I am a car novice. My skills with cars are limited to driving them. I cannot tell if I need a tune-up, oil change, maybe I can tell with an alignment, but thats about it. My guess is this is true of more and more drivers. Changing car oil at home used to be much […]
Can you believe we are in the homestretch of summer? Time is moving so fast! This week I will share a few of Thomas Watson’s quips that will hopefully make you laugh, think a bit, and put your ideas to work. It’s really about raising your game. Hopefully Tom’s tips will help. He was known […]
It’s amazing how much you have to do with what happens to you. Reading about or noticing ways to make a difference – do you seize them? Do you help others find their way, their success? There are limits to folks flying solo. T ogether E ach A ccomplishes M ore. Do you go looking for […]
We’ve been confronting our struggles of pointing fingers at goals rather than people. Last week we read about how we need to be respectful of one another, especially when we work together. We will definitely let one another down, so providing a bit of grace and understanding can help us find success more easily. With […]
Preparing a project to be successful is one of the most important tasks of a project manager. There are so many times where we endure what we anticipate and planned around, all because someone didn’t dot, their i’s, cross their t’s, or read their simple instructions. Have you ever made the assumption that since you have […]
This week I am continuing my recent messages about progress. Seems like many people are converging on the crossroads of “What is best for me versus what is best for us”. I often quote my brother with “My value to the company, is my value of the company.” This can be varied into other parts […]
Good Morning. I hope this message finds you well rested and ready to have some fun with your biggest challenges. Making progress climbing our own mountains can be gratifying and humbling at the same time. So many of our mountains are related to the way people respond to situations. Today I will share about the […]
“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” Walt Disney sure had it right. Overcoming naysayers and the limits of what has been done gives me that kind of joy that is personal, satisfies the fire in my belly, and shared with the very few others that were there during the quest. Walt Disney created […]
I hope you all had a great holiday week. I was able to use the time to recharge with my family. I hope you all were able to spend the time exactly the way you wanted. This week I am writing about infrastructure and its importance to staying relevant through growth. I am sharing it […]
“Enquiring Minds Want to Know”. The mindless information shared through tabloids is great for entertainment. Its a terrible place to go for facts. When people put a spin on information in tabloids, we know not to trust it. Why is it so present in the business world? Maybe its because seasoned spinsters have the ability […]
Six months til Christmas…Wow! Where has the time gone? I need to slow down and learn something. This week I have a couple of statements from management writer Bruce Tulgan for you to read and process. Most everyone is a manager of a group at some time during their week – whether its a project, […]
I hope everyone had a great Father’s Day Weekend! I spent mine enjoying some mid-summer type fun – a little yard work, swimming, and, of course, some barbecuing. I noticed something interesting while I was working in the yard. The sun was beating down on me as I tried to dig into rock to plant […]
American History is one of my favorite topics to study. I love our country and marvel at it’s rise from faraway colony to the world’s super power. There have been major struggles along the way to success, including an attempt to self destruct. The internal bickering turned in political battles, and eventually became the war […]
Happy June everyone! I hope you all are enjoying your journey through the weekly messages. Here you are able to suspend all of your existing logic and look at situations from a different point of view. Knowing your perspective allows you to be a participant in the action. Knowing other points of view makes you a […]
This weekend we were able to celebrate a holiday remembering the men and women who died while serving our country. American history is full of gallantry and come-togetherness that would seem to defy all odds. I am not sure I would have the mustard required to do what was required of those doing their duty. […]
The internal battle between pride and truth often ends in a way that a sound mind wishes was different. Today I am expanding on “Are your actions justified or are you justifying your actions”. Too many times clear evidence is disregarded and learning is lost, keeping these people ignorant. This is a very real risk, […]
There is an interesting phenomenon I’ve noticed about the zoom lens on a camera – the better one feels about the way they look, the more comfortable they are with its use. Much like the lens of a camera, a mirror of our behavior can be just as intimidating. Today I am going to share […]
For this week’s message I am sharing a couple of items for you to consider to shed the mindset or habits that make success elusive. So much is discussed about what to do to be a great leader, I thought I’d have a little fun and share what not to do. So I took our […]
Maturity, the ability to respond to our challenges at the right time, in the right place, and in the appropriate manner, becomes increasingly important as we find more success. It is very easy to fall into the trap of becoming complacent in the way we do things or stuck at the level in the which […]
I know of a few ways to overcome difficult situations – get stronger, smarter, or more lucky. The luck part we cannot specifically control, but like Thomas Jefferson said “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it”. We get better through our diverse and adverse […]
“When one door closes, another opens.” This common quote is often used in way to help someone pick themselves up after they failed at something or as a way to find a silver lining in a challenging situation. The patience to ask this of ourselves and to forgive ourselves for falling short can prove to […]
Staying grounded and focused can be difficult through success. This week I’d like you to consider the relationship between “responsibilities and boundaries”. Its a rather odd word combination, but it is loaded with uncommon sense . The simplicity and humility it provides is boundless. When people do not have any responsibilities, it can be hard for […]
Building something great can be hard work, full of set backs and false starts. As you all can see, I’ve been literally driven to the point of pulling out my hair – I’ve starting in the front, working my way back. I cannot afford much more of this, as the supply of this precious natural […]
At first, intentionally enduring adversity may seem a bit unconventional. Who in their right mind wants to experience unnecessary stress? If we look more closely, though, many parts of our society do this everyday, and we are often impressed by their achievements. Lets look at sports teams. They practice the fundamentals, game situations, and build […]
Managing fickle times is much like baking – the right ingredients need to be coupled with the right timing and temperature to work out as intended. Unsteady, adverse situations are very risky, and can create a great opportunity to demonstrate our ability to adapt to the new needs. There are few situations where we can […]
At first, intentionally enduring adversity may seem a bit unconventional. Who in their right mind wants to experience unnecessary stress? If we look more closely, though, many parts of our society do this everyday, and we are often impressed by their achievements. Lets look at sports teams. They practice the fundamentals, game situations, and build […]
The company’s goal of becoming other people’s favorite client/vendor/employer continues to be a guide for our processes. Coupling this with mutual respect for one another has prompted great improvements already, and these successes are creating the momentum we need to carry us further. Our potential continues to grow and many opportunities are being unlocked. Many […]
People tend to cling to the identity that made them successful. The longer someone stays in a role, the better they may become at it. Over time, though, this experience can become the very element that stifles their progress. Eventually the challenges change and if one continues to base their strategy on past successes, they […]
One of my struggles during change management is overcoming the sabotage by people trying to avoid a loss of comfort. I recently went through a period where too many conversations about a person were happening without that person. This gossip is detrimental in most every way possible. Here is I told my team I was […]
How do we endure overly stressful periods and come out of them significantly stronger, in a productive way? This is a challenge I have recently been pondering – the people that help me be productive have not been able to, loading up the work I became responsible for. It was a bit enlightening as what […]
“So, how do I look?” There are some questions that create instant crossroads. I want to tell the truth, I want to protect the other person’s feelings, I want to share productive thoughts. So many wants, so few ways to meet them all. All too often the answer is provided, even if it is not […]
Why would it be important to be “recipient minded” and what on earth does that mean? To be recipient minded means you have the others persons interest in mind. To Be recipient minded you need to remember who you are talking to and keep their point of view in your peripheral. You could go a […]
You can picture the scene: One person’s anger is causing their face to turn red, you see their blood start to boil and smoke coming out of their ears. What can you do to keep the peace? Here are a few things to keep in mind when dealing with someone who is overcome with anger: […]
If a leader has a hard time connecting with his team he or she may need a lesson in social intelligence. Is it possible to achieve a “brain connectedness” with someone–to feel what they are feeling? And why is that important? When it comes to social intelligence, science says it is important and can be […]
Its been said that when we don’t like people on a personal level it is because we feel they do not like us. Whether this is a reality or simply a perceived reality, can you see how that may be true? Robert Wright is an author, journalist, accomplished scientist and regular speaker on TED.com. Wright believes […]
Want to know the trait that can increase business? Its a human trait that even animals display. Its empathy. Whether you are dealing with customers, vendors, family members, acquaintances, friends or associates, empathy is a trait that can make human bonds strong and make life worth living. It will behoove us to harness empathy to […]
We all have secrets. Some are silly, others may be shocking. Just knowing that every human carries the weight of their own personal secrets can be freeing and is proof we all have struggles. Whether our secrets are funny or about intimacy, you can bet it can get complicated. Have you ever entertained the idea […]
What could possibly go wrong when it comes to EIFS? An economical, beautiful and easily created exterior, it is both practical and easily maintained, weatherproof . . . but it is going to the birds–literally. Birds love to nest in EIFS because it provides them with a warm home. Because EIFS is made of insulation […]
Managers have it tough – they need to create and foster performance without destroying their team’s dedication when discipline is required. Keeping in mind that people behave rationally to their own unique realities can help us understand their behavior better. Consider that people make decisions using their experience, desires, and fears. Since everyone’s are different, […]
When I hear people justifying their actions, my body goes into shock – my stomach turns, my eyes twitch, and I start to pace uncontrollably. Not really, but my blood boils and turns my face beat red. I am not sure of the science of it, but I think it is purely mental. For whatever […]
Are your actions justified or are you justifying your actions? – John Fairclough, CEO Resicom
Value of a Dollar Consider this truth: Not all dollars are created equally. Some revenue gets us closer to our goals than others – it all depends on the desired outcomes. A leader’s goals include (1) protecting the company and (2) nurturing it to grow. In order to protect our company, some of our desired […]
Not all dollars are created equal – John Fairclough, CEO Resicom
However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. -Winston Churchill, British Statesman and wartime leader
Bess Galanis is a public relations specialist and guest blogger for Reiscom. Her latest series is focused on the power of infusing emotion into fact-based rhetoric. She reminds us that while the facts may be lost and forgotten, the emotion of an experience will be much more easily remembered. Read about the impact of emotion-infused […]
Many leaders struggle with work/life balance. Many times parts of our lives are sacrificed for the betterment of another. The problem is that we often do not return to build up the sacrificed areas. This exercise will help you identify where you are at and help you put in place activities that bring you your […]