Accountability Allows Leadership
A senior manager recently asked what the difference was between a manager and a leader. I told her: "A manager is responsible for taking care of the here and now. A manager ensures the resources are...
View ArticleDeveloping Your Future Leaders: It's Your Responsibility
Many business owners still believe their Human Resources (HR) department is primarily responsible for developing their respective organization's future leaders. However, the longer business owners keep...
View ArticleLeadership Development and Succession Planning: They're Not Just HR's...
We're making headway, but many executive managers in the public and private sectors still believe the human resources department is primarily responsible for developing leaders and the organizations'...
View ArticleUse It or Lose It
We've hit that part of the Strategic Planning process with a few of our clients: It's time for them to put what they've developed to the test. Specifically, a few clients are facing difficult...
View ArticleDon't Be a Wimpy Manager
What's a wimpy manager? It's a manager who isn't honest, fair, and clear with her employees on her expectations. It's a manager who believes she's being nice by not telling her employees when they're...
View ArticleAre Your Employees Held Hostage or Held Accountable?
A client called me recently to say he'd just finished reading a paragraph from Jack Welch’s book “Jack – Straight from the Gut” to his staff. The section he’d read outlined Mr. Welch’s thoughts on the...
View ArticleLetting Go
When it comes to letting go and letting someone else take the reins, can you do it? Do you do it? If so, do you do it well? Given the work my company does, we regularly deal with transitions in...
View ArticlePerformance Reviews – They’re Not Just A Once A Year Thing
A client was experiencing some employee performance issues and asked us to present training to their managers on their new employee performance evaluation form. Terrific. However, they weren't thrilled...
View ArticleGuest | Ted Coiné
This week I'd like to share one of my favorite articles as it speaks so clearly to what I've communicated to my clients over the years. The article was written by Ted Coiné, who has agreed to allow me...
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Six Reasons You May be a Helicopter Manager
We've all heard of helicopter parents. They're those annoying parents that constantly hover and prevent their children from learning to deal with life's challenges for themselves. Then, these children...
View ArticleManaging Layoffs With Dignity
With the potential for layoffs facing so many companies, the realities of laying off great workers is confronting many business owners and managers: owners and managers who have never before faced this...
View ArticleWhose Job Are You Doing?
I had a work session yesterday with a client who wanted to discuss what to do with his General Manager who has been micromanaging his Operations Director and other staff. The General Manager's...
View ArticleWork Your Plan - How to Manage Your Business Plan
In a recent blog post (10 Reasons to Update Your Business Plan - Why, When & How), we outlined why and when to update your business plan, in this post we'll talk about how to update and manage it....
View ArticleAre You Thinking 'Whole Organization' or Just 'My Department'?
As a manager, how many times have you made a decision, initiated a project, or took hold of a problem no one else has tackled yet? Now, how many times have you been criticized by others when you did...
View ArticleCalm The Rumblings
Do your job and immediately calm project team rumbles to prevent team explosions and projects going off-track. The post Calm The Rumblings appeared first on Weber Business Services, LLC.
View ArticleRemember: They're Watching You
No matter how many times you tell your team, "We're going to change." "We're going to become more efficient and do things differently around here,'" they're not going to believe you. They also know...
View ArticleOver-Communicating vs Talking Too Much
Managers know they're supposed to communicate, communicate, communicate. In fact, managers are often told to "over-communicate." That's great advice - in general. However, where many managers run a...
View ArticleKissing Leadership Communication
It happened again. As I started a work session with a client group recently, I asked them to bring me up to speed on what's been happening with their company since our last session. Several managers...
View ArticleDo YOUR Job
A manager approached me this week after a work session to seek my advice on how she should address one of her employees. This employee is increasingly becoming Trouble (with a tall T). He is more often...
View ArticleSupport your Stars
I had lunch recently with a woman who is starting to hate her job. She drives to work dreading the day and by 10 AM she's plotting her escape. By Wednesday noon, she looks forward to Friday and every...
View ArticleDefine the Deliverable
We’ve all created To Do lists, sent them around to our team and sat back waiting for responses and, hopefully, accomplishments. We might even feel a bit smug congratulating ourselves that one of our...
View ArticleDon't Expect Kudos for Just Doing Your Job
Do you provide a good product or service to your customers? Do you ship orders on time? Are your employees well trained and professional with each other and with your customers? Do you address customer...
View ArticleGet Your Lunch
Have you ever been hungry for lunch and not able to focus on anything, let alone accomplish anything, until you get some food? Your attention is on one thing: getting food—now! Sweet or salty, it...
View ArticleTraining Successors Without Hurt Feelings
A manager recently approached me with this troubling issue, "My back-up person is incredible. But when she retires, which she's eligible to do at any moment, we'll be in big trouble. My problem is: How...
View ArticleAre You Too Busy Being Busy?
Do you work 11, 12, or 14 hour days and never get ahead? Do you believe that the more tasks you physically do yourself, the greater your chances are you can inspire your staff to do more? And then, do...
View ArticleA Self-Respecting Leader: Robert 'Tink' Lehmer
I never met Robert 'Tink' Lehmer. I wish I had. He thought the way great leaders think. I say this because of a little poem he wrote in 1976. Tink's poem was shared during a Leadership Training program...
View ArticleAdmitting You Are Human Takes Courage
In my training and consulting work, I am frequently and discreetly told during breaks “I didn't handle myself too well this morning” or “I was so frustrated with my team yesterday, I just screamed at...
View ArticleJust One Thing
Being a manager or leader is a 24/7 proposition. There's very little if any down time. Yet to be an effective manager and leader, you need to be on the look-out constantly for opportunities to improve...
View ArticleFear of Difficult Conversations
It's been happening more and more. Clients are complaining about their managers' inappropriate behaviors, lack of management skills, and inability to take on greater responsibilities. Yet, when I ask...
View ArticleAccountability - It's Expected
Leaders think beyond the current frustrations and pressures. That's how they identify opportunities and foresee roadblocks. That's how they do their jobs. That's how they're able to lead. That's how...
View ArticleHow Managers Develop Their Employees
We're working with several organizations helping them prepare their next tier of managers to eventually take over the senior leadership positions. However, before we focus on developing this next tier...
View ArticleCommunication is a Beautiful Thing
A beautiful thing happened during a client work session this past week: The management team experienced the value of clear, honest communication. For some time this client has been under the incorrect...
View ArticleWho Do I Want As My Customers?
We've been doing a lot of work with clients lately on fine-tuning their marketing efforts. A crucial step in this process is getting crystal-clear on just who they want as customers. Now I know this...
View ArticleDo You Have A Leadership Line In The Sand?
Are your employees clear as to what your expectations for performance are? Do your employees know what the non-negotiable attitudes and behaviors are that are expected of all team members (yourself...
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Would You Want to Work for “You”?
If you had the opportunity to work for yourself, would you? This question has been popping up in conversations with several clients lately. It’s come up during a board strategy session. It’s been...
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What Is Your Leadership Doing to the Organization’s Culture?
How much of an impact is your leadership having on your organization’s culture? If you don’t already know, it’s time to stop and assess its impact. If you do already know, and the impact you’re having...
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Do You Believe Your Managers Can Manage?
Do you believe your managers can really manage? Do you believe your managers have the skills to make their own department or team decisions? Do you believe your managers can outline their own...
View ArticleIs Your Business Ready for an Open House?
For most individuals who have shopped for a home, the experience of touring various homes is enlightening. There are invariably homes that we view that are over our home purchase budget. There are...
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