Why I Can’t Fix Your People
You can’t fix anyone “Dennis, can you come for a day and just fix our people?” This is the tragic question I get asked frequently. Truthfully I can’t fix anyone and neither can you. In fact, I barely can get our dog, Allie, to go to the bathroom outdoors. If I can’t control my dog, […]
Why Slogans Never Work
Creating Culture is a Process “How does an organization create a high-trust, high-performance culture system-wide not just with the executive team?” Since I faciltate a lot of executive retreats, it’s a question I get asked frequently. For starters, it doesn’t transpire with just an executive retreat where we come up with a new catch phrase such […]
The One Thing You Need For Better Decisions
Create An Environment of Trust for Better Decisions The foundation of all high-trust high-performance cultures is trust. Trust is the life blood of relationships and companies. The deeper the trust, the better the discussion. The better the discussion, the better the decisions. Better decisions create better results. The Best Decisions Possess The Best Wisdom Breakthrough […]
How To Get The Most From Feedback
Feedback – Know Where You Need To Grow A common complaint I hear when I work with a company is, “Dennis, I just don’t get enough feedback.” After 25 years of working with all types of organizations, I believe the greatest barrier to personal growth is receiving constructive feedback on your own behavior. Growth demands change and change […]
8 Ways To Measure Your Team’s Communication
Communication is the foundation of business Open communication accelerates business success. It makes collaboration easier, increasing the speed and reducing the cost of business. It is the foundation of successful teams. Unfortunately, what should be commonly practiced, rarely occurs. Without communication, organizations self-destruct When communication is open, honest and clear, people understand each other’s motives and intent. It fosters trust, the […]
Why Most Leadership Training Fails
Training is a Process Turning a group of employees into a high performance team doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, commitment, patience and a belief that the effort is worth it. When I begin to work with an organization, I know it takes time to change that culture. It’s the reason I have a process-drive […]
Why Grow And Develop Yourself?
Creating Culture Is A Leader’s Responsibility Great leaders strive to create a culture that allows everyone to play at the top of their game. When team members show up everyday, giving their very best, everyone succeeds. Developing a high-performance, high-trust environment is really a leader’s main job. Without it, people will give you their hands […]
When Is Strategy Useless?
Culture Eats Strategy For Breakfast I spend a considerable amount of my time not just advising organizations on strategy but ensuring the execution of those plans. I can spend days with leaders creating one-page strategic plans but if that team does not have the capacity to execute, it becomes a useless exercise. You and your […]
3 Ideas For Every Team Leader
This morning I pulled out Keith Ferrazzi’s book, “Never Eat Alone”. I have a handful of books that I pull out about once a year. Repetition is the mother of learning and I am constantly re-visiting principles and concepts in order to integrate them into my life. It’s not necessarily what you know, but what […]
How To Accomplish More With Your Team
People Do What’s Inspected Not What’s Expected You should not only just expect greatness from those around you, but also develop a process for inspecting that achievement. Organizations and people that don’t have an inspection system don’t have high levels of execution. Inspection is the power of accountability. I know that I tend to do […]
How To Produce Great Team Members
What Kind Of Fruit Does Your Life Produce? My favorite leader, Jesus of Nazareth, spoke a lot about this subject. He said we would know a tree by the fruit that it produced. I can tell a lot about a person by what his life produces. I know that if I get around an apple […]
The Best Way To Reward Your Team
You Get What You Reward What is your reward system for your organization or yourself? You always get the behavior you reward for. You don’t get the behavior you beg or plead for; you simply get the behavior you’re rewarding for. Just like with children, when they do good, you want to reward them. I’m […]