Real Clear Business Advice

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of interviewing a very nice young man for a key opening at one
of my clients. During our conversation, he said something that made me really think.

He said, “As a leader, I need to be able to show my people what GREAT looks like.” I asked him
what he meant by that and he replied, “It isn’t enough to tell people anymore, because not
everyone ‘sees’ what I am telling them. I have ...

Towards the end of the year, the company held a planning retreat. All managers were told
by the owner to arrive at a local hotel by 8am.

When the session started, she announced the purpose of the meeting: to set company goals
for the next year. The day kicked off with the projected results from the current year being
revealed.

The owner did not provide specifics when it came to the financial results. Instead, she used
percentages. “Sales were up three percent” ...

I have had the opportunity recently to spend a significant amount of time in two executive
learning environments with others. My fellow attendees were intelligent, articulate and
committed. Each made a sacrifice of time, money and in opportunity cost to attend.

Each was there to learn, to grow, personally and professionally, their leadership skills. All
were leaders and most were business owners.

The media can portray owners as single-minded, greedy people. Whether it is Mr. Potter
from “It’s a Wonderful Life” or ...

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Ted the employee and his “entitlement” attitude at work.
I pointed out that his owner was enabling Ted and all the other employees at the company
because the owner failed to share information that would improve the condition of the
business.

One of the roadblocks for an underperforming company is that it lacks a scoreboard for the
whole team. Without this visual information, updated regularly, everyone except the owner
is in the dark.

The scoreboard ...

I had the pleasure of spending three days recently in a UCLA Executive Education course.
One of the first concepts covered was the role of leadership. What I was taught was that
leaders in the organization not only have the obligation to create value, but to capture it.

Owners are usually pretty solid when it comes to creating new value for clients doing
business with someone else; that is how they launch the business. And, most of the time,
this is ...

In Jim Collin’s bestselling book From Good to Great he writes of five levels of leadership; I
believe that there seven levels of leadership, and I have described each below.

As you read through each description, evaluate not only where you see yourself, but also
where you see those that work with you, and for you.

The Bad
Meet the internal terrorist! These individuals are negative leaders, starting rumors,
disrupting things, pushing limits, and creating havoc in the organization. They stir things
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I met with Ted to discuss his career options. Ted has been employed by his company for a
number of years. Ted is in his mid forties. His story is heard often these days.

As he laid out his issues, I heard The Entitlement Blues playing in the background. It’s a song
we have all played and maybe sang at one point or another.

To help Ted discover the underlying issues, I asked questions, helping to frame things,
learning that he had ...

I recently reread the book Moneyball so I could gain better insight into the background
story, the thinking and the performance of the characters in the movie of the same name.

It occurred to me as an “ah-hah!” the concept what good teachers have always known: the
goal is to have the student gain sufficient confidence in their own abilities do their work
proficiently on their own.

This concept works when learning to read, learning states and capitals or memorizing ...

I believe that Disneyland has it right when it comes to fulfilling its goal to be “the happiest
place on earth.” In the many times I have been there, I have not been disappointed at the
experience. This is a key reason I keep returning, despite rising ticket prices that turn some
people off.

Let me compare my Disneyland experiences with that another provider I have used for
many years at my home.

This particular company communicates only when they send a ...