Jeff does not enjoy performance appraisals. His lack of enthusiasm for the task stems not from any reluctance on his part to scrutinize and identify strong and weak places in his staff’s performance nor does it arise from apprehension over the need to make corrections if needed. Indeed, Jeff’s lack of enjoyment comes from his...

In the previous post I defined Barrier #1 - We Have Limited Time. Today I will define barrier #2 - We can do many things but we cannot do everything. (Hint - this is a longer article than I normally like to post but I am confident you will find it worthwhile.) So then, what...

 Phil was approaching the end of his seventh year as the headmaster of a private school. All things considered, it had been a successful venture. The school’s census was growing each year, Phil directed a deeply dedicated faculty, and the school was paying its bills. Late one Friday afternoon, the parent of a student knocked...

A strategic team is a person or persons who, by virtue of their competencies, motivation, and reliability will: Extend Your Reach - they make it possible for you to influence people and events far beyond what you naturally could. They provide access to people and events to which you would not normally have found entrance....

When your circle of concern is greater than your circle of ability. Robert’s second floor offices are crowded with papers, files, memos, phone messages, charts, and project plans. On his belt hangs a smart phone. A secretary in a front office handles the business telephone, which rang a dozen times in the few minutes I...

Part and parcel with the three essential skills of effective leadership - 1) Understand the times, 2) Know what to do, 3) Command action, are three immutable laws. Skills and laws are built around and support each other. Immutable Law #1. A=A, a thing is what it is independent of the perceiver. (There is another condition which...

“Leading is easy, the hard part is getting people to follow.” Yogi Berra    Ok, so you can accurately read the circumstances and the people in them, have a clear concept of what has to be done, and can confidently articulate why it needs to be done. Can you get anyone to cooperate with your...

Michael Vance, former creative consultant for Walt Disney, tells this story. One late summer night, he was walking down Main Street USA in Disneyland in Anaheim, California. It had been a busy day and the street was filled with guests making their way to the exits. At the same time, a team of draft horses...

  In my last post I mentioned the capacities of insight and outsight, two characteristics which distinguish leaders from managers. Leaders, as set apart from management tasks, are supposed to "see" further and deeper than those who serve under them. It is the "Line of Sight" principle. Here are 6 differences. There are doubtless many...

You just have to know what’s going on while it is going on. You have to have some grasp of why it is happening, and you need to understand the implications of what it means for you and your team! You cannot get where you want to go if you do not know where you...