4 Surprising & Productive Questions for Leaders

“The best scientists and explorers have the attributes of kids! They ask questions and have a sense of wonder. They have curiosity. ‘Who, what, where, why, when, and how!’ They never stop asking questions, and I never stop asking questions, just like a five-year-old.” – Sylvia Earle, Marine Biologist, Explorer, Author, and Lecturer Every idea…

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Ten Things that Require Zero Talent

What separates great employees from good employees?  You might be surprised that it is not necessarily skill or brilliance and best of all it is something within the control of most people. Below is a list of those ten traits that separate the great from the good employees. How many of these traits can you…

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The Role of the Leader

Behind every successful business or organization you will likely find a great leader and taking on the role of leader means wearing many hats.  There are three critical components to being a successful leader.  Good leadership skills are not only gut feelings or high business acumen.   It is also knowing how to find and use…

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Why Feedback When You Can Feed-Forward?

Tips for Effective Coaching Conversations As a leader, I’ve always looked at the annual performance review process as an opportunity to celebrate our team’s continued value to the organization.  I anticipate conversations that generate the plan forward for another successful year.  The perspective from the individual being reviewed can be completely opposite, with them feeling…

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12 Questions about Your Sales Process

Ask companies today if they follow an established formal sales process.  Their answers?  Very few can say yes! Statistics show that 91% of the more than 500,000 salespeople assessed by the Objective Management Group (OMG is a leading sales development company) did not have or follow a structured sales process.  Do you have one? A…

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6 Steps to be the Leader You always Wanted to Be

As the CEO of your company you are likely a natural born leader. Maybe you didn’t notice right away, but people just started following your lead one day. Your peers looked to you for advice in business, in sports, in school, in really anything in which you were involved. Sound about right? Or maybe that’s…

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The History of Man…What Have We Learned?

If we view the history of man graphically as a piece of 20 foot long rope, then the first 12 feet of that rope would be the Scavenger Man and the next 7 feet would be the Hunter / Gatherer Man and the next 1 foot would be the Agricultural / Farmer and of that…

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Coaching for Performance

Coaches have an enormous impact on their teams.  Whether it’s in sports or business, we’ve all looked to someone as a mentor.  I’m a huge Michigan State basketball fan, and in our home, Tom Izzo is the best there is.  Even if Michigan State doesn’t impress you, it’s hard to argue with the fact that…

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Decisions, Decisions, Decisions…

  Life can literally throw us all sorts of complications and whether you are a CEO, supervisor, or a brand-new intern, making important decisions is a daily life responsibility and the higher up the ladder you are, the higher the stakes are with every decision. As a business leader, you must make reliable, consistent and…

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Are You Having a Good Day?

If you ask most people “Are you having a good day?” they will have some method, no matter how arbitrary or factual, to provide an answer that they are in fact having a good, mediocre or bad day. If you ask employees at most companies “Are you having a good day?” they have some method…

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