by Michael Holland - When I was a young manager working in Washington DC, my boss at the time began a certain tradition. Each week, she walked with me from our office, to and around the White House, and back again. This 20-minute or so walk was spent talking about the hows and whats of [...]
By Michael Holland - Your employees are frustrated with you. Yes, even though they may love you, admire you, work their tails off for you, they are frustrated with you. Some leaders cause so much frustration with their employees, they dream of how you will look when they finally tell you they are leaving for [...]
By Michael Holland - Great leaders stand out like an oak tree growing in the desert. You see it, feel it, know it when you're around a great leader. There's an authenticity about them that is so endearing. They are great because they have the capability to be vulnerable and seek as much information as [...]
By Michael Holland - The team is not the problem. The team itself is not dysfunctional. The team didn't wake up today and say hey, I'm going to be a dysfunctional team. The team is simply a label being placed on a group of people who together create a entity that can enable tremendous success [...]
By Michael Holland - I've asked the question countless times and more often than not I get the same basic answer. The question: Who in your past has been a great leader, someone you can visualize and model your leadership behavior after? A few moments of staring off into space ensues while they think back [...]
By Michael Holland - There’s the strong, powerful, charismatic, self-absorbed CEO attempting to guide a senior leader forward, or their team forward. After a moment or two of seemingly good leadership technique he finds his natural groove and drops the “S Bomb.” The “do it my way because I said so” command. His order is [...]
By Michael Holland - One of my often used warm-up question sequence when coaching a leader is: As you reflect on your leadership recently, what is one success that sticks out, one way in which you were leading well recently? And conversely, what is one thing you did as a leader that, upon reflection, was [...]
By Michael Holland - While on your way to a meeting, you get word that the meeting is being rescheduled. You now have 45 minutes of found time. Found time is like winning a small lottery. You smile like when you walk outside on the first really nice day of spring. Great leaders are prepared [...]
by Michael Holland - A foot of snow provided the perfect opportunity to teach my then 16-year-old son how to drive in the snow. He was several months into his learner's permit process and, all things considered, was a fairly good driver. To start off, we found a nice big parking lot. “Floor it towards [...]
by Michael Holland - “I’m a working manager. I just don’t have the time to do all these management things I’m supposed to do” Yes, you are a working manager. And so is every other person out there who is responsible for leading and managing other people. Every foreman, supervisor, team leader, manager, senior manager, [...]
