By Michael Holland - I recently read this story about a school teacher. . . a kindergarten teacher who at the end of an exasperating day had to put boots on all 31 of her students before she sent them out in the snow. As she struggled to lace up the last boot on the [...]
By Michael Holland New leaders waste so much energy. They have to invest so much time and thought into how to do this leadership thing. One day they're working side-by-side with coworkers and the next day they are walking in as the boss. Think about the moment they walk through the door that morning into [...]
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 of you cause so much frustration your employees dream of how you will look when they finally tell you they are leaving for another job. [...]
by Robin Perry Several weeks ago we welcomed Ester, a 17 year old young woman from Brazil, into our home. She will be here for a month, with a goal of improving her English. (Or maybe it’s her father’s goal.) I wasn’t sure what to expect as far as her English language abilities but what [...]
By Robin Perry Most everyone I work with is looking to improve their communication skills – and for most of us it’s effort worth making. How effective we are in our work and personal lives is often a factor of how well we communicate with others. So what to do? Step outside of yourself! Rather [...]
By Robin Perry When my daughter was 13 years old I found I was saying “no” a lot, or offering a contrary point of view to hers. “No” she couldn’t do something - or I didn’t think something was a good idea – or I had a better suggestion. All of those “no’s” and negativity [...]
By Michael Holland At the movies this weekend, we settled into our seats about 8 minutes before the start time for the movie. The theater was packed and we were lucky to get two seats together and start munching down our popcorn. Right on time the theater goes dark and we get ready for [...]
by Michael Holland Part of the art of leadership is the give and take of that information which is not common knowledge. There's a barter of sorts which occurs between leaders as they share bits and pieces of information they know, or sort of know, or are conjuring up as they piece together [...]
by Michael Holland Historically analyzing transformational change allows us to see the moments in time when leaders have articulated profoundly simple visions, and the resulting behavioral change that occurred over time within an organization or group after the proclamation. JFK’s “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth” speech [...]
By Michael Holland Listening is one of those skills we learned early in life. We’ve “refined” the skill over time, but maybe the refinement has been more of filter management than enhancement of skills. Here are some possible reasons as to why we’re not good listeners. It’s difficult to put aside our own [...]
