By Michael Holland - You know a great leader within a few minutes of talking with them. There's no mistake. They stand out like an oak tree in the middle of the desert. Their title - or lack of a title - bear no connection to their leadership impact. They create a circle [...]
By Michael Holland - There is an older TV commercial where a young couple throws a dart at a map and then take off for their weekend adventure to wherever the dart landed. How spontaneous and fun. Your employees are hoping you’re less adventurous. In the rush of work and the ever-changing whims [...]
by Michael Holland - What traditions have you created or enabled within your team or company? As a leader, you are in the powerful role of creating rituals, beliefs, values, and cultural norms by the ways in which you behave and enable behavior within others, both as individuals and in groups. Tradition sounds [...]
by Michael Holland - Your role as a leader – should you choose to accept it – is to effectively lead the people asset you’ve been charged with owning. This means: You are responsible and accountable for the effectiveness and productivity of each individual person on your team, as well as the team [...]
By Michael Holland The pressure has been building for months. You were clear on his performance review 6 months ago. You were clear 3 months ago when you put him on the performance improvement plan and 1 month ago you met with him to sign the update to the PIP making sure he [...]
By Michael Holland - I think one of the biggest mistakes seemingly well-intentioned organizations make is promoting someone to supervision/management and giving them just a single direct report. The logic seems to be that by giving them a single employee to manage, they can learn how to lead with less risk and more time to get [...]
by Michael Holland - A toddler is amazed by the sound of their voice echoing off the walls of a large, empty room. I’m amazed by the echo heard down a valley from a high cliff. The sound reverberates, seeming to go on forever. The leadership voice of a good leader is heard [...]
By Michael Holland - One of the most irritating comments I hear from leaders at all levels is along the lines of ". . . my team is my family . . . " And when a leader above the rank of director talks this way, I become extremely concerned for the welfare of the [...]
By Michael Holland - You cannot re-lead. You can't go back in time and lead in a different way. You can't wipe the slate clean and have people - your employees, peers and bosses - view you differently. You can't take back those words. You can't change the look that was on your face. Every [...]
by Michael Holland - What can be learned from a survey of 1,000,000 employees and 80,000 managers about why talented employees decide to stay in a job or go? What can you learn about yourself as a leader if you looked at yourself first as employee who has a manager? At times leaders believe -- [...]
