Mid-Year Check-in: 3 Questions to Ask Your Employees
by Michael Holland - As we approach mid-way through the calendar year, it’s time for a mid-year check-in with each of your employees.  While you’ve been regularly talking with your employees about their job tasks and performance, now it’s time for a different conversation. Schedule an extra meeting with each of your team members. Make it different: plan for it to be longer, go off-site or a different setting, send a message in advance so the employee can prepare [...]
Thankful for Good Leaders
Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. Not because of the great food – and I do enjoy gathering with my family - but most of all because of the spirit of the day – giving thanks. It is very cliché but we do have a lot to be thankful for. One of the things I am thankful for this year is that there are good leaders. Here are 3 actions I recently observed in 3 different leaders. [...]
Why Great Leaders Never Say “I Don’t Need to Learn Anymore”
“I don’t need to learn anymore.” A statement I hope I never say – and a statement I hope you never say! What happens when people engage in learning? They get new ideas, they have new perspectives, they try new approaches….all good things. Now take a moment and think about the last time you purposefully sought out learning. Not the last time you learned something new – that’s easy. New information comes at us all the time. But when was [...]
Get off the Hamster Wheel: Slow Down to Speed Up
At the end of a busy day I look at all I’ve accomplished – multiple coaching sessions, meetings, emails, phone calls – I hardly had a moment to stop! But was I really productive? I got a lot accomplished but what I didn’t get a chance to do was to look ahead and make real progress. Does this sound familiar? While a full schedule gets immediate items off of our to-do lists, it often leaves us drained and exhausted with [...]
3 Ways to Improve your Communication. Or Maybe Just Hire a Translator!
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 I know now is that they’ve put mine to a test! It’s hard work to communicate with someone who does not have the same vocabulary or same reference [...]
Can Knowing Your DiSC Style Improve Your Summer Vacation? It Did for Me!
In DiSC language, my husband is a “CD.” I’m an “iS.” Yes – opposites attract! And true to my belief that the best team represents all of the DiSC styles, for the most part I think that’s true for Jim and I. But occasionally we run into some snags that reflect our DiSC styles – and one of them is decision making. In true “CD” form – if Jim feels strongly about something, he makes a firm decision - often [...]
My 20-Year-Old Non-Gardener – Managing Poor Performance
Memorial Day weekend. The unofficial start of summer. And my garden in desperate need of attention. My son Bryce, home from college, knew he needed to help out with some family chores. Well, that was a start. As he joined me in the garden, I told him the area he needed to clear out and weed – a dry riverbed filled with rocks, leaves and weeds. I returned to where I had been working. Then the pain set in. Not [...]
How Often Do You Celebrate? Know the Research…
I’m a proud mother. Recently we attended our daughter’s college graduation and we celebrated for 4 days! It may have seemed excessive, but 4 days to recognize 4 years of hard work – now actually seems a little light! How important is celebration and recognition? Very important. Based on Gallup research, one of the core elements needed to attract, focus, and keep your most talented employees is that they receive recognition or praise for doing good work every seven days! [...]
3 Leadership Lessons I Learned at Pastor Joe’s Funeral
There are people who touch our lives and make a difference. We know it at the time. We value the relationship and know they’ve had an impact. But maybe we weren’t able to see exactly what they were doing at the time that was making such a difference. That was my experience with Pastor Joe. Pastor Joe was a loving, kind, caring person. Expected qualities for a pastor. But there was something more. Something deeper. As I sat at his [...]
Leadership on Bad Hair Days
I’ve never been known for my hair. In fact it’s been a struggle most of my life and I even remember my mother apologizing that I “got her hair” – that stung! But on occasion as I put away the blow dryer I’m satisfied with the reflection in the mirror. Recently I had one of those mornings. I left the house feeling confident as I was rocking a “good hair day!” That statement is cause for pause…. feeling confident because [...]