By Michael Holland - A while back, I 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 [...]
By Michael Holland - During a coaching session with a leader, he spoke about how tired he was having recently spent his whole weekend to get his employees' performance reviews completed and then delivered the reviews in back-to-back sessions on the Monday and Tuesday right after the weekend. In my mind I thought [...]
By Michael Holland I worry at times that the gap which exists between leaders leading well and those who won't is growing wider and deeper. Recently I re-watched the TED Talk "Why Good Leaders Make Us Feel Safe" by Simon Sinek. In the talk, Sinek inspires with stories of how true leaders provide [...]
By Michael Holland - Leaders often ask me, “What’s the fastest way to improve the relationships on my team?” They expect a clever model. A complex formula. But the truth is far simpler: assume positive intent. That single mindset shift—choosing to believe that a colleague’s comment, email, or behavior is grounded in good intention—changes how [...]
DiSC® is a great tool to help individuals figure out how to communicate and work better with one another. And when a team comes together to experience DiSC, a team map can be created to help team members - and the team leader - understand some of the strengths and weaknesses of their team. [...]
By Michael Holland - The book wasn’t intended for me; I was definitely not the target market for the author. My daughter was telling me how much she liked the book and it clearly had a positive impact on her which was intriguing. I’m a firm believer that for leaders to lead well, [...]
by Michael Holland - Employee engagement should be a top priority for all leaders, as it signifies the value an organization derives from its workforce. Current data shows that employee engagement is distressingly low, with only 32% of employees actively engaged. Instead of quibbling about precise figures within your organization, it's more [...]
by Michael Holland - Leadership teams often get stuck. Not on strategy. Not on resources. They were stuck on each other. The VP of Sales thinks the CFO is being obstructionist. The CFO thinks the VP of Sales was reckless. They'd both worked at the company for years, genuinely respected each other's capabilities, but their [...]
by Michael Holland - In life, as in sports, we do well when we practice like we play. In other words, if we practice desired behaviors in ways that mimic how we’d behave in real situations, we will be prepared to fully activate those behaviors at game time. We will have created muscle [...]
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 [...]
