Trust is essential for any healthy relationship. Warren Buffet once likened trust to the air we breathe. “When it is present,” he said, “nobody really notices. But when it’s absent, everybody notices.” In a working relationship, it’s up to you as a leader to make the first move to extend trust. This often comes as […]
Managers: How Can You Trust People to Work When You’re Not There?
Back when most people were working face to face, it wasn’t difficult for a manager to keep up with what their team members were doing. Their behavior was observable because everyone was generally together in one place almost every hour of the workweek. Today is different. Lots of folks work from home regularly. Team meetings […]
Are You a Trustworthy, Self-Aware Leader?
In our new book Simple Truths of Leadership: 52 Ways to Be a Servant Leader and Build Trust, my coauthor, Randy Conley, and I cover a lot of topics—fifty-two, to be exact. As the subtitle suggests, a primary focus of the book is the area of trust in leadership. To be truly trustworthy, a leader […]
The Powerful Practice of Applying Simple Truths
Last week I announced the February 1 publication of my new book with longtime colleague and trust expert Randy Conley, Simple Truths of Leadership: 52 Ways to Be a Servant Leader and Build Trust. This week I’d like to talk about the inspiration behind the book and why I’m so excited about it. The beginning […]
Simple Truths of Leadership Book Coming February 1!
I’m thrilled to announce that my new book, Simple Truths of Leadership: 52 Ways to Be a Servant Leader and Build Trust, will be available on February 1. My longtime colleague and expert on trust, Randy Conley, is my coauthor. I’m especially excited about this book for several reasons: Randy Conley. Randy has been writing […]
Take Time to Build Meaningful Connections
If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ve probably heard me say “The best minute of the day is the one you invest in your people.” Why do I believe that? Because leaders who invest time in their people are building meaningful connections. Those connections create inspired people and inspired leaders who benefit from those […]
Three Steps to Becoming the Best Boss Ever
A couple of months ago I sent out a Facebook post with a photo of a briefcase-carrying woman jumping a hurdle, along with the headline, “Hire smart people, train them properly, then get out of their way.” That post went viral, garnering thousands more views than my usual posts. Something about the message really resonated […]
Building a High-Trust Work Environment
Building trusting relationships is one of the most important elements of being an effective leader. The good news is that turning around a low-trust environment isn’t rocket science. It starts with performance evaluation. If you are evaluating your people’s performance with a judgmental mindset, I guarantee you are eroding trust. But if you partner with […]
Do Your People Trust You?
Trust has taken a hit lately in all facets of our lives, but especially in organizations. A dwindling level of trust between workers and leaders is one of the unfortunate consequences of financial mismanagement and economic meltdown within the working sector. So, how can you tell whether or not your people trust you? Watch what […]
I Care—Do You?—the key to great customer service
One of the books I’m working on this summer is a customer service book with Kathy Cuff and Vicki Halsey tentatively titled I Care—Do You?: The Essentials of Delivering Legendary Service. A recent experience I had at my vacation home in upstate New York beautifully illustrates what we are trying to capture with this new book. […]