If you want to be a great leader, you must make personal growth a conscious choice and a continuous journey. In the book I wrote with Mark Miller, Great Leaders Grow, we say that growing to a leader is like oxygen to a deep sea diver: without it, you die. Not a physical death, of […]
Understanding Servant Leadership
I’m spending a lot of time lately thinking and writing about servant leadership. Although much has been said and written about the topic, I still run into people who don’t quite understand the concept. They tend to think it is about the inmates running the prison, or a leader who tries to please everyone, or […]
The Wrapping Up Conversation: A Great Idea for New Managers
I’ve written many times about the importance of managers working with each direct report to set smart goals, to praise progress and goal achievement, and to redirect when performance is falling short. In our new First-time Manager program, we train managers how to have conversations around these three secrets—goal setting, praising, and redirecting—from my book […]
Leaders: Are You as Good a Listener as You Think You Are?
When I ask people to talk about the best boss they ever had, they always mention one quality—listening. The best leaders are good listeners. Our research shows that listening is a critical skill for developing people, building trust, and creating a meaningful connection. But be careful—we’ve also found that it’s common for direct reports to […]
Refiring Physically: Keep Moving!
Are you ready to learn about the next key from my new book, Refire! Don’t Retire: Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life, coauthored with Morton Shaevitz? As a reminder, the first key, Refiring Emotionally, is about creating a work environment where people can be engaged. The second key, Refiring Intellectually, […]
Don’t Get Stuck in a Rut. Refire at Work!
I’m so excited about the release of my latest book written with my friend Morton Shaevitz, Refire! Don’t Retire: Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life. When Morton and I started this book, we focused on the fact that people who embrace life with gusto enjoy better health, more happiness, and […]
What Great Leaders Know and Do: Engaging and Developing Your Staff
In my last blog I introduced the SERVE model from The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do—the first book I coauthored with Mark Miller that was just released in a 10th Anniversary Edition. In case you missed it, last time I talked about how the S in the model stands for See the Future […]