4 Signs Truth Reigns in Your Organization

No matter the industry, leaders everywhere desire a culture of honesty. At the same time, followers crave to work in an environment of trust. Why then is this type of culture such a challenge for so many companies?

I don’t think we take this subject seriously enough. Leaders, we must value truth more than anything else! CAUTION: This is easier said than done. When truth presides in an organization, several benefits will result: (more…)

Have you ever made plans for yourself, for your future, only to see them not work out as you planned?

My husband, Keven, is a planner. He is great at researching, studying the details, and waiting for more information before he acts. He has amazing patience. Me? I’m his opposite. I’m spontaneous and will act quickly when opportunity presents itself. I don’t care much about facts if I intuitively feel the need to move. Together, Keven and I make the perfect “spontaneous planner!” Ha-ha.

Keven and I are in a season of choices. Which one to make? How quick to make it? Is it the wisest choice? Is it selfish? Is it too soon? Will waiting make it more difficult? (more…)

I hope you can join us for Impacting Leaders’ third Leadership Learning Series webinar of 2016! We’ll be talking about trust: how we earn it, how we give it, and what we must do as teammates and leaders to ensure we live it out!

The webinar is “Essential Actions for Building Trust,” and it’s available for you to attend, compliments of Impacting Leaders! This webinar is relevant for leaders at every level, and it will be focused on the characteristics of high trust cultures, how high and low trust environments impact engagement and productivity, and actions for building trust.

It’s on Wednesday, Sept. 14, from Noon to 1:00 Eastern, and I’ll be teaching it. You can find more information and register for it at bit.ly/trustessentials. See you there!

Paranoia. Is there a more unbecoming leadership trait? Paranoid leaders spend their days assuming negative things are bound to happen or that others are plotting against them. The sad thing about paranoid leaders is most of them didn’t start out that way. Rather, paranoia often begins with one bad experience or one failed relationship. Instead of overcoming the challenge, we become engrossed in it and believe the same bad fortune or breakdown is bound to happen again and again. (more…)

In our typically hectic lives, consistency often seems like an admirable but unrealistic character trait. Sure, we grin at the endearing consistency of generations before us. My grandparents were of a generation that you could set your watch by! But in today’s world? Nah! Consistency simply isn’t realistic! Or is it? (more…)

We’ve all asked (aloud or silently) the same question about our boss, or the department vice president, or the CEO at one time or another: What is he/she thinking??!!

Well, the odds are the leader spent a good deal of time considering their options before making their decision. However, when you aren’t privy to your leader’s thought process and all the details and factors that go into a decision, some decisions can seem bewildering. And then there’s the unfortunate reality that even when a lot of thought goes into a decision, occasionally it still ends up being the wrong one…or so we think.

So, what do you do now? Here are recommendations for both leaders and teammates when decisions from the top just don’t make any sense. (more…)

Self-sufficiency is something we hold high in our society, and it starts at a young age. As parents, we celebrate each little milestone our children make toward self-sufficiency, from tying their own shoes to getting their driver’s license.

By the time young adults enter the workforce, most realize that being self-sufficient is an admirable trait, for a lot of reasons. We want to appear smart, confident, and capable, so we hide our doubts, avoid asking questions, and conceal any hint of appearing vulnerable.

The problem comes when we become too self-sufficient and place all our trust in ourselves – leaving little room for us to trust or learn from others. (more…)

Before the New Year I crafted a message that I wanted to share with a few key leaders at one of Impacting Leaders’ clients. Though crafted for some particular leaders, we can all work to live out these ten actions as we strive to grow. (more…)

There are few places riper for productive discussions, contentious debate, smart decisions as well as disastrous ones than around the boardroom table. In my experiences both as a participant and an observer in various boardroom discussions over the years, I’ve identified the five most common characteristics of successful meetings around the boardroom table. (more…)

You’ve probably seen an ad by Johnson and Johnson over the years with the slogan that “Having a baby changes everything.” When you have a child, everything does change – or at least it should. Your routines, your hobbies, your meals, your sleep schedules, heck even how you spend your money changes drastically! You change not because it’s convenient or easy but because it’s what’s best for the lives that have been entrusted to you. (more…)