The right employees will help drive your business forward. Hiring is one of the most critical activities in which business owners engage and one of the most feared, and personality assessments can be an appropriate tool. New employees cost money; it takes time and resources ...

Change at work can be daunting—both for the employees who must adjust and for a leader who wants to effect change. The challenge of how to get employee buy in is a critical one ...

Have you recently looked at your working style and checked to see if it varies from those of your employees? It goes without saying, that to successfully manage others, we must know how to manage ourselves. Certainly, we can’t do everything perfect all of the ...

A few rare individuals are natural born leaders. The rest need training to develop effective employee team building skills. I recently conducted an “off-site” brainstorming session for one of my clients. This particular organization had recently participated in a major trade show event, and their ...

Employment assessment tests can make a huge difference in getting a “right fit”. Understanding personalities in the workplace is critical. It’s not necessarily the technical aspects; it’s the people who are going to move projects and objectives forward. Leaders must understand how best to do ...

The lifebood of our business is our clients but how well do we know them? Understanding customer needs and expectations is a key part of developing ongoing business success. “Within you right now are the powers to do things you never dreamed possible. This power ...

Leadership assessment tests can help you better identify and understand the different personality traits of the people you sell to. This allows you to make adjustments around how to pitch an idea. DiSC is a personality assessment tool that classifies individuals in four categories ...

DiSC is a personality assessment tool that classifies individuals in four categories: (1) Dominance; (2) Influence; (3) Steadiness; and (4) Conscientiousness. The DiSC model is often used in business, employee screening, education and leadership development. To varying degrees, these four traits make up our personality ...

As critical as it is for leaders to recognize and understand their personalities—strengths, weaknesses, behavioral traits, and communication styles—it is equally essential that they understand how they are perceived by others. How do I, S, C, and other D DiSC personality profiles respond to High-D ...

What drives the rich and famous? To get an in depth understanding of any celebrity we would need to read their biography or an in depth interview. However, disc personality traits can tell us a lot. “If it wasn’t for the coffee, I’d have no ...

Employee assessment tools allow you to get the best out of your team. “Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.” – Peter F. Drucker ...

As Yogi Berra once said, “You can observe a lot just by watching.” As with many of his verbal flubs, this one has more than a little truth and wisdom behind it. By simply watching, managers can become more effective in their roles. People management ...

Business lives in language. Getting it right will help motivate another person (or not). The role of a leader is to smooth the road so others on the team are motivated to produce their best work. How is this possible with a diverse workforce? Employee ...

Individuals with a High-C style bring the same exacting approach to mathematical calculations, cooking, wiring, and artwork. Characteristic of High-C individuals, these traits, in the right role and environment, are a tremendous asset to an organization. How can managers and leaders harness this conscientious behavior ...

By a wide margin, High-S is the most common DiSC personality style. Considering that some people —from Gandhi to Mother Theresa to Michael J. Fox to good ol’ Charlie Brown— xhibit strong High-S personalities, one recognizes a wide range of behaviors and tendencies in this ...

Hiring is always a challenging process; what steps can you take during the interview to ensure that you get the best candidate for the job? I recommend a minimum of three interviews and, for an executive position, four or five. Here is my strategy for ...

DiSC High-I Personality Profile is one of the four dominant personality styles in the DiSC executive assessment, a personality tool I recommend for leaders to administer among their executive teams. While all people exhibit each of the four DiSC personality styles in varying degrees, the ...

What do Michael Jordan, John McEnroe, Tiger Woods, and Charles Barkley have in common? They are all standout athletes who delivered victory after victory and broke record after record. They have something else in common: Each exhibits characteristics of a DiSC High-D personality profile ...

A few years back, I coached a CEO who directed an educational institution. Prior to meeting in person, I had been in contact with his office and was surprised at what seemed like offhand treatment by an assistant. Our first appointment underscored some of what ...

Being the new kid on the block and the leader are not easy. Staff will not automatically know what you expect nor will they necessarily fall into alignment with your vision. In addition to a preexisting corporate culture and social hierarchy, you very often have ...

A vision statement guides your organization and captures the reasons why you are in business. The intention of a mission statement is to define how your product or service is delivered. Together, your mission and vision statements define you. Defining your core values forms the ...

As a manager, your behavior is a major influence on the attitude of your team. Every time you walk into your workplace, start a meeting, ask a question, solicit feedback, or react with reason and intellect, you set the tone for your employees and create ...

According to a recent survey, nearly half of senior managers believe that employee competitiveness has increased over the last decade. Orchestrating internal competition is a good way to increase workforce productivity and leverage the natural undercurrent that exists in an organization. Creating and recognizing a ...

As you know, competition is an essential part of business development. Superstars such as Apple, Google, and 3M work tirelessly to distinguish themselves from others in their field. Without competition innovation would stagnate. Question is, is competition within an organization just as powerful and innovating? ...

As an executive coach, I serve my client’ aspirations; my senses are always tuned towards empathy (i.e., the characteristics driving their decisions). Among these characteristics are emotional reactions, thoughts, feelings, and the things about which they care deeply from their hearts ...

The depth of your communication skills as a manager or a business leader can often mean the difference between success and failure. Leadership communication training can make all the difference in helping you get this right. A coach will help you implement your training in ...

Inheriting an existing team when you come into a new organization or business in a leadership role is a pressured situation and challenge. The first weeks and months are critical to re-shaping the organization. More communication with employees is required at the start to establish ...

It’s no surprise that what we wear puts us in a certain mood or frame of mind. We’ve all felt powerful, intelligent and sexy depending on the clothing we wear ...

We live in a world where communication dominates our day to day life. However, we will often hear slectively. The power of listening lies in taking an interest in what others actually have to say. “Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of ...

One of the most common analogies for organizational vision is a roadmap. The leader’s vision guides the vehicle—or the company—towards that destination, managing change along the way. Eric Basu, Forbes contributor, offers a different viewpoint: “The vision is the reason for being in the car ...

It may surprise you to know that many cognitive theorists have emphasized a strong link between what people say to themselves and their behaviour. Studies suggest that this inner dialogue can affect a person’s emotional and behavioral outcomes, bringing on anxiety and negative thoughts during ...

Ask a manager what they struggle with, and nine out of ten times it involves time management. The impact on productivity is why time management training is key. In fact, most managers I speak with have taken several time management training programs —or tested out ...

In the business world, the daunting challenge of complex change cannot be avoided. Often urgent, it is worth the time to carefully analyze and manage, especially guiding the process towards success. When demonstrating change to executives and business owners, I rely on the following five-key ...

How easily we accept what we’ve been told. I can’t tell you how often I have heard an employee and then their managers and say things like: “We’ve always done it that way. Why change things now?” “If we try doing it differently, we’d have ...

How easily we accept what we’ve been told. I can’t tell you how often I have heard an employee and then their managers and say things like: “We’ve always done it that way. Why change things now?” “If we try doing it differently, we’d have ...

Most leaders are familiar with the challenge of engaging uninspired employees. We talk about how to get our employees excited about work again and boost their productivity. Less frequently discussed is the problem of employees coming to work completely motivated, but lacking the resources they ...

Here are my core beliefs about corporate coaching: My coachee is capable and creative. A coaching relationship requires mutual respect, trust, and honesty. Motivation is best when the coach connects with the coachee’s agenda. A coach aids a coachee in overcoming obstacles to success. Coaches ...

It’s not all about the words you speak; conversations are so much more than that. How do you listen? What messages does your body language release? When you become aware of these aspects of communication, you can lead more effective teams. Here are two helpful ...

Every ambitious person faces challenges in their projects, careers, and lives. To overcome these obstacles, they must first identify them. Many people have mindsets, insecurities, dispositions, and habits that hold them back; often, they are unaware of them. Recognizing the factors that prevent forward movement ...

Often, “why” can be considered a challenge, and reactions to that word can be a bit testy. Folks naturally want to defend their current view. If they are not careful, the idea of asking why certain things happen can perhaps lead to defensive explanations rather ...

Interpersonal communication training can make all the difference to yielding an inspiring, motivated and creative team atmosphere and avoid a reactive, dissatisfied and problem based team. What’s different about these two statements? “Why didn’t you get the report done?” “What is the reason the report ...

Without honest feedback you simply cannot improve. Whether it is in Sports, Academics, Relationships or Business, honest feedback is key to executive leadership development. “A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has you see what you don’t want ...

The purpose is to discover, resolve, and act. Are some people more likely to take courageous steps forward after a coaching engagement? With other things being equal (e.g., a trusting connection with a coach, a clear sense of the problem, and a sound strategy for ...

In this entire coaching process—including and especially strategizing—the coachee must find answers from within. As Carnegie wisely points out, a person led to an “opinion” or a course of action against their will has not grown or changed, and the chances of the strategy yielding ...

Working solo can be demanding. It’s common for entrepreneurs to underestimate the demands of running a business. They often miscalculate the time and knowledge required for marketing, selling, bookkeeping and even customer service. So when obstacles and challenges pop up, it can get very stressful ...

When faced with coming into turnaround or change an organization how you relate to the existing employees will be a core part of your strategy. You may inherit unhappy employees and productivity may be very poor, so what are your options? ...

Today’s leaders cannot demand respect. They must alter their mindset and become more accountable, actionable and fully engaged. They must realize that their actions influence productivity. Rather than command respect, in order to create an environment of trust, loyalty and earned admiration, they should roll ...

The lifebood of our business is our clients but how well do we know them? Understanding customer needs and expectations is a key part of developing ongoing business success. “Within you right now are the powers to do things you never dreamed possible. This power ...

2 GenerationsWhen is the best time to hand over the reigns? Perhaps its not something you like to think about. That is natural enough. However, when it comes to family business succession planning, the earlier the better. Grooming future leadership is a process that takes ...

How valuable is a satisfied customer? If customer service training could help you and your team win over one happy customer after the next, what would that be worth to your business? Several years ago, a television news show put the renowned Nordstrom customer service ...

The way a business or company relates to its clients is a huge part of how your company is perceived. Client relationship management is often paid homage to but the companies that stand out have taken real time to think through how to do this ...

Maintaining strong relationships with customers and clients is critical to the survival of any business, but too often, we fail to keep in touch. We are missing a significant opportunity. It is less expensive to retain existing customers than it is to develop new ones, ...

You spent years training to become a specialist in your field. You have the skills and education you need to be an excellent practitioner, but there may be something missing: the necessary skills and education to run an effective business. No one ever told you ...

By creating a forward-thinking business philosophy that relates to the overall purpose and ambitions of a company, you are establishing not only how to make your business successful but how you will effectively serve your customers. Therefore, it is necessary to build the core essentials ...

Trade offs are a natural part of life. The choices we have to make about our work often carry positive and negative aspects. The professional balance wheel helps identify where we are on the wheel of work and life. It’s your place in the world; ...

Why hire a business coach is one of the most common questions I get. The dialog and relationship you will establish with a skilled coach will help you answer questions and arrive at solutions that you may not never know if you tried to do ...

Project failures, lost momentum, and personnel losses are frustrating and discouraging, and they shake every company from time to time. A leader’s response to such setbacks is the #1 determinant of their effect on the future of the business and a core factor in building ...

No-one likes to fail but history has taught us that when it comes to innovation and success you need to be willing to fail a lot on the road to success. Changing our attitudes around failure can be liberating! "I have taken more than 9,000 ...

I am often asked the question, “What is the difference between running our own brainstorming retreat and working with a certified business coach?” This is an excellent opening to share some vital differences ...

A lot has been written on the topic of organizational leadership and there are many schools of thoughts on how leaders ought to lead. Getting buy-in from executives and employees for a new idea or heading in a new direction is a subject that every ...

Small businesses, which are an essential part of the U.S. economy, have created more new jobs since the 1970s than their corporate counterparts. Each year, over 500,000 small businesses are created. Today, more and more professionals are taking on the role of entrepreneur. However more ...

Every leader has a responsibility to expand the knowledge and effectiveness and maximize the performance of their team. Leadership effectiveness training can go a long way to boosting your teams outlook and performance. I have found that there are two major areas of leadership influence ...

A vision statement should be written to last. It should answer the question, “Why are we in business?” If and when current leadership leaves, the vision should still resonate. It is not centered on one leader or one set of goals; rather, it defines what ...

Leaders can become entrenched in a particular style when, after experiencing an initial success, they adopt the style as a sole “winning strategy”. The reality is that effective leadership styles change and evolve with the culture that we operate in. To stay fixed or rigid ...

The ability to lead organizational change management with the full support of your team is one of the most critical yet challenging aspects of leadership, and managing the process requires patience. Reactions to impending change can run the gamut—from full enthusiasm to active resistance ...

Part of your responsibility as a leader is to enroll employees into your organization’s future vision. It’s a critical aspect of your leadership role, because unless you can get employees to “buy in” you’ll struggle to create a group with collective strengths to improve performance ...

Whether your workplace is casual, creative, social or competitive, a cohesive workplace culture reinforces the way your business operates. Clearly productivity improves when an inclusive culture makes every person feel like they’re part of the team ...

It’s not uncommon for companies to reorganize roles and responsibilities when implementing new business objectives, or shifting strategic plans. However, reorganization without proper planning and consideration can lead to chaos and dischord. Skillfully managing change in the workplace will help make a re-organization more harmonious ...

How we communicate and act in the sphere of our employees or team has a significant influence on their outlook and productivity. Improving your leadership communication skills will have a high impact on the people who drive your business or department forward. The secret of ...

Athletes can be a difficult crowd to keep focused. I have used this executive coaching technique used by Seahwaks Coach “Pete Carroll” to good effect. Coaches use any number of techniques or methods to help keep their teams or individuals on track doing what they ...

Teams are incredibly powerful forces in business. Getting your people aligned with the same goals is critical; however, executive team building can be challenging. Getting a diverse group to realize this concept and pull together is a fine art ...

Objections are par for the course in Sales. How to get to Yes requires a lot of skill, training, experience and patience! Prospects who may transition from “not now” to “yes” are far more than just warm leads; they are potential long-term customers and referral ...

I’ve been examining some of the critical aspects of training: the techniques and methods that help capture the interest of audiences and reinforce learning. For trainers, engaging audiences—particularly adults—is one of the most difficult challenges we face. How can presenters ensure that they’re hitting the ...

When I engage in a sales situation, I accept the fact that this person may or may not decide to do business with me. This attitude tends to free up the conversation in powerful ways. For example, I won’t unduly pressure the person. In addition, ...

Revenue generation is the single most important aspect of your business. It keeps your organization viable and creates value for the community it serves. Without sales, your organization will soon disappear. This article looks at different sales styles and why a “consultative sales” approach is ...

One of the most critical aspects of leadership is enrolling your people in the vision you have for your organization’s future. With this essential buy-in, a strong leader can transform a group that may have disparate purposes into one with collective strengths and skills to ...

As leaders, our words carry tremendous weight, and sometimes that weight works against us. When we say, “Don’t do this” or “Don’t do that,” we give those prohibited or undesirable actions even greater power simply by telling our teams not to consider them. By enhancing ...

Effective executive team building does not happen by chance. How do you get people to follow you? How do you get your team to buy into the organization’s vision? How can you most effectively share your opinions and thoughts? How can you educate a skeptical ...

t’s not always easy to get people to buy into an idea. Even if it’s a smart idea – and you are totally convinced that it’s the best possible solution — some people will be hard to convince. Leadership training can help provide processes and ...

When people join your organization, they do so with certain expectations for leadership. They look to the people running the business for guidance. They put their faith in the idea that management has competent leadership skills in business and knows what they are doing and ...

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing ...

How good your team leadership skills are, is often the key differentiating factor between getting average and great performance. “Getting good players is easy. Gettin’ em to play together is the hardest part.” —Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder and manager Casey Stengel ...

"As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others." - Bill Gates The essence of leadership is facilitation. It’s about being the person who helps others bring their ideas forward for the good of the team and not the ...

World leaders to CEOs to winning coaches all leave legacies—a stamp they have left on the world or on their small corner of it. However, the desire and the ability to leave a lasting leadership legacy isn’t reserved solely for those with titles. A leadership ...

Change is faster and more present today than ever before in our culture. Whether it is business, technology, organizational thinking, globalization, we are faced with more change today than ever before in our history. So, why is courage important in leadership? In the face of ...

It is difficult to shut off your emotion when confronted with stress, but that is exactly what you are often asked to do at work. You can’t leave your feelings at home; however, managing your emotions and putting the needs of your employees first underscore ...

Imagine that you are a master carpenter. You were trained to do your job but were you trained with effective management skills to run your business? Most likely not. So, you get a job that is going to take six weeks, and you pour all ...

The tradition of family owned businesses does not get a great deal of air time these days. However, businesses that have a history, often use it in their marketing and it works. There is an inherent trust awarded to a long established family business in ...