One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned from John Maxwell over the last decade or so was from a short session I had access to just before the larger event where I completed certification to teach and train on his material. John shared a brief lesson before fielding questions for the small grou...

Once we’ve laid a foundation around the simple practices involved with modeling our core company values and we’ve provided our teams with a consistent example of what each value living out each value looks like in practice, we should be well on our way to building the culture we’re after within our ...

Building consistent team behavior that’s based on our core company values will require removing any possible variance around what each value looks like in practice - in each individual role. But having a clear understanding of the necessary behaviors is just part of the process. It will take at leas...

Society has countless “influencers” with significant followings. Having a high number of folks watch their foolishness online is wildly different from the responsibility leaders hold when they’ve earned genuine influence with the people on their teams, or for that matter, anyone their behavior impac...

Even in cases where we leave absolutely nothing to chance, taking every single opportunity we have to provide examples showing how each of our core values can be acted on in roles our team members perform daily, we’ll still need to provide consistent reinforcement backing our consistent example. As ...

As we started down this path detailing how strong businesses are built on a foundation of values, I shared something I personally experienced while creating a policy manual for the new owners of company - a textbook example of not just designed that handbook around their core values but building tho...

In the fourth lesson of our Emerging Leader Development course, Cindy and I detail five critical practices for effective communication. In that process, we emphasize just how important it is that we keep our message simple and we share it over and over and over again with absolute consistency. Cindy...

Before a potential wound festers, let’s make sure we clean it up properly. I occasionally ruffle feathers when I compare the actions our team members take to those of our children. I don’t mean that to be one bit belittling. If I’m being honest, I’m at least as capable of doing something immature (a...

Think back to what I referenced before about companies having wonderfully crafted mission and vision statements framed majestically in their lobbies for their visiting dignitaries to marvel at. Here’s the AI overview I got from adding “mission, vision, culture, values” in the Google search bar: 

A ...

While the foundation for the residential construction projects I was involved with in my teens was on a much smaller scale than the skyscrapers I alluded to earlier, they were no less important to the long term stability of the home. The same holds true for the core values in a business of any size....

Just like the work required for laying a foundation to any building to stand the test of time, establishing routines that model the core values that will ultimately serve as the foundation our organization is built on can be incredibly difficult. Before moving on, I’ve gotta ask.. Is it just me or d...

I was able to observe most of the practices while our son wrestled. It was interesting to watch how the best coaches had those kids go through new moves again and again slowly until each movement was almost natural. During the few times I’ve dropped by my friend’s mixed martial arts gym, I’ve notice...