Once we’ve been intentional about providing each individual team member with that crystal clear understanding of how each specific task they’re responsible for ties back to our mission, vision, and even values, we should certainly be seeing them buy in at a higher level. But that’s not always as sim...

Even when we begin to recognize what’s killing our profitability, start to dial in on the right prescription for addressing it, and come up with some simple solutions that can have a strong impact, we’ll miss capturing a significant amount of our best potential results if we allow our team to remain...

An article I found from Management-Issues.com opened with this, “Listen up, I will say this only once. Misunderstandings between workers and managers cost firms $37bn a year, yet few firms trouble to do anything about it.” Another article from the Society for Human Resource Management cited Debra Ha...

In a previous message on Defining Moments, Pivotal Decisions, I (Cindy) shared the importance of defining moments and how our decisions in the moment shape the future of our leadership.  

Let’s go deeper into the impact our character and values have on the outcome of those defining moments we’ll ha...

In all the years I worked in manufacturing, specifically with the various lean initiatives that were rolled out, one phrase I heard as often as any other was “What gets measured gets done.” At one point, I worked closely with one particular production supervisor to fabricate and assemble a few dozen...

One of the leaders who comes to mind when I (Cindy) think of defining moments from history is Winston Churchill, England’s Prime Minister who refused to back down from the Nazis during World War II.  He once said, “In every age there comes a time when a leader must come forward to meet the needs of ...

I can remember the phone call like it was yesterday… One Friday evening around 7pm several years ago, a friend of mine called as he was sitting in the parking lot at a high school football game where one of his kids would be playing with the band during halftime. I’m usually exhausted by Friday so I...

Surely you’ve heard or maybe even experienced this statement before: People Quit People, Not Companies.

John Maxwell said, “People come in through the door because they have a reason they want to be part of the company. But their desire for ‘greener pastures’ is often motivated by the need to get a...

Over the last twenty or so years, I’ve developed an intense appreciation for world class chiropractic care. Don’t jump ship on me here… Hear me out! I’m not referring to the Homer Simpson’s of the industry who we’d never need to tell “less yacking and more cracking,” I’m talking about the absolute e...

As I started calling your attention to What’s Killing Your Profitability, I explained how important it’s been for me to develop a crystal-clear picture of the results I’m working to achieve as I take action on any new skill I learn. Quite frankly, I can’t point to many things that have yielded resul...

In March of 2000, as a 23 year old 250 ton stamping press operator (and carpenter on the side), I applied for and was somehow offered a position implementing the latest and greatest Lean manufacturing initiative the company I was working for was pushing down from the corporate office. I had been wor...

Once we come to terms with the fact that our organization is almost certainly leaving money on the table, the most natural response and most frequent response I’ve seen a business owner or executive take is to jump right into identifying exactly which things are killing their profit and taking swift...