The Law of the Edge states that the difference between two equally talented teams is leadership. Leadership is the key to success!

Chapter 15 begins by reminding us that teams always look for an edge. Sports teams create new plays to outsmart their opponents and win games. They trade for what they ...

My primary focus in writing What’s KILLING Your Profitability? (It ALL Boils Down to Leadership!) was to absolutely drive home one single point to every business owner, executive, and manager it could possibly reach. That point, detailed through each separate chapter, was how much impact effective l...

Early on in this look at Leading With a Clear Purpose, I shared examples of close friends who have dedicated (and risked) their lives through careers serving others; military, fire, and law enforcement. In detailing those, I even provided some average starting wages for police officers and firefight...

Over the years, I’ve referenced the preamble to the Declaration of Independence numerous times in articles on our website as well as lessons in our Leading At The Next Level program. Just in case it’s not fresh in your mind, I’ll share it once more here - directly from the National Archives website:...

Earlier, we looked at how important it is for anyone in a leadership role to paint a clear picture of the organizational purpose they’re working toward so each member of their teams could have something tangible to connect with. While that was a broad reference that I only touched on in passing as w...

As we work to verbalize a purpose each of our team members find fulfillment in and connect with, something they can rally around as a genuine purpose in their life, it won’t be as simple as throwing the proverbial mud against the wall and hoping something sticks. This will require us to be very spec...

Please don’t mistake me referring to something as being simple for thinking that I’m saying it will be easy. Even when we’ve invested the time to listen to what our team members are telling us and we’ve paid close attention to what their behaviors are showing us, we’ll still need to be incredibly in...

When we cast a vision we know requires more teamwork than our people are currently demonstrating, leaders need to message The Big Picture. The team must hear that the goal is more important than the role and help their people see the big picture. 

Everyone on the team matters. The more we help each...

The things we learn by asking our team members the right questions, and actually investing the time to listen to their replies, and by intentionally observing their behaviors provide a tremendous framework for understanding what makes them tick - even with the occasional mismatch between what they’v...

When we’ve been intentional about really listening to what our team members share with us, there’s generally no shortage of information to process. The key is often in sifting through it all to find the pieces that matter most; to them as individuals as well as for us to understand what makes them t...

OK, it’s time for complete transparency… How often have you asked someone how they’re doing and prayed their response was limited to just one word? So maybe you didn’t come to a complete stop and get done on one knee, but I’m guessing you’ve definitely had a time or two where you asked that question...

If we’re interested in attracting the best of the best to be part of (and stick with) our team, it will most certainly not be (just) about the pay - regardless of what any internet troll says, who’d rather whine about what he’s owed instead earning it for himself. Just like you and I need a definite...