The Cascading Effect of Candid Conversations

For more than twenty-five years, I’ve experienced increasingly amazing opportunities by taking advantage of the often untapped power of honest feedback. As I learned to receive that feedback without losing any of the confidence I was working so hard to build, personal and professional growth followe...

Continue Reading...
Turning Feedback into Actionable Growth

More than twenty years ago, I learned what’s proven to be one of the most impactful lessons I’ve ever heard around communication from a friend who was a practicing veterinarian. He explained that he could kill my dog and as long as he told me the right way, I’d bring every other dog I ever owned bac...

Continue Reading...
The Role of Trust in Candid Conversations

An article from Harvard Business Impact called “Good Leadership? It all starts with trust.” opens by saying, “Trust is one of the most vital forms of capital a leader has today.” The author then defines trust as “a belief in the abilities, integrity, and character of another person.” A Forbes articl...

Continue Reading...
How Candid Conversations Shape Better Decisions

Earlier, I mentioned the HR Manager I worked with for over a decade providing a great example of having the confidence to connect with others and build relationships through the process. Whether it was during his time managing the human resource department locally or after he accepted a role based o...

Continue Reading...
Balancing Tough Conversations

Even when the message is crystal-clear, there are gonna be times where team members fall short of our expectations. And while this won’t likely ever happen when we have an abundance of time to push all our other responsibilities aside to deal with it, a significant part of maintaining the influence ...

Continue Reading...
Baby Bear’s Bed Was Just RIght!

Do you remember the story about Goldilocks and the Three Bears? I can’t exactly recall how she got into their house, or even why she was in the area to begin with, but I do remember that she was tired and needed a nap. In trying each bed in the place, she found that Papa Bear’s was too hard, Mama Be...

Continue Reading...
Firm Guidance for More Effective Action

Through the last several posts, we’ve taken a hard look at just how important it is to have candid conversations with our team members when they’re not keeping it between the ditches rather than ducking the issue and hoping things will get better on their own. While we’ve looked at some very specifi...

Continue Reading...
I Just Can’t Take The Risk...

Over the last decade, I’ve seen dozens of situations where a senior or incredibly skilled team member has chosen not to exceed expectations. The challenge in most of those instances really boiled down to that team member actually choosing to not even meet the expectations the organization (or busine...

Continue Reading...