Getting a taste for what it was like to work toward a clear purpose offered a feeling I hadn’t really experienced elsewhere in my work life. Seeing the direct impact I could have on someone else’s career, and how that impacted their entire life, by sharing things I had learned that...

After nearly two decades with the same company, and most of that in one facility, I knew just about everyone I worked with daily on a first name basis. I also knew many of their family members and a fair amount about what the majority of them enjoyed doing during the little bit of time they had...

While doing all I could to fulfill my responsibility in the Lean Manufacturing process rollout, I stayed very involved in the behavior-based safety process I was a part of while I was still operating a press. In this role though, I was able to be more hands-on in supporting the new process...

Helping our team members achieve real work/life harmony, rather than chasing the illusion of balance, by empowering them to work toward a meaningful purpose of their own will go a long way toward earning positive answers to each of the questions we just looked at. Keeping their purpose in front...

I’ll say it once more, just in case you’ve drifted off… Leading a team effectively is hard! And so is being a great team member, staying engaged and working toward the organization’s goals and purpose. Just like having a clear purpose helps fuel those of us who have...

John sharing the perspective on work/life harmony - rather than work/life balance - opened up a whole new world to me. Working hard, and working a lot, wasn’t something I should be ashamed of. And I wasn’t putting myself at risk of burnout, like far too many people suggest as the...

Assuming we’ve fulfilled the part of our leadership responsibility that lies in tying our organization’s mission, vision, and values to a definite purpose and we’ve invested the effort to recognize what our team members have shown us to truly drive them, we have the key pieces...

Even without knowing where all those parts I stamped out each day would eventually go, who would benefit from them, or how any of the blood and sweat I put into them had even the slightest lasting impact on the greater good, I still found a way to motivate myself each day in spite of always...

As we started looking at ways to provide a clear picture of the purpose each of our team members are working toward, I shared how Pat Lencioni defined “immeasurability” in The Truth About Employee Engagement. Just to be sure that’s fresh in your mind, here it is once more:

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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...

To build a purpose driven organization and to provide our team members with clarity around purpose driven work, part of our leadership responsibility is indeed to become extremely effective at connecting the most monotonous work to something monumental! OK, I realize that likely seems a bit...

A year or so before I left the manufacturing company I had worked with for nearly my entire adult life, the corporate office launched a campaign that segmented the organization into two distinct business units. Truth be told, this wasn’t anything new; it’s more about branding than...