Life is about growth, whether you’re running a company, yourself or your family. If you’re not growing you’re either stagnating or falling behind. While it’s possible for growth to happen organically, it’s not something you can or should depend on. Positive growth—growth that leads to value—takes conscious effort. So how do you do it? To
Knowledge is power, so the saying goes. So when Matt DeKam, Senior Commodity Manager at Ingersoll Rand, told me that transparency has been one of the keys to his most successful supplier relationships, I was intrigued. After all, suppliers want to maximize profit, and buyers want to minimize cost. Can they really both meet their
We talk a lot about employee engagement and its connection to organizational results. And substantial research shows that employees are more engaged when they feel valued by their supervisor, senior leaders and company culture. But does it matter if our vendors are engaged? Will it affect their productivity and commitment if they feel valued? Peder
“Leadership is an intense journey into yourself.” – Bill Hybels The scene: An auditorium filled with thousands of leaders from around the world, gathered for the 2014 Willow Creek Leadership Summit. We watch as a group of kids with disabilities presents an honest, sometimes heartbreaking video that begins with each answering the question, “What’s hard
What if you knew as much about immigration reform as you do about your job? What if you were as comfortable discussing the trade-offs of imposing economic sanctions on other countries as you were discussing your favorite sport? What if you had as much of a well-informed point of view about poverty alleviation as you
What’s in a name? Since leading the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts has bucked a long-standing tradition. Instead of referring to lawyers arguing cases as “Opponents,” he calls them “Friends.” About this shift, Harvard law professor Richard Lazarus said in a recent Wall Street Journal article, “I think it does have an impact on
Last week I talked about three of the people who have inspired me recently. Every week we can find these moments of inspiration, both large and small, if we’re willing to look for them. Who moved you this week? Who made you sit up taller, think more clearly or engage more deeply? Here are three
Who moved you this week? Who made you sit up taller, think more clearly or engage more deeply? Here are three lessons of inspiration I learned this week. 1. Being flawed is being human. In telling me about his journey of accepting being flawed and broken, Dave talked about his desire to be perfect and
“I love you!” Kari called out to our boys as they got on the school bus recently. “I love you too!” Shelly, the bus driver, yelled back. She was being funny, but Shelly meant it…about every family that puts kids on her bus. She responds to kid’s curiosities, educates around holidays, protects around bullies, anticipates
A colleague noticed the vibe of a leadership team conference call getting tense. One of the leaders was asking implicating questions to other leaders in an attempt to shift the blame for his issue onto them. He ultimately succeeded in doing so, and those he singled out quickly shut down, feeling frustrated. After the call, one
Matt Norman is president of Norman & Associates, which offers Dale Carnegie Training in the North Central US. Dale Carnegie Training is a global organization ...READ MORE