For the last several years, I have written an annual article recommending a few books that all strategic leaders could benefit from reading. This year, I will move into ways to read, as well.

In Williamson County, the answer to the question “Where do boys go when they can’t go home?” has always been My Friend’s House, a small group home for boys 12-18 in need of therapeutic services, supervision and structure due to behavior or family situations.

Have you seen the TV show on Sunday nights, “Undercover Boss?” It is a new type of “reality TV,” where the CEO goes undercover in their own organizations and lives the life and sees the world from the perspective of a variety of their employees. In one episode, the CEO of a waste management company was fired, because he couldn’t pick up paper with a pointed stick and put it in a trash bag fast enough. In another episode, a manager of a restaurant thought it would be cute or funny to make his employees engage in demeaning or insulting contests to see who could get off early. He had a more clear definition of what was funny, as well as how to treat his employees with dignity and respect, when the CEO revealed his true identity and shared with the manager how he expected people to be treated.

Recently, I was the outside facilitator for a company’s annual off-site meeting. I do several of these a year, all the way from the large corporations who send the top 12 executives into the woods to discover the direction for the next year, to smaller companies, who do the same, only on a smaller scale.

As we ramp back up and money starts to flow again, I hope you have been re-thinking your teams, re-thinking your processes, and even re-thinking your business model. Anyone who thinks that they can return to simply what worked in 2007 and achieve the same results as before, will be left behind. What worked then is likely your largest obstacle to future success.

Over the last 15 months, things have been dramatically different than they were for the previous several years. If you recognized the disruption and made the changes necessary to continue to grow or at least stay even, congratulations! If you did not make the changes needed in time to have the desired impact on your business, congratulations to you, as well. You, senior leader, are normal. Most did not make the needed changes at the right time to have the desired impact on their business.

Soon, many of you will be ramping back up and rehiring. I get the sense that many organizations are already at the starting line, just waiting for the new budget year to roll over, to get started.

I went to the Apple Store recently, with my 12-year-old son. What was so amazing about the visit was not the incredible products that Apple has developed and used to truly transform life as we know it. It was the way we were greeted and treated during the experience itself. While you may not be in the high-tech business, you can duplicate or at least emulate aspects of this experience.

I spend a few hours a month coaching an entrepreneur who has morphed into the owner and principle of a professional service. In his mid- 50s, he has caught a glimpse of his own retirement and has finally agreed that he needs to move his projected retirement date from age 65 to well, sooner.

Patrick Lencioni tells us that having a highly effective senior team is one of the last competitive advantages remaining. Verne Harnish of Fortune Magazine tells us that in order to rapidly grow a business, you only need to overcome three obstacles. To do so, you need better leadership, better systems and better market knowledge.

In the last few weeks, I have received three requests from companies to help them build their senior teams as these companies prepare for the recovery. Effective teamwork is profitable anytime, and many companies have let such “soft skills” slide in an effort to save money or to focus their attention on merely holding on in uncertain times. If “soft skills” are so soft, how come so few teams operate in a highly effective manner? I digress….

Recently, I had the privilege of watching a Boy Scout troop work the magic of teams in an extraordinary way. As scouting prepares to celebrate its 100th year in 2010, I will tell you more about the scouting movement here and in articles to come. Picture this: you are at a lake front camp ground, where 150 people will drift in and out of the camp over a period of four days.

It is now mid year for you calendar year business runners, or possibly the beginning of the year for you fiscal year people. What I have to say could likely apply to all of you….

Recently, I wrote about the need to use your operational experience to break down strategic initiatives into doable, daily tasks to se that day after day, month after month, long-term strategies actually come to fruition. I received several positive comments about this article, which are much appreciated.

The management guru Warren Bennis tells us that “management is about making sure ‘it’ gets done. Leadership on the other hand, is about deciding what ‘it’ is.” While this paraphrase is a bit simplistic, I think it is accurate. Leaders decide what the organization will stand for, what it will do and will become in the future. Management becomes critical when it is time to execute, time to decide how “it” will be accomplished.

Recently, I had lunch with another member of the “Free Agent Nation,” the growing army of independent professional service providers. There are over 35 million of us nationwide, now. We spent a little time building rapport and getting to know each other better and we discussed business models and swapped examples of what we do and how we do it, in an effort to discover how we might be able to help each other.

Recently, I have been offering suggestions that were of help to those that provided the learning example or story that I used to illustrate the points I referred to in the article. It is time to see if you have benefited from those tips as well.

When the economy is in flux in either direction, there is much movement among employees. In good times when money is flowing, many employees are looking to improve their situation. In strained times, many employees are looking for the best situation, to remove as much uncertainty from their lives as they can.

I am highly motivated. I am highly motivated to pass on an idea that has worked well in one arena and place it in another. I was reading the e-newsletter from my friend, Michael Alan Tate. You can read it yourself, by going to www.michaelalantate.com. In his latest entry, he ...

I am often asked to recommend something a business leader should be reading. I refer to business books in my various presentations and coaching sessions, and the reason is simple; I can either make all the mistakes myself, or I can learn from someone else’s experience. That is basically what ...

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein The business world in which we operate today is dramatically different than the one in which we operated a year ago. Don’t get hung up on the economist’s definition of “recession;” how were you behaving? Credit was flowing and customers were buying. I believe you can agree it was different then.

Picture standing on your rooftop. Now, turn around 360 degrees. Imagine that every single tree and telephone pole has been snapped off about 30 feet above the ground. Every one. Not some, not most, every single one without exception.

I was buying food for the girls recently. “The Girls” are two pug mixes that if weighed together, might add up to thirty pounds. I went to The Nashville Pet Products Store, which is in Franklin. It was raining. I was met by an employee (or is she an owner?) at my car. She was carrying an umbrella! Is that customer service or what? How many times have you been to a retail store recently, and it was clear the employees on hand didn’t care if you were there or worse, you were an irritating interruption to their personal conversation?

“You’re driving into the future with your headlights on dim!”- Jim Durham. No, Jim does not write country songs, although apparently he could. Recently, we were talking about the presidential election and bemoaning the fact that the majority of the electorate has a very short-term orientation of the future.

I recently returned from the annual convention of the National Speaker’s Association. This is the trade group for keynote speakers, and workshop leaders. Picture this: there are 2,300 type A personalities in the hotel ballroom, all with an ego big enough to believe they have something to say worth paying ...

That green cloud of funk that seeps into the air when people are down, could be heading your way. They say the economy is slowing down. CNN spends about 50 minutes of almost every hour telling you how bad your situation is, with your retirement plan melting and your house value vanishing before your very eyes.

My wife was in the Northeast for a conference last week. Her flight home was delayed three hours, because there was a storm, so she arrived at 2:15 a.m. instead of the scheduled 11 p.m. arrival time. Isn’t it amazing that we can put a man on the moon, invent a phone that receives a TV signal, reduce our driving as a country by 30 billion miles over six months, but we cannot move planes in and out of Atlanta, if there is a storm anywhere between Chicago and Miami?

Here is a list of things in the world of business, some good and some bad, which amaze me. It is my hope that a few items listed here will stimulate some thought and cause you to do some pondering, some investigation about how things play out at your shop, office or plant or lead you to rethink how your organization operates. Maybe you need to re-think your outcomes as well.

We have an only child. I was speaking with another father of an only child recently, when the conversation flowed to how we work to put them in social situations as much as possible with other kids, so they can learn how to navigate and maneuver in this fast-paced social environment. We discovered that we both seek out opportunities to put them in settings with a variety of children from diverse backgrounds with diverse interests and capabilities. Otherwise, it would be very easy for them to believe the world really does revolve around them, as their own experience would be evidence that it does.

Most of my weekly articles grow out of the discussion of a workshop topic or often from a discussion that is part of an executive coaching session, regarding a topic that the executive is dealing with at the moment. This week, the topic is the substance of a book that is important enough to address directly. So, this is primarily a book report.

If you read last week’s article and felt either beat up or challenged, then you paid attention and I appreciate it. Fair warning: This week is just as challenging (or caustic, if you don’t like your thoughts challenged).

Do you ever feel as though you are the only person in your organization that has any creative ideas? While it is possible, there may be something else at work. Creativity is a very unpredictable process and many times ideas come not when you need them, but when they are ready to appear. You can increase your odds of one appearing when you need it, if more people have permission to bring ideas to the table. This article is rather indicting, so brace yourself.

We have all seen the horror stories sharing what can happen when the CEO loses all touch with reality: $6,000 shower curtains, golden parachute clauses that pay the CEO about as much as the person cost the company while they were on the way down, then out.

“Motivation, just like bathing and cutting the grass, is temporary. However, I highly recommend you continue to do all three.” – Zig Ziglar

“Competence gets firms into a game that relationships win.”

I drove past Franklin High School last week and the sign read, “Congratulations Teacher of the Year, Steve Pantall.” More than a few years ago, Steve Pantall taught seventh-grade government and Tennessee history. I remember him well. Evidently, for the last several years he has been the great teacher he was back then. Comparing his age to mine, he must have received his teaching certificate about fifteen minutes before we started that school year at Grassland School.

It is time to check your progress. As a senior leader, your role encompasses the results that you produce, as well as what is produced by your team. This is a logical measuring period, so let’s check progress.

“March Madness” is in full swing and college kids are showing us what heart, preparation and skill can mean in the NCAA championship tournament. We have seen examples of luck (when preparation and opportunity meet), of excellent coaching, times when bigger size was the determining factor that led to success and others when bigger size was the reason why a team lost. We have witnessed these kids run on pure adrenalin, while others have been given the chance to rest up and finish strong.

There are many myths about public speaking, and senior leaders should take note. I will address of few of them this week.

Recently, I received some positive feedback from a small business owner regarding my article last month on attitude and how it affects your bottom line. It doesn’t take much to motivate me to go deeper, so here goes.

Where interpersonal conflicts come from, is different with everyone. Some of us tend to have conflicts with several people about similar issues, while others are more likely to have a conflict with a particular personality group. Regardless of what conflicts surface in your life, I believe that you could put ...

I was facilitating a strategic session for a company recently. We were dealing with issues revolving around the ability to inspire a shared vision. The first issue, of course, is to have a shared vision. I passed 3X5 cards out to all participants, which included the 16 members of the senior leadership group. I asked all to write on the card what they believed to be the vision for their company. I defined vision as the “desired future state” of their company three to five years from now. I received 16 cards back that contained 14 different answers.

For thousands of years, until about 1986, one had to be at a certain place to do a certain thing, to actually be “at work” in order to perform “work” and accomplish desired results. In order to plant, tend and harvest the crops, the farmer had to be on the farm. When our forebears all worked in the factory, you had to be at the plant at your assigned spot at your assigned time on the line to do your part in producing the product you made.

In my coaching practice and the corporate university setting, I use a 360-degree feedback assessment that asks participants to rate how often they engage in a list of 30 leadership practices. On the assessments that others are asked to complete on the participant, the question is the same; how often do you see the leader you are rating do these 30 practices. Not how well they do them, how often you wish they would, or anything else. The question is a simple one, how often do you see them do it.

Have you ever had a new member of the strategic team join after the operation was up and running? We all have. Sometimes that person is our boss.

Nasty, negative attitudes are just like perfumed skunks; you may be able to hide it for a little while, but sooner or later the truth will seep through.

This is a story about decision-making processes and success.

One of the characteristics of great leaders, is the attitude and actions that make up what we call loyalty. We are all familiar with brand loyalty; I am partial to Marriott hotels and the Viking toast at Merridee’s Bread Basket in downtown Franklin.

Sixty-plus years ago, hundreds of thousands of people, primarily men, returned from fighting World War II. They returned with proven skills in motivating others, leading by example, giving clear instructions and the knowledge to set and achieve goals.

I went to see “My Fair Lady” at TPAC this week. What a wonderful musical, well done. The story first came to the stage in 1748, but you will likely remember it better from the movie “My Fair Lady” starring Audrey Hepburn from 1964 or Pretty Woman from 1990, starring Julia Roberts.

I give lots of speeches at conventions and annual meetings. Often, company executives give presentations at these meetings, as well. Recently, I had the opportunity to do something I only get a chance to do a few times a year.

Warren Bennis tells us that “management is about making sure ‘it’ gets done. Leadership on the other hand, is about deciding what ‘it’ is. While this paraphrase is a bit simplistic, I think it is accurate.

One of the things I do, as I travel around the country and work with executives, is answer the question, “You have mentioned several books in our session today. What should I be reading?”

In a recent leadership session that I was facilitating with an organization, one of the principles being discussed was entitled “Challenge the Process.”

Do you believe that you are operating in a global economy?

As I continue to travel around the country, I continue to run into the same issues regardless of industry, size of the company or how long it has been in existence.

If the name doesn’t ring a bell, Patrick is the author of several business fables that have been published in the last eight years or so.

The question was how could I say, ‘Continuing to do what you do to achieve your current level of success is not a strategy that will lead to continued success”?

This is the time of year that organizations are thinking about completing the annual strategy process and wrapping up the budget for the New Year. You may bethinking it is a bit late for that. Maybe, but many highly productive organizations are just now completing the process.

This is your year. I can feel it. This is the year you quit managing by the numbers and wonder why your best people leave, saying they are not challenged or appreciated.

I spoke at the annual conference of the National Management Association recently. While there, I had the chance to sit at the feet of the “master, the master of change and leadership, that is. Dr. John Kotter, the Matsushita Professor of Leadership at the Harvard Business School, was there to accept the McFeely Award given annually to an individual who has “made outstanding contributions to leadership and management development ….”

I am starting a new in-house corporate university this week, where I will spend about a day a month for about nine months with 20 employees. We will work on building their management and leadership skills so when the organization has a need for someone to take a leadership position, there is a group of people ready to step up.

I recently had an appointment with a new coaching client. This person has been in his business for over 20 years and managed for at least 10. His division has grown over the years and has far outstripped the ability for his old way of doing business to keep track of current needs.

I was driving to a town recently, where I run an in-house leadership university for a client; we began our sixth year there this fall. I was listening to Zig Ziglar on tape and the topic was making the case for having a consistent, deliberate, goals program. Not just having ...

Southwest Airlines has a policy in their hiring practices that many of the participants in the in-house corporate leadership universities that I run, have heard too many times.

How many times have you stated a half-baked idea, longing for “it would be good if,” only to find out that someone heard or read it and now it is considered the new mission statement?

I am drawn to the topic of the Blame Game, as I have been asked to deliver two programs in the next few weeks on variations of the topic.

People who believe that their manager, or someone they respect at work “seems to care about them as a person not just as an employee,” is more productive than those who don’t. Do you believe that statement? The Gallup Organization asked more than 8 million people about this and the ...

Recently, my space here was devoted to thinking about who you promote to senior leadership and how important people skills are, as opposed to technical skills. It must have resonated with many of you, as I have since had three conversations with readers that asked probing questions about that topic. So, here is more!

The first time I was introduced to the concept of DWYSYWD, the notion struck me as rather bizarre. Yet, the more time I spent thinking and attempting to apply it with my clients, the more sense it made. DWYSYWD stands for the concept of Do What You Say You Will Do.

As a senior leader, you are likely asked to identify and promote individuals to the senior team. All too often, the person with the highest level of technical skill wins, even though that technical skill becomes less and less relevant the higher one goes up the corporate pecking order.

Recently, a colleague inquired about any articles I knew about that treated the common topic of the feeling between sales and operations people that “nobody works as hard as I do.” I didn’t know if one off the top of my head, so I thanked her for the idea for today’s article.

Do you know who is managing brand ‘You’?

‘The Culture Thing’ affects your company’s results In my experience over the last 14 years, I have worked with many organizations. All have a work culture, which is pretty obvious. What is also pretty obvious is which ones intentionally built a culture with a strategy and plan in mind and ...

I appreciate the feedback I receive from those of you who read and choose to personally share your thoughts about my efforts here. I have received many positive comments about the five-article series, “The Q.W.E.S.T. of Strategic Leaders.” I also received a few comments about the article on office politics; ...

I was in line ordering breakfast at Henpeck Market one Saturday recently and a neighbor asked me if I had become a full-time newspaper columnist.

Recently, I was holding a series of one on one coaching sessions as part of an in-house leadership university I run for a company. Three different people shared the fact that confronting someone for unproductive behavior and dealing with the conflict that follows, is one of the toughest things they, as leaders, have to do.

“T” is for tell everybody everything they need to know to be effective

This is the fourth installment of a five-article series of principles I call “The Q.W.E.S.T. of Strategic Leaders.” The first article described the concept of looking to others in your organization and challenging them to “Q”uestion routines, processes and procedures to continually determine if they are doing things the best ...

This is the third installment of a five article series of principles I call “The Q.W.E.S.T. of Strategic Leaders.”

This is the second in a series of five articles describing the leadership principles I call “The Q.W.E.S.T. of Strategic Leaders.” Last week, I began the series by describing the “Q” in Q.W.E.S.T., as the need to question, to question others whether they are committed to this as our best ...

The first part of a five-part series for senior leaders

In the world of work, there are many ways that people can view their positions. The two opposite polls, compliance or commitment have surfaced in several of the workshops that I have led recently. Which of these two, would you rather receive from your people? If all you ask is ...

Which are you asking of your people?

You bet you are, every day. You are running for the office of “decision maker” or at least “influencer” every day. I currently have about 35 coaching clients that I see regularly. They range in authority level from CEOs to front desk supervisors in medical clinics. The level of influence they hold, when it comes to decision making, is just as wide.

This edition comes to you in the middle of a team building and strategic planning retreat. I am working for three days with an organization that has undergone a tremendous amount of change. The fundamental way they do business is dramatically different than it was only two years ago.