Tag Archives: culture

The Right Crew In The Right Boat

With only a few notable exceptions, I’ve been fortunate to sail with very compatible crews. All were interested in the same destination (or no destination in particular,) shared duties (pleasant and unpleasant,) enjoyed each other’s company and gamely faced whatever … Continue reading

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Are Your Values Scalable?

Recently a friend working in a rapidly-growing Twin Cities based company lamented how much had changed in his organization the last few years: “It just isn’t the same place. . . People don’t feel as loyal or energized. . . … Continue reading

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First Impressions

How do first impressions influence you? For the last few weeks I’ve been even more sensitive than usual to the their impact, probably because of the wide variation in quality that I experienced. Here are a few recent examples: We … Continue reading

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Alignment And All That Jazz

Earlier this month our church sponsored its annual “Jazz Sunday,” and I thought about the jazz-like nature of excellent leaders and organizations. I am always struck by the camaraderie, communication and creativity of jazz performances. Ensemble members readily share the … Continue reading

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Culture – Your Best Investment

I am struck by how often two “C” words appear in the press: “compliance” and “crisis,” as in crisis management or crisis communication. Corporations, particularly publicly held financial services organizations, are spending billions of dollars just assuring compliance with ever-increasing … Continue reading

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How About A “Selfie?”

So, “Selfie” is Oxford Dictionaries’ “word of the year!” “Selfies,” of course, are those snapshots that we see practically everyone taking of themselves with smart phones and posting on social media. Oxford explains how “selfie” earned its distinction because of … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, Leadership, Performance, Personal development, Self Awareness, Teamwork, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

How’s Your Core Strength?

Physical therapy following shoulder surgery and back issues gave me a new appreciation for “core strength.” Physiologically, core strength is primarily a function of our abdominal and lower back muscles, pelvis and diaphragm working together to provide support, balance and … Continue reading

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Leading Change With Integrity

Most of you have witnessed (and perhaps been victims of) disappointing or even disastrous organizational change efforts. A 2010 IBM comprehensive global study of organizational change initiatives revealed that 60% of them fail; JCP (the retailer formerly known as J.C. … Continue reading

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Does Your Organization Need A “Root Canal?”

Early on the second day of a client engagement, I found myself at the dentist’s. The nagging tooth ache that we thought a filling fixed had gotten worse; I needed to be “on” in a couple hours, and was leaving … Continue reading

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Design Integrity

“Design is inevitable. The alternative to good design is bad design, not no design at all.” (Douglas Martin) I recently had the opportunity to participate in an excellent webinar about “Service Design” by John Wooden and J Hruby of Fredrickson … Continue reading

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