Are you missing one puzzle piece?
Have you ever tried to put together a puzzle without a picture of the completed puzzle?  In doing a puzzle, it is necessary to get the right pieces in the right places. In most cases, people will give up trying to fit all the pieces together if they do not know the picture of the final product.  A strategic plan is the picture your team uses to make sure the business has the right resources (pieces of the puzzle) and […]
Unique Ground Rules for Effective Meetings
Handling meetings effectively today means that you spend only as much time as is necessary on the agenda, making decisions, and then adjourning. The best result from a meeting is full engagement, enhanced creativity and commitment to action from the team. Here are five unique rules we use among the other basic ones (e.g., issuing and closely following an agenda, providing data prior to the meeting) to ensure you get the most from your time. ELMO: this is not the […]
Are Your Employees Truly Engaged?
Engaged employees are more likely to be high performers, drive action, and participate in achieving the organizational goals.  Find out what your workers are thinking and how to motivate them, in addition to avoiding costly turnover in the year ahead. Consider this: 34% of employees say they plan to leave their current role in the next 12 months (Mercer) 51% of the U.S. workforce is not engaged, costing organizations between $450 and $550 billion annually (Gallup) 68% of the human […]
Are You Ready For The Homerun?
Each of us has an opportunity every day to live each moment to the fullest and make each and every interaction one that is memorable and impactful.  In order to do that you must make a concerted effort to make each interaction a homerun. Once you make up your mind that this is how you want to lead your team, drive your organization forward and live your life to the fullest, here are a few tips that can help. Review […]
Taking Action, Killing “Joe” and Meetings vs Movies
Written by:  Don Hadley The Primary Problem In organizations, there can be too much talking and not enough doing.  Vision without action (or talking without action) is simply wishful thinking or hallucination. When this sort of behavior is occurring, some leaders tell me “you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink”.  This statement implies that we cannot get employees to take action. That is a cop-out!  The reality for great leaders is that we realize […]
Secrets to Engaging Your Team and Producing Success
Most of us realize that in order for our organization to realize the potential success we know is possible, a strategic plan must be in place.  Common knowledge, right?  According to a recent study of 26,000 start-up companies, 67% had no written plan.  The same study found that businesses that have and use a strategic plan are 12% more profitable than those who have no plan.  Ensuring the commitment of your team to the company’s vision and goals is a […]
Effective Communication Skills for Business Success
  In this “Drive Through With Don”, he discusses two different teams and the effect communication had on the success of the businesses. One team was struggling and frustrated and they communicated very poorly with each other.  Poor communication damaged relationships, created mistrust among the team members and any efforts to turn this around were either blocked or given very little effort.  Once a team becomes ineffective it bleeds over to customers and suppliers and before too long, the problem […]
Effective Communication and Better Listening Skills
When most people think of communication, they think about talking and passing along information, advice or opinions.  Effective communication also involves actively listening, knowing when to speak and when to stay silent.   Keep in mind that 85% of what we communicate is nonverbal so in addition to being patient, your face and actions must also be considered.  All organizations maintain that they value open communication, but few listen to their staff, customers and suppliers effectively.  Listening, like any other skill, […]