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Jeff's Blog

Thematic vs. Hands-On Leadership

A manager can provide thematic leadership when on the command deck while the crew mans the guns and gets the work done.  But that same manager also needs to be able to and willing to role up his sleeves to do the work when needed. The troops need leadership, and they also need to know

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Level 5 Leadership

In Good to Great, Jim Collins described Level 5 Leadership as “building enduring greatness through a blend of personal humility and professional will.”  The ego needs of the leader are shifted away from herself and onto the greater good of the company.  This isn’t to say the ego isn’t present–it is, but the focus is

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The Six People You Need on Your “Dream Team”

It’s sometimes called a network, personal board of advisers, or mastermind group.  But I like this definition from Patti Johnson taken from the Success Magazine Blog site:  The Six People You Need on Your Dream Team. The Pro The Encourager The Innovator The Challenger The Connector Ooops, where’s the 6th? I’ts you.  But for most of

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The 4X a Year “Extended Management Team” Meeting

Assuming that your top management team is meeting weekly or monthly, the next key to driving communication and messaging throughout your company is to meet with your “extended management” team at least quarterly. Here is where you share safety issues, financial performance, and progress against objectives.  This is all part of the “rhythm” required to

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What Is the “One Thing” You Are Going To Do Today?

Karla Nelson, Principal at Swiss Avenue Partners and founder of SBEIA (Small Business Economic Impact Alliance) sent me a follow-up note after a recent meeting, and on the back of the note was one of the most high-impact quotes I’ve ever read by Paulo Coelho.  Cuelho is a popular writer most noted for The Alchemist. “One

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What Do You Value?

I think most lists of company values are crap. Yes, I said “crap.”  Why?  Because, in my opinion–the lists are contrived from a random list of values that the leaders think “sound good” or would be good for the organization. If you want to dig deep on this, spend 3 minutes at Jim Collins’ site

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Your #1 Meeting of the Year

When are you going to have your best meeting of the year?   Next week?  Next month? 4th Quarter? I may have already had mine the day before yesterday.  I set out in 2013 with the goal of more coffee and lunch meetings with more creative people to network, brainstorm, and gain ideas from to

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Mistakes on our Path

Mistakes properly dealt with lead to wisdom, as long as they’re not made twice. They are sometimes part of our path to best practices.

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When Did We Stop Selling?

When did we stop making price the only issue? When did we stop listing out the ways our product or service saves time? When did we stop listing out the ways our product or service saves money? When did we stop researching our customer’s needs to the point that we know their needs better than

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Clear Leadership

It hits you like a 2 x 4 on a freezing day. That strong, clear, and compelling leadership that’s missing so often. But when it’s present, it is awesome.  You see it this way. The leader that cares for the people, and is genuinely interested in them.  Who starts with assembling the greatest team comprised of the greatest people doing

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