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As leaders and organizations, we make a lot of mistakes! Mistakes are a big part of life. Mistakes can hurt results and outcomes, but they also allow us to learn, improve, and grow. Though every company and every leader makes mistakes, some are more detrimental than others.  The important thing as a leader is to minimize big mistakes.      At the heart of long-term success for any organization is its culture. The right culture is vital because it influences and permeates every aspect of a company. Not focusing on improving and cultivating your culture each day is a mistake.  And it [...]

What is good leadership?  Is it achieving numbers at all costs?  Is it spouting off commands and skillfully manipulating situations so that they always turn in your favor?  Is it demoralizing opponents and proving you have authority and control? There seems to be confusion all around us about what constitutes good leadership.  Good leadership always builds.  It improves practices, develops people, increases connections, grows value, strengthens bonds, enhances reputations, and elevates the organization. Generating goodwill and producing an overall positive effect on the lives of people encapsulates what good leadership looks like. On the other hand, poor leadership consists of [...]

Celebration at work is a critical component to establishing a healthy company culture. Too often companies fail to celebrate enough. One reason is because leaders believe that to celebrate it must be big, elaborate, and well-planned out. Instead, leaders should focus on making them fun, simple, and memorable.  Leaders who are serious about building a strong culture need to not only consider annual celebrations but also quarterly, monthly, weekly, and even daily celebrations. Throwing one big party at the end of the year is never sufficient. Here are seven ways you can celebrate daily with your team: #1 Publicly acknowledge [...]

When was the last time you celebrated at work? One of the best ways to improve a company’s culture is to celebrate often. Many leaders and organizations don’t celebrate enough.  One reason is because we believe in order to celebrate it must be big, elaborate, and well-planned out.  The truth is, sometimes the simplest and least planned out celebrations have the biggest impact. For example, when my team hit a goal we had been striving to achieve we decided to do our own version of the Harlem Shake. Rather than take weeks to plan a big event, we pulled our [...]

There are a lot of things a leader can do to sabotage their own effectiveness and success. However, there is one pitfall that is more pervasive and more destructive than any other. If you’re a leader, you’ll want to avoid it at all costs.  The biggest way leaders undermine their effectiveness is through behavioral misalignment.  Behavioral misalignment is saying one thing but then doing another. When there is a disconnect between what a leader says and does, it always causes trouble and thwarts results.         For example, when a leader professes a certain mission, vision, or values, but then acts in ways that are [...]

Good leadership doesn’t have to be complicated. Though many experts may have you believe otherwise, I’ve learned great leadership comes down to the accumulation of small and simple things done consistently. When leaders discipline themselves to do little meaningful things each day, it has a transformative effect on everyone.  Therefore, at the crux of good leadership is consistency. Sure doing the right things every once in a while is nice, but its impact will be limited. However, when a leader can do simple things over and over and over and over again without fail, that’s when they truly change the [...]

Sometimes creating the right company culture can feel hard. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be. Here are three simple everyday actions leaders can take to improve culture: 1. Talk about your mission, vision, and values Leaders can never talk about their mission, vision, and values enough. Reinforcing, explaining, and sharing the mission, vision, and values in different ways each day will help create clarity and align your team. 2. Catch people doing something right Often, leaders are trained to find the bad and correct it.  Instead, look for the good and praise it.  Recognizing people who are doing the right thing [...]