building relationships

Leadership

Hiring the Best

A few days ago?we invited the CEO of a large organization to speak to us. After he concluded, he fielded some questions from our staff. One of our managers asked, “How do you motivate people?” He?responded, “Bring on people who are aligned with your values and whose life purpose aligns with the purpose of your […]

Leadership

Transform Your Leadership with Love

I have three simple expectations of the leaders who work with me: (1) their people love them, (2) they take responsibility for the culture, and (3) they show me they are growing. So how do I measure how a leader is doing in these areas? I begin by listening to?what their people say about them […]

Leadership

Healthy Relationships Should Not Be Ignored

I recently invited?my mentor, Paster Peter Rahme, to visit with me and another close person on my team to give us advice on our working relationship. This person and I have such a positive?relationship, I doubted whether there was really anything else he could add. But as always, he had something insightful to share with […]

Leadership

Train and Measure; Don’t Find and Punish

I visited a well-liked and very busy restaurant in Fort Worth yesterday. It?s the kind of place where you order your food up front, and then someone brings it to your table for you. The food was great, but the lady taking my order was less than hospitable. Customer service! How can we increase the […]

Leadership

Would You Rather They Love You or Respect You?

Oh my. I have heard this statement from leaders far?too often: ?I would rather they respect me than love me.? And each time I cringe. If that?s what you?ve been taught and what you practice, I ask you to reconsider your position today. Love For me there is no question. I would rather they love […]

Leadership

Values of a Great Team: FAMILY

We often hear players of great sports teams refer to each other as family. In a similar way, members of military units refer to themselves as?brothers. They are family on and off the battlefield. Groups of people?bonded together so closely that they are family?that?s the kind of team I want to be a part of. […]

Leadership

Values of a Great Company: Amazon.com

It was Thursday, February 3, 2015. I joined about 3,000 people at the Washington Hilton, where President Barack Obama was scheduled to speak at the National Prayer Breakfast. It was a memorable day for me. I was keenly aware that I was in the presence of world leaders and dignitaries, such as the Dalai Lama. […]

Leadership

Values of a Great Team: RELATIONSHIPS

What are the key ingredients of truly remarkable teams? In my last couple of articles, I have talked about two values of great teams: fun?and love. Here is a third:?Relationships. In the context of a team, relationships are vital. As with the other values I have shared, in order to create the biggest impact, it […]

Leadership

Values of a Great Team: LOVE?

In my last article I described one of the core values of a great team: fun. Having fun with each other and with our customers makes a tremendous impact on our culture as well as the level of customer service we offer. Today, I will discuss the next value in this series:?Love. Love is an […]

Personal Development

How Reading Together Can Transform Your Team

If you’ve been the leader of a team where the atmosphere is biting and the culture is toxic, you know how overwhelming it is to turn things around. After all, you can’t exactly force people to get along. However, there is something you?could begin?doing today to transform your culture into one that fosters personal growth, […]