Posts Tagged ‘building trust with your team’

See Spot Run – Effective Leaders Know How to Keep it Simple!

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010


Nothing is ever really as hard as it first appears to be. I have often joked that there is something in our genetic make-up that kicks in each morning that tell us “look for something real easy and then try to make it harder than it needs to be”.

The fact is, we sometimes tend to make things – like making business decisions, harder or more complicated than they need to be. Why? Because we do. We over-think the situation and loose site of the root cause and the best solution. I have found in my real world experiences, that when a business leader does this, they not only hurt their business but their team as well. When you don’t keep it simple, you damage your ability to build trust with your team and boost their performance.  When working with clients as their executive business coach, getting through this barrier can be challenging until they resolve to let go of this damaging habit.

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Lessons in Leadership – Another One Bites the Dust – Never Believe Your Press Release

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

Over the last week we read how the CEO of HP, Mark Hurd, lost his job over expense report irregularities’. While I will not question, at this time, HP’s Boards decision to ask Mr. Hurd to resign, I do want to examine how Mr. Hurd put himself in this position in the first place.

When I was promoted to Senior Executive Vice President and a Member of the Office of the Chairman at USLIFE (NYSE), the ink was not yet dry on my press release when I got my first “in your face” lesson in leadership and good judgment from my best friend Tim Sullivan.Tim was our CFO and a big man in body (6’ 6″) and in his loyalty to me and USLIFE. Tim walked into my office, closed the door and proceeded to pick me up and pin me to the wall and said “Congratulations on your promotion but don’t ever believe your press release and do something stupid! You’re our leader and we are all depending on you.” 

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