The Lead Yourself First Blog

A smile. A thank you. An apology. One may argue that any of these gestures are better than a mediocre interaction with a service provider. Or, one may suggest that acknowledging a customer by being pleasant, showing appreciation or making up for a mistake is an adequate demonstration of treating the customer appropriately. What should […]

Imagine companies investing heavily in recruiting great people and promptly allowing them to fend for themselves from their first day at work, with zero communication and a lack of strategy to help them succeed. It sounds unthinkable, yet it is sadly true. It is a problem that is entirely avoidable if more organizations developed onboarding […]

“There aren’t enough hours in the day.” …The catchcry for the busy professional who laments the fact that if it were possible to cram more hours into a day, he or she would make it so. When will the “crazy busy” (workaholic) lifestyle give way to a more “sane” way of being? If you were to ask […]

During our Christmas vacation, we rented a vehicle, as part of our ritual holiday planning. My husband, who works in the automotive industry, quickly pointed out that our car was supremely inferior to the Ford Motor Company’s equivalent, which was unfortunately unavailable. When I asked him about the difference, he simply stated: “Ford’s technology is […]

”Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit”….Bern Williams As the end of the year nears, we often tend to reflect on what has happened in our lives over the past twelve months. Looking back, we may be surprised by the challenges we’ve overcome, and the way we dealt with hardship, when […]

How do you extricate yourself from an unhealthy work situation? Is it more difficult to do when you relish a challenge? Can you tell the difference between being a workaholic and a hard worker? If you are an employer, are you treating your best people with respect, or are you rewarding hard work with more […]

Deborah is a senior marketing manager for a renowned home care services organization. I have known her and several members of her executive group for more than a decade. Over the past year she has witnessed growing discontent amongst the core leadership team, a dedicated group that pioneered significant initiatives to innovate and grow the […]

“I’m not a people person.” I will never forget hearing those words during a leadership workshop I was facilitating, nor will I forget the newly appointed manager who uttered them. The shocking truth is that according to the extensive Gallup study of 2.5 million manager-led teams in 195 countries, organizations fail to select the right […]

Why do organizations repeatedly react to rather than plan for change? Why are leaders often stupefied by the glaring realization that their workforces are aging, or that their customers have “suddenly” switched allegiances? Consider the example of Mike, a manager working in the wholesale grocery business. Mike sought my advice to lead his department through […]

“What could we have done differently?” This is the burning question on every leader’s mind when a great employee decides to leave. There is no question that the cost of rehiring and retraining, the impact on the bottom line and the stress associated with repeating the exercise takes a toll on every type of business. However, […]