Celebrating my 12th Anniversary of writing the Kole Hard Facts, and #300, I am reposting my first attempt at blogging and adding some additional thoughts at the end. You can listen to the podcast version by CLICKING HERE I'm sitting in my office, and "ding," the email icon appears, and for one time …
Ziglar
#298: Is it so obvious that you could be wrong?
You may have heard the story about the US shoe company and its quest to grow sales in India. If so, please bear with me to remind some of our new readers. If you would prefer to listen to a podcast version of this article CLICK HERE In the early 1900s, the CEO of a US based shoe company wanted to …
#296: Defending Culture
For quite some time, I was part of the management team of a manufacturing facility in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Quality was top of mind as we were getting ready to hire a new plant manager. Senior management in the organization refused to build high-profile components in Mexico because the expectation …
Finding the perfect candidate
I hope you all enjoyed the Labor Day Weekend. I know we call it the unofficial end of summer, but I personally am not ready for what comes next! For those that don't know, I live in Michigan - our winters are sometimes 8 months long! At the end of a recently completed team building session, there …
Hit me with your best shot
The famous Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had an Intern working for him. On one random Thursday morning, Secretary Kissinger asks the Intern to write a position paper on a particular topic. If you would rather listen to a podcast version, CLICK HERE, otherwise continue reading The Intern is …
Tips: Investing your time
Today's blog is a story that I love. I've heard it from numerous people, but the one that tells it the best, is my favorite story-teller, Zig Ziglar. Zig Ziglar tells the story of Emmanuel Ninger. In 1887, Ninger walked into the local grocery store to buy turnip greens. He gave the clerk a …
3-2-1 Grow
Most of us can't remember what we had for breakfast yesterday; how can we be expected to remember all our victories and challenges? So this week's blog is a short and simple exercise that I've used for years. I call it the 3-2-1 Grow Program. I usually do this on Saturday or Sunday morning, spending …
Quick tips on how to build trust in teams
Identifying the issue Last week we discussed staying in your lane. In the article, we mention that trust and respect are some of the causes. For example; if your engineering manager doesn't trust the sales manager to follow through, you may see him butting in to this area of the business. Why isn't …
What can you learn by planning your summer vacations?
Planning your summer vacation? It's Memorial Day Weekend and the unofficial start of summer. What are your plans? Have you decided where you are going to spend those days or weeks off? Maybe you've elected to take every Friday off between now and Labor Day so you can get long weekends in and do a …
Balancing the needs of the organization and team in the post-pandemic era
In last week's blog, Motivators vs Consequences, we showed a pre-pandemic list of what employees value. Since the pandemic, the needs for autonomy, work-life balance, and flexible scheduling have moved up the list in importance. As leaders we must always keep the goals & objectives of the …