Mike’s Blog
This is for everyone who is interested in Leadership, teams, and people.
There are currently 1,652 posts on this site. Narrow the list by searching for topics that are important to you.
What response do you want to choose?
What I love about life and leadership, is you never know what you will find around the next corner. When you turn the corners, you have a choice to make. You can try to control what you find, or you can create something from it. As a leader, I have learned just how...
Do you see what you are learning?
As a leader, I never know what I'm going to learn about myself today. I learn when something scares me. I learn when I take a misstep and create a mess. I also learn, of course, when I have a big success. I am always learning something about myself. While learning is...
Hope is not a strategy
Do you ask others about their confidence in what they are doing? Often I will hear answers like "Once I understand this better, my confidence should increase." This is like saying, "I hope I can figure this out." When you hear such answers, you might want to ask a few...
Start your meetings by sharing a win
What topics get the most airtime on your team? If you are like a lot of teams, you might be putting the focus on the problems. How often, though, do you talk about all the things you have accomplished? When people do not claim their accomplishments, the brain starts...
Do you own a smartphone? Or, does your smartphone own you?
What do you do when your smartphone blinks, buzzes or makes a noise? Too many people have a habit of reading the notification immediately. When I challenge leaders on this, I often get elaborate stories justifying their need to be connected. But at what cost? Lower...
Do they know where they are going?
I once had a leader tell me about all the bad decisions his team was making. He went on to tell me how he is always on his phone to ensure things do not fall off the rails. He was frustrated and tired. If you share a similar story, you may want to ask do people know...
Leader – How well do you know yourself?
I am continually upgrading my skills through courses, reading and numerous other means. My experiences feed the wisdom to know what's needed. Skill and wisdom are important, but neither will help my leadership if I don't know what makes me tick. How do my core values...
Do you care about people?
For most of my career, I have witnessed a decline in companies focusing on their people. I've seen training budgets slashed, increased pressure on delivery at all costs, and sacrificing product stability for the sake of getting it out early. What makes your business...
Fake it until you make it
When you bump into a new situation, do you fake it until you make it? There are times I fake it, and when I do, I never hide this fact. I can only assume you are out of your comfort zone when you are faking it. When you are out of your comfort zone, you will feel...
Are you looking at symptoms or problems
How do you know the difference between a symptom and a problem? It can be difficult, if not impossible, to tell the difference. Sometimes problems present as symptoms, and symptoms present like problems. What might be different if you looked at everything as a...
Stop trying to make them happy
The leaders I encounter, who are the most exhausted, are running around trying to make everyone happy. In case you didn’t know, leadership is not about trying to make everyone happy. Unhappy people are a sign of a problem. Solve the problem, and they are more likely...
Seeing the truth
When I am stuck in a problem, it is a sign I’m likely not seeing the truth about the problem. When this happens, I like to take a step back and look for the truth. Sometimes I need the help of someone who can help me look at the problem. As a leader, stop assuming...
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