Read more about the article Video & Slides | Does Your Incentive Plan Really Drive Superior Results?
Does Your Incentive Plan Really Drive Superior Results?

Video & Slides | Does Your Incentive Plan Really Drive Superior Results?

Can we develop an incentive plan to drive superior performance? You can be pretty sure that's the question someone was trying to address when your key incentive program was created. At the time, the answer may have been yes. Since then? The chances are that question has never been asked…

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The Most Powerful Leadership Lesson You Can Learn from Detroit’s Bankruptcy

NOW is the time for tough decisions?“Now is the time for tough decisions,” said Michigan’s governor, Rick Snyder, on the occasion of Detroit’s bankruptcy filing.Did he say “NOW is the time for tough decisions”?Maybe for the weak-kneed, lily-livered city fathers who’ve been putting lipstick on this pig for years, but…

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Read more about the article The 4 Pillars of Long Term Success You Can’t Live Without
4 Pillars of Long Term Success

The 4 Pillars of Long Term Success You Can’t Live Without

4 Pillars of Long Term Success
4 Pillars of Long Term Success

These are the four pillars of any firm’s long-term success

“Lary, give this customer a call. We’ve just received an unauthorized return, and I want these shoes sent back.

“Funny how the green shoes don’t fit and the red ones fit perfectly.”

It wasn’t uncommon for the chairman of company North (you may remember him from the 2nd article in our Culture Series, How Are You Paving the Road to Superior Performance) to stop by my office with a message like this.

I realized later he was talking in code

His remarks were actually a code:

“The red shoes sold well but the green ones the customer bought aren’t selling … so now they’re claiming they don’t fit so they can return them. We’ve had no other such complaints. Tell them we won’t accept them and refuse them at the door if they come back.”

I made a note to contact the customer, figuring I’d call them after lunch when I would be more likely to catch them three time zones away.

No e-mail back then.

What the hell are you waiting for? Read the Full Article to see what he was expecting

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Leadership Lessons: Wild & Crazy Guys or Masters of our Domain?

What Does It Take to be a Great Leader?

Nothing in life travels in a neat formation accompanied by bugles and cavalry.

A lot of it shows up filthy and unkempt, prominent in the mess we’ve made around our foxhole.

These lessons are typically the offspring of hubris, naivete and ignorance … or from overlooking the land mines hidden beneath our feet.

We’re sharing valuable and practical leadership tips and tools to help you BECOME a better leader.

First, you must start BEING a better leader  … implementing NOW the changes necessary to adopt the proven strategies of successful leaders. You might start by building on the communication matrix and making sure you’re defending the castle to get done what only you can do. Make some time so you’re thinking past today.

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I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people’s accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man’s failures.”

~ Justice Earl Warren

Get in the game. Enjoy the Ride.

Enthusiastic Leaders

The week just ended is my favorite sports week of the year. Some of you will say, “Nah, you got your calendar mixed up. Baseball season opened the previous week.”

Of course, I could say, “but the home opener for the Giants was that week” and then you’d say, “OK, so you’re a big Giants fan. I get it.”

A few of you may suspect that’s not the reason. Not that I don’t love the World Champion San Francisco Giants and all … but honestly? That didn’t even occur to me as I braced for the greatest sports week of the year.

What’s not to like?

There are a lot of reasons why I love the week that just ended. (more…)

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