Employees won’t speak up when they are fearful of doing so. I’ve noticed that people say, “The number one factor for people not speaking up is TRUST.” Really? If trust is so important, why do people not eagerly study and learn everything about trust and then make it happen? I’ve

Leaders are teachers and coaches. Leaders influence people every day through their behaviors, words, and actions. What are the steps to becoming a master at coaching? Masterful coaching can be accomplished by first making sure the coach loves working with people. This may sound simplistic; however, some people that classify

Sometimes leadership is not about making extreme changes but coming up with a compromise that works for all parties involved. What is the payoff for developing leadership skills in your team? This was the case in a high-profile, international professional services firm. We were asked to help them with what

People have different ideas of what “holding people accountable” means. Some believe it is employee discipline; others simply say, “I’m holding you accountable,” but do little to follow up. As I have observed leadership qualities associated with accountability, effective leaders create a culture of commitment by defining accountability as making

Any strength overused will become a weakness! Strengths and Weaknesses Although many people think that one behavioral style may be better than others, that simply isn’t true. All styles are necessary in a team/workplace, and each of them has strengths and weaknesses. For instance, many of the leaders with whom

In my work with successful leaders, I have discovered a number of leadership traps in which they get stuck in their leadership efforts. These obstacles prevent successful leaders from motivating employees in positive ways and taking a more facilitative, collaborative approach to leadership. Facilitative Leaders David Conley and Paul Goldman,

Leadership is most effective when it is used to guide people in a single direction by means of steady communication, encouragement, and action. There are many ways that a leader can influence action through their choice of language without having to rely on demands and decrees or other forms of

There is no doubt that leaders who motivate have the hard skills that are needed to become good leaders. However, there are certain soft skills that are required to become great leaders. If you have these skills, the chances are you will get promoted by your employer to a full-fledged

If you are a small business owner, you must have strong leadership traits because simply having a good idea wouldn’t be enough to run a business successfully. Some people are born to lead, but if you are not one of them, you need to learn those skills that guarantee success.

Over the course of our lifetime, we have seen the public trust in leaders, both political and business, decline. When George W. Bush was president, he decried the lack of honesty in leadership for corporate America after the financial scandals at World Com and Enron. Recently, we have heard how