The Best Ideas Can Be Found Within The Walls Of Your Business
It’s ludicrous to think that employees are unable to adapt to change. As individuals we are familiar and quite comfortable in change, just consider our adaptation and integration of more recent dramatic changes such as live streaming videos and music; cars that self park; and our obsession with connecting through social media. As a society […]
READ MOREFollow the Leader isn’t a good strategy
This past weekend I took a trip with some friends to ride our snowmobiles in Quebec. We had a great time, although I’m sore in places I didn’t know could get sore. I learned an important lesson during that trip. I fell into the trap of Follow the Leader. Lesson learned. During the trip we […]
READ MOREWhy Employee Conflict Is A Good Thing
Have you dealt with employee conflict with your team lately? If not then you should be concerned. Too often leaders try to stop employee conflict before it gets too far, but the reality is conflict is a natural outcome when putting a diverse group of employees together. In fact there are numerous benefits to employee […]
READ MOREThe Benefits of Asking Rather Than Telling
My youngest son Dylan, hadn’t been wanting to attend Junior Kindergarden. To convince him to go, my wife and I spent time telling him the value of attending. One of the things we told him was that his friends would be there. He didn’t care. He still didn’t want to go. Things only shifted when I asked […]
READ MOREWhy Diversity Actually Reduces Conflict
I spent this past week at the Million Dollar Consulting Convention in Los Angeles. As much as I learned from the workshops and sessions at the convention, I was more intrigued by interactions between the diverse individuals in attendance. Everyone who attends this convention is a consultant, a speaker, a coach or in my case, […]
READ MOREHow to Spark Creativity For Business Growth
During a recent TEC talk in Saskatchewan, I shared with CEOs the idea that profitable growth relies on our ability to bring new value to the marketplace continuously. After all it’s new value that attracts former customers; its new value that ensures loyalty of our existing customers and it’s new value that can help open […]
READ MOREHow CEOs Can Build a More Collaborative and Empowered Culture
This past week I had the pleasure of meeting with Mike, the CEO of a global automation company. Mike’s company is still family owned despite having eight locations around the world. During our discussions when I asked Mike about demand for robotics and his customer base he shared a dramatic example: “In some instances Shawn, […]
READ MOREThe Benefits of Asking Rather Than Telling
My youngest son Dylan, hadn’t been wanting to attend Junior Kindergarden. To convince him to go, my wife and I spent time telling him the value of attending. One of the things we told him was that his friends would be there. He didn’t care. He still didn’t want to go. Things only shifted when I asked […]
READ MOREForm a Community: Why Team Building is Dead
I’m often asked about how to best motivate teams. The common belief, of course, being that some type of event or intervention is the best way to energize, invigorate and build renewed collaboration. My experience has been, however, that although such an event yields some initial benefits, there are few long term benefits that can be […]
READ MOREChange exists only through conflict
I recall the first time I suspended an employee. A hand written letter, which I provided to the employee, was thrown back in my face. At that moment emotions were high, but once the employee returned to work following their suspension, their behavior (and our relationship) changed for the better. We had to work through […]
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