Entries by gmader

Taking a stand ALWAYS requires courage

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No matter how committed we are to living courageously, and how experienced we are at taking a stand for the future and living accordingly, it doesn’t seem to get easier or less scary with time. I have been a student and teacher of these concepts and conversations for more than 30 years. I practice them in my own personal and professional life, and I teach and coach others to do the same. Still, with all my experience, every time I need to take a stand in my life, I find myself confronting my own fears, doubts and skepticisms. It takes openness, faith, trust and courage to live consistently with your stand and commitment. Openness to […]

How to make meaningful progress when taking your game to the next level

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If you want to be successful at taking your game to the next level, you have to be conscious of how you think and what comes out of your mouth. I was leading a meeting recently with a telecom management team that had taken on a bold commitment to take their team’s leadership and performance to a higher level.  This was a good team that had been performing well. However, the changes in their markets, customers, and technologies were requiring them to think, innovate, and perform at a different level. They were about three months into their transformation process and, in this meeting, we were reviewing their progress. One by one, the leaders shared their […]

The danger of acting in a cautious and politically correct way

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In a previous blog “Five necessary areas for improvement of your team,” I outlined 5 areas that most teams need to step up in. In this blog, I want to elaborate on the first area: Boldness and Courage. Most leadership teams avoid the tough, uncomfortable conversations. Whether it’s giving honest, direct and critical feedback and coaching to others, or making difficult decisions about budgets, resources and other areas that affect power and status – the common tendency is to take the safe, easy way out. Even when managers and team members attempt to say what’s really on their minds, a lack of courage often leads to things being said in such a diplomatic and sugarcoated […]

Are you balancing the long term and short term?

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Most teams and companies do a poor job balancing the short term and long term focus. I see this without exception in most sectors and regions. People say all the right things about how important it is to focus on the long term. They say things like: “Markets are changing,” “Customers are asking to consume new things in new ways,” “Technologies have advanced and it requires us to advance too,” and “We need to incubate new ideas and the next generation’s products and services.” They even say things like: “We need to invest in order to make money and grow,” “We need to be prepared to sacrifice some of our short-term in order to gain […]

Life is Too Short to Compromise

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My wife and I try to live life according to the mantra: “life is too short to compromise.” There are multiple phrases you could put at the end of the phrase: “Life is too short to….” …Wait for what you want, …Hold back, …Spend time with people who drain your energy rather than give you energy, or …Not express your love to the people you care about. However, how often do we actually stop to reflect if we are living our life accordingly? Living without compromising on the important things is a powerful and courageous way to live. How many times have you compromised on personal and/or professional relationships that mattered to you, or sold […]

Why Are Leaders So Afraid of Change?

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It’s common for organizations and teams to undergo changes in leadership or structure. This typically happens when organizations make cuts in their workforce, when they spinoff businesses or functions, or when they merge with, or acquire new businesses or functions into their portfolio. Change also takes place when a new leader is brought from outside to lead the team, or when an internal member of the leadership team is promoted to become the new leader or CEO of the group. These types of events always provide leaders with opportunities to create a new chapter and new beginnings, which is a very good thing. I think most people would agree that it doesn’t really work to […]

Challenge yourself to set down your smartphone

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I just returned from a lovely summer vacation at a nice beachside resort. Being the proud workaholic that I am, (I love what I do!) I use these vacations to unplug from work. I, personally, need this disconnection physically and spiritually. Additionally, unplugging greatly contributes to my business success. These times off provide invaluable opportunities to think, reflect, take stock of progress, and to create and plan for the future. As my wife and I were sitting on the beach and by the poolside, the number of people constantly glued to their smart devices struck me; people of all ages, from all walks of life – fathers, mothers, their kids. In fact, with many guests, […]

Five Necessary Areas of Improvement for Your Team

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Any organization is a mirror image of its leaders and leadership team. If the leaders operate among themselves with strong and genuine trust, unity, communication and ownership, these characteristics will naturally cascade through the veins of the organization and internalize in its culture and DNA. However, if the leaders run their organizations and functions as individual silos, rather than a unified team, their people will follow suit. And, if they have trust issues among themselves or if they are the source of negative, passive aggressive, victimizing or blaming behaviors the same issues will inculcate throughout their teams and the overall organization. Even if leaders say all the politically correct things in public, their people will […]

How do you relate to your personal goals?

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I recently had the opportunity to deal with two situations in which two professionals that I am coaching dealt with a similar reality in a completely different way. Both clients are very determined and successful people. The topic they were dealing with was achieving their personal goals. I’ll use fictional names and call one David and the other Bruce. Both set ambitious personal financial goals and both failed to achieve them. David reacted emotionally to his missed goal. He was upset; he felt the sky had fallen. He identified with his goals so he took not achieving them personally. Bruce on the other hand, related to his result as a smaller tragedy. While the goals […]

Why Your Online Reputation Matters More Than Ever

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In the past, if you fired or laid off an employee, any dirty laundry would have been contained to solely the parties involved—and maybe family and friends. Today, that laundry can be aired to everyone. Welcome to the Social Era. The importance of protecting our businesses’ reputation online in order to be able to attract high quality customers is nothing new. But a new study by CareerArc, a global HR technology provider of social recruiting and outplacement services, sheds light on another significant reason—online identities are crucial for hiring and retaining top talent. According to the report, the past five years marked the longest streak in job growth on record in the United States. With […]

Glen Campbell – a true hero

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I recently watched the CNN documentary “I’ll Be Me” about Glen Campbell, and if you haven’t seen it yet, I can’t say enough to recommend it. The following is an excerpt from the program’s write-up: “Two years ago, music icon Glen Campbell was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and told to hang up his guitar and prepare for the inevitable. Instead, Glen and his wife, Kim, went public with the diagnosis and announced that he and his family would set out on a Good Bye Tour. Even the optimists predicted the tour would only last a couple of months. Not only did Glen exceed everyone’s expectations, but what began as a six-week tour, quickly grew into […]

Work-life balance is possible…if you change your approach

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Many people struggle with the notion of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Ambitious, driven and committed people want to be successful in all aspects of their life, not just their professional career. They want to have it all. They want to have a great marriage, nurturing family life, fantastic health and fitness and a satisfying social life. And, they want to have or achieve all these desires simultaneously. There is a notion that the Europeans have more of a “Work in order to Live” mindset while in North America, we tend to “Live in order to Work.” I think this is somewhat true. However, I have also seen from my own experience working with people […]