If you read yesterday’s blog, this one will connect well. I heard a statistic on the radio right after the Super Bowl: 22 of 54 Super Bowls have been won by four teams. That’s right! Almost half of the games have been won by the same four teams. The most winning teams are: Patriots – Won 6 of 11 Steelers…
In his book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni says “Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare… If you could get all of the people in an organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market,…
More Ignorance Please #226 I was in a session with one of my favorite teams and a new team member shared a great quote I had to capture. He said, “Ignorance can be fixed, stupidity can’t.” I welcomed that phrase and laughed out loud. How many situations do we all create out of ignorance? Unintentional bumbling into waters in which…
You Need To Keep Score #218 I love football and use sports as a metaphor for team performance all the time. At this time of year, most leadership teams are reconciling how 2019 has gone and either celebrating or justifying the results (or lack thereof) they have. I traveled to Denver the day after the Vikings played the Broncos. It…
To Learn, Not To Win #217 In the midst of year-end strategic planning and all the things leadership teams discuss and debate at the end of the year, conflict is inevitable. I noted a great quote from one of my leadership teams today: “we debate to learn, we don’t debate to win.” This is a simple phrase that keeps the…
Finding Time Where There Is None #215 Our time is limited and during the holidays, schedules can feel even more compressed than usual. For our business, it’s also “annual season” which means we’re often working six- or seven-day weeks on top of the festivities and additional events. What can you do about it? Here’s a simple calendar exercise which can…
It’s Fluid, Not Permanent #214 Is it really failure when things don’t work? Often, we look at the lack of results as a failure, but perhaps it’s something more. I am a learner; I often refer to myself as a lifelong learner. I value reading, learning organically and in workshops, from digital sources and books—really any challenge to my thinking…
This Works EVERY Time #213 What’s the secret sauce for exceeding your expected results as a person or within your business? If there was one simple answer, wouldn’t that make it all easier? If there was one key ingredient the most successful people use, what would it be? Well, I don’t love the answer, nor do most of my friends…
A Winning Recipe #212 Building and scaling a business is hard work. When you have the right strategy – or “recipe” to follow, the actions you take are more like “ingredients” to enhance what’s happening. I was asked in a recent interview, “if there was a magic ‘reset’ button as it relates to starting your business, what systems would you…
More of What You Don’t Want #202 Conflict. It’s something most people seek to avoid. However, the best teams seek it; like heat-seeking missiles, they encourage it. They listen acutely; they watch body language; they ask questions to provoke it and they don’t settle until people say what they’re not comfortable saying. What the best teams learn is that healthy…