Many people tend to use the terms management and leadership as if they’re interchangeable.  Seth Godin, in his latest book, Tribes, points out a very important distinction between the two terms.  Leaders have fans–excited followers–because leaders show a generous concern for the welfare of the people who follow them.  Managers, on the other hand have employees–unexcited non-followers–because their…

It’s a long held belief that the immediate boss has the most influence over how much discretionary effort an employee is willing to apply toward his or her job.  Towers Perrin, in their Global Workforce Study which included nearly 90,000 workers from 18 countries, found this not to be true.  The study found that while…

Several subscribers have let me know that they were offended by the faux foul language contained in the YouTube video that Harry Paul and I had produced to promote Instant Turnaround!  First of all, let me say that if the language in the video offended any of you, I am truly sorry.  The reason we…

It’s a pretty straight forward relationship: If people are not recognized for their hard work, they stop working hard.  This begs the question: what is the best way to recognize someone for a job well done?  A survey recently published in USA Today found that the most preferred way people want to be recognized is…

Last Wednesday I attended my daughter Nancy’s graduation ceremony at Arizona State University.  President Obama was the commencement speaker and his address mesmerized an entire football stadium full of people for 27 minutes.  In essence, he told the graduates that chasing after the traditional brass rings—big money, material possessions and status—would probably not give most…

Far too many American business executives are using the state of the economy as an excuse for doing nothing to get us out of this recession.  They’re sitting back and waiting for something to happen rather than taking the initiative to make something happen—they’re waiting for the economy to get better, for economic stimulus money…

Chrysler and GM will emerge from bankruptcy with completely new looks.  The logic is that the new Chrysler and the new GM will be in a much better position to compete companies like Toyota.  As GM vice chairman Bob Lutz put it, “We will be smaller, leaner and we’re going to be a powerhouse.”  Unfortunately,…

People have an insatiable need to be appreciated.  If you can satisfy this need, you will have them eating out the palm of your hand.  One very easy way to do this is to complement people, in a sincere way, for any number of reasons: things they have accomplished, the outfit they are wearing, how…