Grow Great - A City Government Leadership Podcast

  Today’s show title is a line from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. The Mad Hatter uttered the line, and he was right.  Lisa and I saw the following chart on social media some weeks back.  We’re embarking on a short, 7-part series based on this chart. Victoria Repa is the one we saw share this […] The post If You Don’t Know Where You Are Going, Any Road Will Get You There (Part 1) appeared fi...

  Lisa and I wish all of you the happiest of holidays. Thank you for letting us share our leadership insights.  Be well. Do good. Grow great! Check out the Hosts page for our profiles. Connect With Lisa On Linkedin •  Connect With Randy On Linkedin We encourage you to contact us. Feedback, suggestions, criticisms, insights, and […] The post Do You Have Any Holiday Traditions? appeared first on GRO...

  Everybody is battling something.  The holiday season is especially vexing for some. Personally. Professionally.  Today, Lisa and I discuss how we handle our moments of adversity. We hope to encourage you and caringly challenge you to keep at it. Press on. The adage I love is, “I may quit. But not today!” Be well. […] The post Handling Moments Of Adversity appeared first on GROW GREAT .

  Happy Thanksgiving To All Of You From Both Of Us When I started this podcast, I had no idea I’d mostly serve city government leaders some years later. I’m a business guy and an operator. However, thanks to a single opportunity to serve a local city manager and her leadership team, I was “at […] The post Happy Thanksgiving 2024 appeared first on GROW GREAT .

  Today we’re coming to you “live” from The Epic in Grand Prairie, Texas. At the invitation of Deputy City Manager Megan Mahan, we utilized the Podcast Booth at The Epic. It’s a wonderful facility with a wide array of activities and services. We owe a special shout-out to Daniel Cauthen, Assistant Manager who produced […] The post Leading Through Bad News appeared first on GROW GREAT .

  “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out.”            — Robert Collier Every high-performing organization I’ve encountered embraces innovation and improvement. They find a way to execute their strategies better. Always better!  The maxim is true: “You’ll either find a way or make an excuse.”  Great teams […] The post High Performance Organizations Embrace A.I. (Always Im...

  “What do I know? Who needs to know? Have I told them?” — Jim Mattis, Call Sign Chaos NOTE: James Norman Mattis (born September 8, 1950) is an American veteran and former government official who served as the 26th United States Secretary of Defense from January 2017 through December 2018. A retired United States Marine […] The post 3 Important Questions For Improved Team Communications appeared f...

  As an executive/leadership coach, I hear clients devote an extraordinary amount of time sharing their experiences with low-performing team members. It makes sense. These people are responsible for considerable headaches to leaders. Today, I’m going to suggest leaders devote more time to the high-performers by embracing a few common components of high-performing organizations: High […] The post P...

  High performers tend to take on more and more…because they have a high degree of willingness, they want more responsibility and we know they’ll get it done. Leaders must be mindful of over-burdening star players simply because we know they’ll “get it done.” Great leaders are highly aware of what their team members are […] The post Mindful Leadership: Don’t Over-Burden Your High-Performers appear...

  Legacy. What will yours be? Every great leader quickly recognizes people who make a difference in their lives. Maybe it was a school teacher. Or a sports coach. It may have been a parent or grandparent. Each of us is standing on the shoulders of somebody who came before us. Who will stand on […] The post The Legacy of Great Leadership: Who Will Stand On Your Shoulders? appeared first on GROW GRE...

  Author Brad Meltzer said… “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.” Today, we’re pulling back the curtain to demonstrate Meltzer’s quote is correct. The point? Compassion. “A focus on others.” Be well. Do good. Grow great! Check out the Hosts page for our profiles. Connect With Lisa […] The post Everyone You Meet Is Fighting A Battle appeared first on GROW...

  You’ll either find a way…or an excuse. Lisa and I were discussing understanding. Mostly, we were considering this quote from an unknown author… If only we fought just as hard to understand as we do to disagree. It morphed into a conversation about the difference between high and low performers. Not that there’s only […] The post No Excuses Leadership appeared first on GROW GREAT .

  From childhood until this present moment…I suffer from high empathy. When recently describing my empathy I reiterated how the depth of my empathy wasn’t some universal brush used to paint everybody or every situation. I’m discriminating. Selective. Because I know I’m a finite resource with only so much to give, only so much time […] The post Great Leaders Don’t Misplace Their Empathy appeared fi...

  Be scared and do it anyway. Be under-qualified, and get in the room anyway. Be messy, imperfect, and unsure and show up anyway. Comfort is the enemy of growth. Get uncomfortable. Growth requires learning. Learning requires us to attempt things we’ve not tried before. Along the way, there will be missteps, mistakes, and failures. […] The post Get Uncomfortable, Grow Great appeared first on GROW G...

  Today, I ask Lisa to pull the curtain back and share a part of her journey as a new Managing Director, being part of the City Manager’s Office, that involves earning the trust of your boss(es). For her, it’s a new role, but it still speaks to our need (and opportunity) to show our […] The post Earning The Trust Of Your Boss appeared first on GROW GREAT .

  This version was first published in Punch, April 10, 1875, and ran as follows. There was an owl liv’d in an oak The more he heard, the less he spoke The less he spoke, the more he heard. O, if men were all like that wise bird. We saw this posted on social media some […] The post Listening Like That Wise Old Owl appeared first on GROW GREAT .

  You don’t always have to tell your side of the story because time will. Leaders can be honest without being completely open with all the details. Sometimes we must deliver a deeper service by protecting others. It’s part of the loneliness of leadership – the knowledge we have that would serve no useful purpose […] The post Time Will Often Tell The Stories You Can’t appeared first on GROW GREAT .

  Cowardice takes a toll on effective leadership. It robs us of opportunities to perform better, to serve well and to make a positive difference.  It’s hard, but necessary at times if we’re going to do the “right” thing.  Join us today as we discuss courage, cowardice, competence and credibility. See if you can apply […] The post Are You Courageous Enough To Stand Alone? appeared first on GROW GRE...

  Two recent physical ailments provoked me to think about how I might improve a third problem. Honestly, had it not been for the first two I may have avoided getting too serious about figuring out the other one.  Join me and Lisa today as we talk about self-awareness and self-improvement in our leadership and […] The post Self-Improvement For City Government Leaders appeared first on GROW GREAT .

  Shiny object syndrome. Dogs (or cats) chasing laser pointers. Running around like squirrels.  Chasing our tails. We use all kinds of language to describe being distracted. It’s increasingly easy to be distracted. Electronically. Physically. Emotionally. Mentally.  What if we could discipline ourselves to limit the distractions? What if we were in better tune with […] The post Don’t Let Distracti...

  Being present is becoming more challenging. Our meeting culture of jumping from one meeting to another contributes to the challenge. So does the Internet, social media and the iPhone. All of our lives are filled with distractions that beckon for our attention.  Simon Sinek and many others have talked about how phones are negatively […] The post Focus: Be Present appeared first on GROW GREAT .

  Do you have behaviors that drive you crazy? Of course. We all do. Join me and Lisa as we discuss overcoming the things about ourselves that drives us crazy (and probably drives others crazy, too). Be well. Do good. Grow great! Check out the Hosts page for our profiles. Connect With Lisa On Linkedin • […] The post Wrestling With Ourselves appeared first on GROW GREAT .

  High performers are the most coachable people on the planet. They’re driven to get better. Always improving.  High performers want to shoulder high expectations. They crave the responsibility and accountability.  They remain curious – wondering how they might get better. It never crosses their mind to stop learning because all of life is an […] The post Is Your Best Skill Being Coachable? appear...

  Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. Lisa and I both agree that our leadership failures have always had one thing in common: pride.  After almost 15 years of coaching executives I’ve discovered that we’re not alone. Every leader I know confesses their own failures stemmed from moments […] The post Pride Destroys Leadership appeared first on GROW GREAT...

  May 7, 1957. My birthday.  I was officially old years ago. Now I’m really old. Lisa and I talk about our age, being married, being empty nesters and more.  Thank you for being part of our lives. We hope we’re having a positive impact on your leadership journey.  Be well. Do good. Grow great! […] The post Randy Is Circling The Drain appeared first on GROW GREAT .