High Impact Leaders

The fourth stage of team development is to build team cooperation and team collaboration. This is part five of a six-part series on how to develop highly effective teams. Just like previous stages of developing teamwork, this stage of leadership development is progressive. So, you will get the best results if you have already spent some time on steps one and two. As a review, the first phase was t...

This is part four of a six-part series on how to build highly effective teams. Last week, we covered step two which was to get build solid trust among your team members. This is the foundation of a fantastic team culture. If you implement last week's ideas, the remaining steps get much easier. This week, we cover step three, which is to reduce conflict within your team. Actually, that is a li...

Team Trust is the most important step in building a highly effective team. Below, we cover 7 expert ways to build trust in your team. This is part three of a six-part series on the Five Characteristics of High-Performing Teams. In each of the sessions, we will cover one of the component steps to creating a team culture . In the first part, we gave an overview of each of the five steps to creating...

Last week, I started a series on a five-step process to help you build highly effective teams. And step one was to get your team to be mission-oriented. So, this week, we will delve deeper into that subject and show you how to begin with the end in mind, so our team gets to the goal faster and easier. This is part two of a six-part series on how to build a more effective team. And on this episode,...

This week, I'm going to start a six-part series on the characteristics of highly effective teams. I'll give you an overview of all five steps today. Then, in each of the next five episodes, we'll go into more depth about each of the steps. The goal is to give you practical tips and techniques that you can use each week to help you build a solid team within your organization, family,...

Ever read a leadership or business book that everyone is raving about? The book has the newest, hottest tips for business success. But when you try to implement those new and trendy ideas, the ideas don't really provide the promised results. Well, Don Schmincke knows why. Unlike other business consultants, Schmincke's background is not in being an entrepreneur or Fortune 500 CEO. He was...

This is episode number three of a three-part series called How to Keep People from Manipulating You. In the last couple of weeks, I covered the first two stages of a manipulation. In week one, we talked about the emotional appeal and how when we get angry (or some other highly emotional state,) we stop thinking logically. So, manipulators often start with getting the victim agitated. Last week, we...

This is episode number two of a three-part series called How to Manipulate People. Last week, I covered the difference between manipulation and persuasion and what manipulators do to make the manipulation easier. I also gave you some examples from politicians trying to get your vote. This week, I'm going to take you through the second step of the manipulation. In this step, the manipulator tr...

The major difference between persuading someone or manipulating them tends to rely on who benefits from the action. For instance, manipulation occurs if I get you to do something that benefits me but harms you. The person who is manipulating often uses deception in the process. On the other hand, if the manipulated person benefits from the action, the term persuasion is often used. Western law is...

This week, I interview leadership expert Amy Maybury about how to update your resume and LinkedIn profile in 2023. If you are one of the many people who have recently been downsized and are looking for a way to market yourself better, Amy's advice can be very helpful. Want to show the world your expertise? In this session, Amy Maybury shows you how to update your resume. We also cover how to...

In this episode, I interview Chuck Knabusch, author of the book Hope Is Not a Business Strategy . Chuck is an expert on management skills, and he helps small businesses create processes to grow into big businesses.  Chuck's background was as an executive in a huge company. He spent his entire adult life in “operations,” managing everything from supply chains to production floors to systems in...

This week, I interview Brandon Woodside of The Leaders Institute to discuss how to delegate effectively in 2023. The more virtual our world gets, the more difficult it is to delegate tasks to team members. Brandon has done a ton of research and has years of practical experience managing team members to increase efficiency and help entrepreneurs and business leaders gain back time. Great leaders kn...

This is part 2 of a 2 part series on some of the best ways to build a team culture in the 2023 post-pandemic world -- especially since many economists feel like we are headed toward a big recession in 2023 and 2024. Those outside influences can affect your team and the culture of your organization pretty dramatically. Last week I covered a few reasons why doing some type of team activity (especial...

The best charity team-building ideas for 2023 may surprise you. As teams continue to return to the office, we are experiencing never-before-seen team challenges. For instance, let’s say you started a new career during the pandemic. It took a while to get into the swing of things. You were working from home for the first year. But now, you understand your job role. You know some of your coworkers f...

Since the new year is coming up in a couple of weeks, I'm going to spend this week helping you create an effective Personal Vision statement.  Now before you tune out, let me explain. This short 15-minute exercise is one of the most powerful ways to increase your income, improve your success, lower your stress, and just be happier in life.  When you go through this little exercise, it will he...

What is the best way to keep morale high among team members in between big meetings? We are big believers in fun team outings — especially for smaller teams. The good news is that these team-building activities are fairly easy to organize. They are also fairly inexpensive. In fact, you can receive a fantastic return on your investment by building team spirit and communication skills. Surveys show...

Happy Thanksgiving week, everyone. I hope you had a fantastic time with your family, and overeating, and watching a lot of football. If you are outside of the United States, welcome, and I hope you had a relaxing regular week. Since we are in the holiday spirit, I wanted to focus this week on a few ways to build morale in the workplace during the holidays. Companies, big and small, will often sche...

Happy Thanksgiving. And for those of you outside of the United States, happy third week of November. I wanted to take a break from the normal public speaking tips and share with you this week one of Abraham Lincoln's least quoted speeches but the one that has a significant impact on US citizens every November, his Thanksgiving proclamation that created the holiday. Where did the Thanksgiving...

Strategic thinking skills are one of the most sought-after skills in the business world. According to Harvard Business Review, “[Because] organizations face unprecedented challenges, fostering the creativity necessary to develop truly breakthrough ideas has become more important than ever.” Anyone can follow a pre-established recipe. It takes expert strategic thinkers, though, to know when that re...

In this episode, I'm going to cover a few to improve your listening skills and, specifically, a few ways to help improve the listening and communication among your team members. If you stick around until the end, I will give you a fun way to get your team laughing and thinking more seriously about how they communicate and how they listen. How to Improve Listening Skills in the Workplace If yo...

Need some Team Motivation? Want a few tips about how to build team spirit when you hear words like “slow down,” recession, and uncertainty? You are not alone. Goldman Sachs published a report recently saying that  93% of small business owners fear a recession in the next year. Uncertainty causes fear. Fear can lead to reduced morale and decreased job satisfaction. If you are a team leader and you...

Can team-building activities increase productivity in a recession? When the economy slows, company leaders have to be cautious with every expense. They often put off hiring new employees until more certainty develops. When we do this, though, team members end up having to do more to make up for the lack of personnel. Eight-hour days may increase to nine or ten-hour days. Interestingly, these team...

In this episode, I'm going to cover how you can make you and your company very unique in the marketplace. We will go through a very simple process that... once you do it, will have customers flocking to you. The process starts with identifying what your unique selling point or unique selling proposition is. Then, you want to build your marketing around that one main point. Want potential cust...

Do Managers Need to Develop Good Coaching Skills? And If So, Why Do Managers Need Coaching Skills? Keep in mind that to be a success in business, consistent performance improvement is critical. You may be good at one or more of the key skills we outline below. but these ideas are ones that you have to improve on a regular basis. Think about improving your team performance, like becoming a world-cl...

The pandemic that started in 2020 was devastating to team morale and miscommunication. Team members had a lot of fear. Everyone was unsure about what was happening and what the future would bring. What made it worse, though, was that since everyone was remote, the number of silos increased. (They increased dramatically!) The Pandemic of 2020 Caused a Huge Number of Communication Silos to Develop....