High Impact Leaders

As every company grows, unintended “silos” will be created. This starts when an entrepreneur hires his or her first employee. Then, the “Silo Effect” gets even more intense when a growing company adds departments or additional offices. Basically, a “communication silo” is a section of a company that has become compartmentalized. For example, an entrepreneur may hire an administrative assistant or...

In this episode, I’m interviewing Weldon Long, who is an inspirational entrepreneur who started his first company in his 30s and generated 2.5 million dollars in revenue in his first year in an industry in which he had less than six months of experience. If you want a few secrets to improve your lot in life, pay close attention to the strategies that Weldon gives us. By the way, when he mentions h...

In this episode, I’m going to continue in my list of the top 10 mistakes that small businesses make when trying to find new customers. In addition, I’m going to give you a couple of simple solutions to each. Just follow this guide, and customers will actually come to you! Solve Just a Few Small Business Lead Generation Mistakes, and Increase Sales Quickly. If you solve just some of these challenge...

Small Businesses are always looking for new lead generation ideas. But many of the things that entrepreneurs do before they even make their first cold call or before they attend their first business card exchange practically ensure that they actually fail in the Lead Generation department. In this episode, I’m going to give you my top 10 mistakes that small businesses make when trying to find new...

In this episode, we are going to talk about a trending phrase on Tik Tok and a few other social media platforms. The phrase is Quiet Quitting. It is where employees do just the bare minimum to keep from getting fired. We are going to cover the pros and cons from both an employee standpoint and if you are an employer and you are seeing this behavior. Quiet Quitting: Its Impact on Employees and the...

In this episode, I'm going to give you a very simple 5 step problem-solving process that can help you create breakthrough solutions to even the toughest problems. When I first came across this process, I was intrigued but skeptical. At the time, I was a sales consultant for a big company, and I noticed that the training and processes that we taught had a higher return on investment when our c...

On this episode, I'm going to cover a few very simple skills that will open up opportunities for success like no other. I'll give you a hint as to what they are... Almost everything you've ever been taught about how to improve your success is wrong. As we grow up, our teachers tell us to go to school, get a degree, and if we really want to be successful, get a master's or PhD....

In this episode, I'm going to give you 3 Ways to Encourage a Diverse Team to Work Together as One cohesive unit. A few of the ideas may contradict some of the wishy-washy tips that educational institutions (universities and colleges) and human resource organizations are putting out. So listen with caution. If you have a thin skin or you think that the world is out to get you, this may not be...

The word complacent may just be the biggest enemy of success. In fact, I’ve noticed that if you look at history as well as the current business climate, you’ll find that past success almost always limit future success. They invite the status quo to plateau. That is unless you are constantly looking for new ways to improve yourself and your organization. I have to admit, I have been both the benefi...

Poor leadership skills can ruin team morale. As a manager, you hold more power than you might think. Obviously, you can hire and fire your subordinates. You can also promote them… or not promote them. You may also have the ability to approve a raise. If not, you at least have the ability to conduct the annual review. In essence, your leadership skills and moral compass have a direct impact on thei...

We often have our clients ask us about what to do in between annual meetings and retreats to reinforce the team culture that they have created. We are big believers in fun, team outings. The good news is that these are fairly easy to organize, somewhat inexpensive, and will give you a fantastic return on your investment. Surveys show that the main reason for employee dissatisfaction is the employe...

This week, I'm going to share with you a few very low-cost ways to build more of a team atmosphere within your company. If you are new to the podcast, one of the things that I specialize in is leading big team-building activities for huge companies. Quite often, though, I have potential clients call in or request information from social media, and they want to do something fun or reward their...

Have you ever been in one of those situations where you run into someone you know but can’t remember the person’s name? It can be an awkward situation for everyone involved. Years ago, I came across an astonishingly easy way to remember names that is very helpful. There are just a few vital steps in the process. However, if you follow every step, you can avoid those awkward social situations. In t...

This week, I'm going to cover a leadership topic that can be very confusing because of all the different facets of the topic. We're going to talk about team building. Specifically, I going to go into what exactly do people when they talk about team development or team building activities or exercises. The reason why this topic is so confusing is that the topic is very broad. It can cover...

I hope you have enjoyed and put into practice each of the 28 leadership principles that we have covered in this series. Because you stuck in there, though, I'm going to give you a *Bonus Principle* - Leadership Principle #29 is to Always Give Something Extra. “ Under promise; over-deliver. ” – Tom Peters There is a donut store in my neighborhood owned by a little oriental lady who is an exper...

Joe Girard is the Guinness World Record holder for selling cars because he constantly goes out of his way for his customers. For instance, if his customers ever need service on their car, Girard personally represents them when they come into the service department, and sometimes, pays for the work himself. Every one of his customers (and there are thousands) receives a special card from him every...

Parents know that it takes patience, encouragement, and consistent action to teach a baby to walk. The baby takes one step and the parents cheer. She falls down, the parents say, “That’s OK. You can do it!” The baby walks just a few feet, and she’s a champion. Why don’t we use the same encouragement for our employees and coworkers? DON’T LOOK FOR PERFECTION RIGHT AWAY. LOOK FOR IMPROVEMENT. Most m...

One of the best coaches that I have ever been associated with was Coach Gary Gaines, who was the linebacker coach at my college. He also had a book and movie made about him called Friday Night Lights. What makes him such a great coach is that he is a very mild-mannered person, but when he caught someone doing the right thing, he enthusiastically called attention to it. I still remember specific pl...

Daily Leadership Tip #25 is to Recognize the Potential in Others and Help Them Achieve It. This is Week #4 in our Daily Leadership Tips Series. The focus this week is on building other leaders. For the past 20 years, The Leader’s Institute ® instructors have helped people gain confidence in becoming effective leaders by pointing out strengths in our class members that they may not even recognize i...

One common trait of great leaders is that they build other leaders along the way.  Zig Ziglar said for years that if you help enough people become more successful, you can’t help but become successful yourself. This is true in our families, in our work environment, and also in our recreation. For instance, one of the reasons Phil Jackson became one of the most successful basketball coaches of all...

This is Week #4 in our Daily Leadership Tip series. This week we are covering seven ways to build leaders. Principle #23 is to Keep Promises, Even Small Ones. A person who breaks his word on little things is also likely to break his word on bigger things too. Wes Zimmerman, author of Perception of a Difference, put it very clearly when he wrote, "It has been my experience that people possessi...

Continuing in our Daily Leadership Series Challenge , this week we will cover 7 ways to Build Leaders. The principles in the next section can help build the levels of trust and respect from others… Many of this week’s principles will help you gain the trust and respect from people around you. As the levels of trust and respect increase, your influence over others will grow. The trust and respect w...

In our modern society, the art of giving people a sincere compliment has gone the way of the vinyl record or the Model T. You come across them occasionally, but they are few and far between. I have asked hundreds of different audiences across the country why they think that we don’t give as many compliments as we probably should (or receive the number of compliments that we probably deserve.) In r...

Continuing in our Daily Leadership Tip Challenge, this is Week #3 - How to Gain Cooperation from Your Team. And today's principle is #20 Show Sincere Gratitude. The Australian Institute of Family Studies recently published a paper called “Reasons for Divorce.” It said that the #1 cause of divorce was communication problems resulting in one or both spouses feeling unappreciated. A company call...

This is day number 19 of our Daily Leadership Tip challenge. This week, we are focusing on ways to gain enthusiastic cooperation from others. Principle #19 is to Ask Questions Instead of Giving Orders. David was a recent graduate of engineering school and was in his first supervisory position on a construction project. Many of the men who worked with and for him had 10, 15, and even 20 years of ex...