Back in the day, the paradigm for leadership went something like this: Male. Tall. White. Intelligent. Charismatic. Etc. We now know, or should know that leaders come in all shapes, sizes, skin colors, religions and creeds. The one thing I never saw included in the paradigm of leadership was "silent." What I mean is do [...]
Last Sunday evening, the American Country Music Awards were held at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. A three hour show on prime time TV. A far cry from when I was growing up in the San Joaquin Valley of California. This was a time before TV and multi-radio stations that play a single [...]
It is such a killer of teams, individuals and projects of all kinds. The heart of our survival “machinery” is the reaction that stops the action, deters people from playing 100% and mostly leaves a trail of broken relationships, dissatisfied participants and waste of a great possibility. That reaction is being “right,” and it requires [...]
Back in the day, the expectation of leaders was that it was the athlete/employee’s job to adapt to the leader. You know, “my way or the highway.” The primary motivational tool was fear. I am sorry to say, this tool is still popular among some organizational leaders today. The leader is afraid that his “crew” [...]
As we make our journey through life things happen that are out of the realm of our experience. We write them off as weird, strange or certainly not worthy of our attention. How about this idea? They are symptoms of something and it is so big that it needs our full attention. Change is always [...]
Contrary to most areas of life, decision-making in the world of sports is a very public conversation. Changing personnel (trading) is one of those decisions at the professional level. Most of the time it looks like doing something for the sake of doing something. Or, trading apples for oranges. I am sure some enterprising person [...]
Many organizations talk about being a team. Very few effectively practice being a team. It is not just about the most talented performers. Every position on the team does not require the same level of talent. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for having as many talented people as I can recruit. But, never [...]
I seldom talk about my company, so I am taking liberty to do so now. I will attempt to have it be worthwhile and not too boring. The company name is Todd Team Coaching and our programs are Fast Break Training courses. The emphasis is Power, Precision and Performance. Nice words, but it may be [...]
Our world is in what I would call “Cultural Chaos.” Whatever happened to “live and let live” or perhaps more accurately “be and let be?” I have been a keen observer of human behavior and the struggles involved since I was six years old. I have no scientific data or empirical proof my viewpoint. I [...]
For those of you who have been around for awhile I have a question—”Did this ever happen to you?" “Did what happen?" you are thinking. The answer to that question is as follows. First,a little background. As you climb the ladder in your chosen profession or career the leadership accountabilities grow. At some point you [...]