Personal Accountability: No Throwing Stones!

There’s a ton of COVID-19 angst and anger in the world today, for sure. Being home together 24/7, my wife, Karen, and I have lots of time to discuss what’s going on. You probably do, too.

Interestingly, somehow, we’ve learned even more about each other than we knew before. Even though we began dating … in 1976 and married in 1980!

Last evening, as we talked about the finger-pointing and blame we’re witnessing — not to mention incessant recrimination and hind-sighting — Karen shared a short story I’d not heard before …

Accountability & Productivity In These Times

Are your people tense? Worried? Annoyed? Frustrated? Are you hearing lousy questions like these?

Diversity: The Foundation of Outstanding Teams

Is your team diverse?

Karen and I (and our four biological kids) are Caucasian. Our three adopted daughters are African-American. Son-in-law, Ricardo, is Mexican, and our only daughter-in-law, Casey, has Native American blood running through her veins.

We’re different in heritage and skin color. Also in personality. Imagine that! ?

A Relationship of Differences

When Justin was dating a Miller daughter, sharp personality differences came to light. One eve at 9:30, I was heading to bed when he stopped me on the stairs with, “So, John, how does QBQ, Inc. bring in revenue?” I stared at him like he was from another planet. My brain shuts down by 6 o’clock. In a friendly but firm soon-to-be-father-in-law tone, I said …

How Do I Get My Team to Read This Book?

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Do you buy books for others?

When Who Moved My Cheese? was the hot title, a Barnes & Noble employee told me, “I’ve never seen anything like it—customers are backing up the truck to load this title up!”

Of course, I would rather have heard that about the QBQ! book, but it wasn’t quite our time. ?

I do recall wondering, though, how many people actually read the Cheese book after their boss plopped it onto their desk.

There’s nothing new about managers buying books for staff; it’s a fine way to teach and train. Yet, there are ways to do it and ways not to do it …

NO EXCUSES — The Best Way To Live

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Would you be surprised if I told you the email response above is, well, rare? As in super rare?!

I’ve always chuckled over how corporations—actually, the people who work inside them—come up with as many excuses for not paying an invoice as a 10-year-old does for not turning in homework! My co-speaker, Kristin, and I have heard all of these and more:

3-Step Upgrade: How To Become a Better Me

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Years ago, while selling management training, I showed a demo video to a prospective client. During the presentation, she made an unsolicited comment about the training instructor on the 13-inch “box” TV I’d lugged into her Minneapolis office. The trainer on the screen was named Bill, a man in his 50s.

She stated, “I like this Bill guy. He’s clearly comfortable in his own skin.”

It was 1992 and I’d never heard the phrase before. To be honest, I think I resented it because she said it about Bill and not … me.

I remember wondering, Am I comfortable in my own skin?

Are You Training On The Right Stuff?

Are you standing on the foundation of Personal Accountability?

The two-ton boulder pictured was the first of 22 Miller “landscape” rocks and is our largest. My wife has instructed me to purchase no more. ?

I shot this shot with my iPhone because, well, the metaphor is so obvious, I couldn’t resist —