CEO Blog Archive - Page 140 of 162

Recent Articles

A Good Description of Achievement

A friend of mine, Valerie Marion, who is a sales leader in her organization, shared the following thought on Twitter. It said simply: “Strength to try anything, talent to succeed, courage enough to fail, wisdom to learn, and resilience to bounce…” Pretty much covers the gamut of achievement, doesn’t it? Try. Put your talent to work. Don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t work out because failing isn’t fatal. Just learn from it. Get up again

Howe Q. Wallace May 1, 2013

Plan, Do, Check and Act

PDCA – Do you know what that means? I attended a staff meeting in Shipshewana last week. They reviewed a lecture on PDCA. Here’s what it means: Plan, Do, Check, and Act. Planning starts with making a clear statement of a problem to be solved. The “P” could have stood for “Problem” but I like that planning is associated with this stage. Planning means that the team is on a conscious search for problems to

Howe Q. Wallace April 30, 2013

The Power of Improved Listening Skills

Though I can be a poor listener, I value greatly those who do it well. Listening is a very powerful communication tool – maybe the most powerful. I read a blog post this week by organizational psychologist Dr. Marla Gottschalk that underscored this. You can read it here >> You must listen to learn. It’s impossible to take in knowledge when you are speaking. Cultivate the ability to listen, and you take on the ability

Howe Q. Wallace April 29, 2013

Consider a Twitter Account

Are you familiar with Twitter? I’ve become addicted to it. Rather than read a bunch of newspapers and magazines like I once did, I have created a list of people who generate news, opinion and other content I find interesting. As they produce new stuff they “tweet” it and provide a link to find it on the internet. As they find new stuff, they will “retweet” it and share it. The assumption is that if

Howe Q. Wallace April 26, 2013

Do What You Know

A friend of mine, Tamela Lewis, shared this quote recently: “Knowing without doing is like putting food into your oven to bake and not turning it on.” In a book called The Knowing-Doing Gap by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton, it is said that the biggest difference between companies that succeed and those that don’t are that successful ones do what they know. They did a good bit of research about it. What they found

Howe Q. Wallace April 23, 2013

Two Things Under Your Control: Effort and Attitude

Ken Blanchard is among the most prolific and profound leadership authors around. I was reading one of his company blogs yesterday. It discussed the two things your boss should never have to ask from you: effort and attitude. Author Randy Conley notes that the effort you give and the attitude you have are completely in your control. It is a matter of character to choose to give great effort and to have a good attitude.

Howe Q. Wallace April 22, 2013

Leaders Enable Others to Act

Kouzes and Posner say that “Enabling Others” is another key practice of leaders. What can we do as a company to confer leadership responsibility on others? Recognize the leadership opportunities within our plants. To build pallets or treat wood, there are a lot of different units that perform tasks. If you think about it, each of these units exists to provide a product or service. Each of these units needs direct, hands-on leadership. While we

Howe Q. Wallace April 19, 2013

Leaders Challenge the Process

The enemy of greatness is good. So many times, when we work to solve a problem, we stay at it just as long as it takes to eliminate the complaint. Once a problem ceases to be a problem, we move on to something else. In The Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner say that leaders “Challenge the Process.” If you think about it, challenging the process is a very “lean” thing to do. According to Kouzes

Howe Q. Wallace April 18, 2013

Leaders Encourage the Heart

Another practice of leaders described in The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner is to “Encourage the Heart.” Are you an encourager? According to the authors, the most effective leaders do a great job of building teams by encouraging teammates. They do so by recognizing the specific contributions that a teammate brings to the organization. General encouragement is good. Saying “good job” and “thank you” is a good step. But, the better step is being

Howe Q. Wallace April 17, 2013

Leaders Model the Way

A few years ago, members of our company leadership studied a book called The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner. I have read the book five times since 1986. Every time I read it, I’m reminded of the impact it has had. If you like my leadership style and thoughts on leadership, please know they have been heavily “informed” by this book. One of the principles in the book is that everyone is

Howe Q. Wallace April 16, 2013

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Articles About Leadership

FIVE ELEMENTS OF A WINNING TEAM

Some believe Paul “Bear” Bryant to have been the greatest college football coach of all time. He used to say that members of a winning team needed five things: Tell every member what you expect. Give every member an opportunity to contribute. Let them know how they are doing. Give them guidance when they need it. Express appreciation for performance. This is a good checklist for leaders and followers alike. If your team isn’t winning,

Howe Q. Wallace November 29, 2023

HUMBLE AND GRATEFUL

“My story is the average story. It’s just filled with special people. What am I without them?” – Pharrell Williams Williams is a singer, writer, and producer who had a big year in 2014. His song “Happy” was No. 1 in 24 countries. He attributes his success to the “alignment of the stars,” and says that achieving great success was the result of many factors for which he is “thankful.” His testimony reminds me how

Howe Q. Wallace November 25, 2023

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and with each year, my appreciation for it deepens. I have so much for which to be thankful: I live in America. Most people in the world would choose to live here if they could. I have been presented with many opportunities. Some I have seized. Others I have squandered. Nevertheless, I’m grateful for all of them. I am more grateful that they keep coming for all who are open

Howe Q. Wallace November 23, 2023