Business Climate CEO Archives - Page 2 of 7

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POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS AND CONNECTIONS…

In the book “The Second Mountain”, author David Brooks says – “the key to strong communities is every member maximizing positive relationships and connections.” Of course, it is the key! I think why he says it deserves consideration is for encouraging community members to increase their number of contacts. If you are like me, you’re passive on the contact activity. I can very easily stick my nose in a book, plop down in front of

Howe Q. Wallace August 2, 2019

The ABCs Of Business Decay

Warren Buffett is 86 years old and is CEO of one of the most successful businesses of modern times Berkshire Hathaway. Because he’s older, he is frequently asked about his successor. Buffett, who has said he won’t resign until the right time, had this to say last year about the still nameless replacement. “My successor will need one other particular strength: the ability to fight off the ABCs of business decay, which are arrogance, bureaucracy

Howe Q. Wallace July 17, 2019

THERMOSTAT OR THERMOMETER…WHICH ONE ARE YOU?

I was listening to a podcast featuring Tim Elmore, an expert on child rearing. He was speaking about thermostats and thermometers. Thermometers take the temperature; they can give an indication of whether it’s too hot, too cold or just right. Thermostats decide the temperature; if you’re a thermometer, you’re an observer. You can describe the conditions. You can adjust to the conditions. You can give into the conditions. If you’re a thermostat, you set the

Howe Q. Wallace May 23, 2019

DIRECT, SIMPLE, QUICK…THAT IS A COMMUNICATION STRATEGY THAT WORKS.

There was a study of email behavior at a large company. The study determined that email behavior was a predictor of customer satisfaction. We all have customers. Some are paying customers, those that buy our products. Others are internal customers, those that count on us to help them get their jobs complete. Here’s what the study found: Customers want a direct response. Delays because you’re doing research or asking someone else are undesired. They want

Howe Q. Wallace May 20, 2019

THE REASON I WRITE THESE NOTES…

It’s a privilege to share these notes every day. Why do I write them? My goal is to capture the “corporate knowledge” and deliver it to all of you. When anyone in our organization is confronted with a situation where there is uncertainty about what to do, I want all these notes to form the voice in your head that guides you to the best decision. There are some of you who have read these

Howe Q. Wallace May 7, 2019

LISTENERS, OPTIMISTIC AND HARDINESS…THREE GOOD LEADERSHIP TRAITS!

I subscribe to a business magazine Fortune. One of their issues each year involves them listing the top 50 Leaders in the World. As they identify these leaders, they offer characteristics that they share to help them achieve this status. Here are three: Listeners – Good listeners lean in, acknowledge what they’re hearing, no interruptions, good listening body language. When the listener speaks, she asks great, insightful questions. Optimism – Our COO Matt Sheffield says

Howe Q. Wallace May 6, 2019

STRENGTH, SPEED AND AGILITY IS THE MISSION…

“When strength is the mission, hard is the standard and work is the requirement. When comfort is the objective, easy is acceptable and effort is an afterthought.” – Brian Kight. Another good thought from organizational consultant Brian Kight. “When strength is the mission” I heard very many years ago that successful organizations are strong, fast and agile. Strong enough to face the challenges and embrace the opportunities. Fast enough to be quick on the scene

Howe Q. Wallace April 26, 2019

WEEDING OUT NEGATIVITY…

“Building a great team is not just about feeding the positive. We must also weed the negative. Identify it. Confront it. Transform it. Remove it.” – Jon Gordon One of the cultural tenets we work under is “purge negativity”. Gordon’s imperative of weeding the negative resonates. We’ve all heard it: “one rotten apple spoils the barrel”. I like the order Gordon provides. Identify it: Negativity doesn’t hide. It intends to be noticed. It is aggressive

Howe Q. Wallace April 25, 2019

PASSION FOR YOUR WORK CAN MEAN SO MUCH…

I read this in writer Seth Godin’s blog: “Passion comes from feeling needed, from approaching mastery, from doing work that matters.” Common advice is to find work you are passionate about and pursue it. Godin says that kind of work doesn’t start that way. The three conditions laid out here have merit: “Feeling needed”. It comes when the team remains open to new people and an atmosphere of connection exists. If passion has a chance

Howe Q. Wallace February 23, 2019

SO MUCH IS BUILT AROUND TRUST…

According to speaker Garrison Wynn, “we build trust with compassion and competence.” We demonstrate compassion with respect. We listen. We help. We care. Treat folks as a number, caring goes out the window. Trust erodes. We demonstrate competence by doing our job, on teams, at work, with our families and we each have our jobs. As we think about competence, we each have been in situations at work, on teams and at home where trust

Howe Q. Wallace February 19, 2019

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Articles About Leadership

THE JUICE IS WORTH THE SQUEEZE

“Everything you want is on the other side of ‘hard’.” – CJ McCollum, NBA player McCollum is a story of overachievement. He was undersized. Played college basketball at a non-descript school. Was a long shot to be an NBA player but worked his way to being a first-round draft pick and was a solid star in his 10th year in the league. I heard him describe his approach to the game and his development on a podcast called

Howe Q. Wallace March 25, 2024

HAPPENING TO THE WORLD – A SATISFYING WAY TO LIVE

PalletOne leaders “happen to the world.” What does that mean? A PalletOne leader is confident. Each situation creates an opportunity for service and contribution. We are talented and put those talents to work. We see those around us as having talent. We seek to unlock it. We realize that we can be called upon to take the initiative to improve things at any moment. We act when the situation calls for it. We inspire through

Howe Q. Wallace March 25, 2024

SUFFERING AND CHALLENGES

“Weep, trust, pray, think, shift, hope, grow. Ways to handle suffering.” – Tim Keller Tim Keller was a preacher from New York City. He passed away in 2023. I followed him on Twitter because he tweeted profound thoughts like the one above. You don’t exit life without tough things happening to you. It’s a fact. None of us are exempt. In specific order, Keller gave us seven verbs to consider when challenged: Weep – It’s

Howe Q. Wallace March 22, 2024