RANDY’S BLOG
Randy helps leaders deliver positive results in a world of accelerating change.

13 May, 2014

Focus on What Truly Matters

By |2016-10-29T15:29:29+00:00May 13th, 2014|Accountability, Book Reviews, Integrity & Ethics, Leadership, Personal Development, Results|

These days it seems that we’re all so busy, overcommitted, and information-obsessed. Our never-ending to-do lists are long and we run around trying to “keep up” or “be important,” and in the process stress ourselves out. Unfortunately, it often takes something bad to happen to slow us down, wake us up, and force us to focus on what truly matters most in life.

4 May, 2014

Should You Put Lipstick on the Brussels Sprouts? How Leaders Communicate Forced Change

By |2016-10-29T15:29:30+00:00May 4th, 2014|Business Growth, Business Strategy, Corporate Culture, Leadership, Leading & Managing Change, Results|

My presentations about leading change usually include a story about Double Stuf Oreos and Brussels Sprouts. You can view the story here, but the basic principle is simple: A child will willingly change what they are doing to reach a jar of cookies on top of your refrigerator. You seldom see them act with the same sense of urgency to acquire Brussels sprouts. With that in mind, leaders generate creative tension when the vision they create for change is compelling – like cookies – rather than boring like vegetables.

27 Apr, 2014

Defining Integrity: How Leaders Earn Trust & Respect

By |2016-10-29T15:29:30+00:00April 27th, 2014|Accountability, Business Growth, Corporate Culture, Integrity & Ethics, Leadership|

How do you define integrity? Is there an absolute definition? Or, do you find yourself quoting the phrase made famous by Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart: “I know it when I see it”? We know that it appears at or near the top of every list of desirable leadership traits. It is the essential ingredient for building and sustaining trust with others. Go ahead—take a stab at it. Integrity is . . . It is more difficult to define integrity than you thought, isn’t it?

20 Apr, 2014

Generating Urgency: What’s Keeping You from Changing?

By |2016-10-29T15:29:30+00:00April 20th, 2014|Business Growth, Business Strategy, Corporate Culture, Leadership, Leading & Managing Change, Results|

The willingness and urgency to change are based on emotional readiness not intellectual understanding. If intellectual understanding – knowing what we should do – was all it took to change, the gap between realizing we need to do something different and the work of implementing that change would be non-existent. But that’s not how it works.

15 Apr, 2014

Why Responsive Government is an Oxymoron … and Why Your Elected Officials are to Blame

By |2016-10-29T15:29:31+00:00April 15th, 2014|Accountability, Government & Politics, Innovation, Leadership, Leading & Managing Change, Results|

The government we want is nimble, flexible, and responsive. The government we experience, in many cases, is slow, cumbersome, and totally unresponsive. Let’s put this another way: We want our government to operate like our favorite business. We believe, in contrast, that our government is the poster child for lumbering bureaucratic inefficiency and employees who are out of touch with the realities of the marketplace. Twenty plus years of working with private and public sector organizations has taught me that the truth is actually somewhere between the two extremes.

21 Mar, 2014

Why You Will Lose Your Best Employees

By |2014-10-20T19:56:41+00:00March 21st, 2014|Business Growth, Business Strategy, Corporate Culture, Employee Retention, Leadership, Results|

Your best employees are contemplating quitting. Some of them already have – even though they are still on the job. Hiring is picking up – especially for the stars who more than compensate for their cost with superior performance. Your best employees will have the opportunity to leave. Are you vulnerable for an exodus? Chances are the answer is yes if you are guilty of any of the following:

11 Mar, 2014

Inside the House of Lies: Why Large Consulting Firms Are Often Bad at Change

By |2016-10-29T15:29:36+00:00March 11th, 2014|Accountability, Business Growth, Business Strategy, Corporate Culture, Leadership, Leading & Managing Change|

I received this email last week. The author’s name has been withheld in order to protect his/her job: “I read your book Make Change Work. and it made me angry. What made me angry is the fact that I work as a management consultant for one of the largest consulting firms and I am ashamed how few (if any) of the wisdoms we actually take from your book and coach our clients accordingly. Very often, we are in gross ignorance of the very valid insights and tips you have in your little book.”

24 Feb, 2014

What Political Races Can Teach Us About Standing Out in Our Marketplace

By |2016-10-29T15:29:36+00:00February 24th, 2014|Business Growth, Business Strategy, Communication, Government & Politics, Leadership, Leading & Managing Change|

Who do you choose when there is very little difference between the choices? Do you take the time to understand the small factors that might distinguish one choice from another, or do you go with what is easy or the name that you hear the most often? There are four individuals running to represent their party for the office of state representative in the area where I live. All four seem like nice people, and all four are virtually indistinguishable in their stance on the issues. Seriously, you could copy and paste any of their individual responses onto the web site for any of their competitors, and no one would notice.

4 Feb, 2014

Leaders Don’t Hide

By |2014-10-20T18:20:32+00:00February 4th, 2014|Accountability, Business Growth, Business Strategy, Leadership, Leading & Managing Change, Results|

Leaders distinguish themselves in times of great risk and great reward. Whether it is the political leader who bolsters our confidence in times of crisis or the business leader who follows her instincts to seize an opportunity, we respect and admire the leader who is out front when the stakes are high.

4 Jan, 2014

A Result to Remember Part II: How GE Proved that Sometimes it IS the Product

By |2016-10-29T15:29:36+00:00January 4th, 2014|Accountability, Business Growth, Business Strategy, Corporate Culture, Leadership, Leading & Managing Change|

Three weeks back I wrote about my exceptional service experience at Sewell Lexus of Dallas. The theme of the post was that it was the Sewell people rather than their product that has kept me as a loyal customer for over 20 years. The premise behind that post is the same one I offered in my 2006 book, Results Rule!: Fundamentals are the minimum. Being distinctive is the difference if it adds value. I can purchase a Lexus from a number of different dealers. The quality and service of the Sewell staff makes them distinctive in a way that adds extreme value. The very nice folks that service GE kitchen appliances just reminded me that you can’t forget the first part of my premise: Fundamentals are the minimum. Because without the fundamentals, there is nothing you can do to stand out with your customers (at least not in a positive way).

3 Jan, 2014

Why Most of Us Won’t Achieve Our New Year’s Resolutions

By |2016-10-29T15:29:37+00:00January 3rd, 2014|Accountability, Leadership, New Year's Resolutions, Personal Development, Results|

Most of the talk about New Year’s Resolutions is just that – talk. Despite all of our good intentions, most of us won’t achieve our goals for the year. Research released by the University of Scranton Psychology Department reports that only 8 percent of Americans are regularly successful in achieving their resolution. 49 percent achieve occasional success, and 24 percent are never successful. So in other words, the odds are stacked against you even if you set a goal for the New Year

23 Dec, 2013

Defining a Good Change: It is More Than Results

By |2016-10-29T15:29:37+00:00December 23rd, 2013|Business Growth, Business Strategy, Corporate Culture, Leadership, Leading & Managing Change, Results|

Every change is evaluated against the result AND the damage inflicted during its implementation. Ignore the people side of the change (feelings and perceptions), and it is only a matter of time before the desired results suffer, too. The type of change needed in today’s successful organizations is continuous. It is generated from every level, and it requires engagement and commitment from those involved. You can mandate compliance. Commitment and engagement to make change work are volunteered when you focus on more than the end result.

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