What Is A “Level 5” Culture?

By now, you’ve seen the term Level 5 used a lot around here. It’s even in our name! You might be wondering what we mean by Level 5. Here’s some explanation. Over the course of four decades, I’ve been exposed to each of the five levels of culture described below. For brevity’s sake, I’ve given … Read more

The Backbrief: A Tool For Better Listening

Listening can feel harder to do than ever. There’s always going to be outside distractions. Emails, texts, meetings, presentations, it can seem to go on and on. It can be easy to get lost in a sea of noise. How do we become better listeners? One tool to do so is called the backbrief. The … Read more

The Decision Tree

There’s a reason why “micromanage” is often considered a dirty word. The idea that a single leader can handle every aspect of a task, down to the smallest detail, is truly a myth. Even if someone could handle it all themselves, it would result in the crowding out of other team members. Micromanagement will only create … Read more

Effective Coaching: Two-Minute Leadership video blog

Coaching can be defined as instructing or training another person or group of people. All leaders have a responsibility to coach their team. How do you do so in a way that ensures growth and progress? In this entry in my series of Two-Minute Leadership video blogs, the topic is “Effective Coaching,” and the answer … Read more

Taking Ownership Of Your Time

How are you doing in the time management department? I often hear from organizations that I’m coaching that they “just don’t have good time management.” This might sound like a common problem. However, these teams are operating under something of a misconception. The truth is, there really is no such thing as time management, which … Read more

Benchmarking Your Culture: Leadership Journey of Discovery, Part 6

How do we know how we measure up? We need a point of reference. To benchmark is to compare yourself against the highest standards. How do we benchmark our organization’s culture to see how it is performing? I describe how in “Benchmarking Your Culture,” Part 6 of my video blog series, the Leadership Journey of … Read more