Articles for category: Leadership

February 21, 2017

Greg Thomas

Context is Everything

In problem-solving, the context of the problem and the solution derived from are everything. Take the example… Two houses are late being built – one is behind by two months, one is behind by six. The one that is behind by six months is due to environmental issues, bad weather, tough rock, lots of snow, etc, etc.  The team has put in extra hours to make up for the delay but keep getting hit with issue after issue that is outside of their control. The second house had no issues, they knew the first house was delayed so they took their

February 20, 2017

Greg Thomas

Where Focus and Success Meet

Remember those street figher(ish) games where you had to accumulate your “mana, energy or experience” before you could do your super move? You had to keep fighting to increase your reserves so when you had your best chance you’d play your super move. That… that is the moment where focus and success meet.  Where after all the beatdowns you have taken, all the fighting, all the pushing to get somewhere, all the late nights and early mornings, you are finally ready to make it happen. Whether you fail is irrelevant, whether you make the big sale is not your measurement of

February 10, 2017

Greg Thomas

Leading in the Dark

If you were trapped with a few people in a room that had no windows or light coming into it, simply pure darkness, would it matter whose title was what? Would it make a difference? After all, no one can see, no one knows where the exit is, all you can do is talk and listen to one another. Talk and Listen. If that’s all you could do, then you’d probably start to figure out a way to explore while still communicating to one another. And when you found the light, would it matter who found it?  It could be

February 9, 2017

Greg Thomas

Filling the Kettle

When you go to fill the kettle up do you… Put in enough for merely your cup of tea – in and out as quick as possible? Or, fill it up all the way, someone else will use it and now they won’t have to wait for the water to boil. What’s the difference? One is focused on the user, the other is focused on the team. The better question is which one you would prefer?

February 6, 2017

Greg Thomas

The Breakout

In sports, when you are trying to get the play out of your end and setup the team to score in the opposing end you are executing a breakout. A predetermined strategy where everyone knows what part they have in the play that if executed correctly should yield a goal (i.e., a win). A breakout requires a team to be working as one and a leader to set it up. The question becomes whether your team knows what their breakout strategy is for success? Do you?