Upper Case or lower?
“…part of being a leader and team player is the willingness to be a ‘jerk’ from time to time.” – Patrick Lencioni Giving feedback, honest feedback, is a hard thing to do. It takes courage, and it takes love. You know… a servant. Sometimes it feels like you are being a “jerk”… when all you really want to do is help that person or the team get better. Inherent in this quote is there’s a difference between an upper-case “JERK” and a lower-case “jerk.” Upper case JERKS only care about themselves. By definition, that’s not leadership, and it’s...
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“To think is easy. To act is difficult. To act as one thinks is the most difficult.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe It’s not enough to agree conceptually that our role as leaders is to serve others. We have to act. The hard part is in the doing. The magic is in the doing. Every day, we need to be who we say we are. We need to serve our team.
Read MorePatience…
“My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.” – Mark Twain I couldn’t resist this quote for Mother’s Day. It speaks so well to what I see with Janet and our boys. As much trouble as they can be, she just loves taking care of them, serving them, loving them. (They drive me nuts when they give her the business. I, of course, was a perfect angel for my mother.) There’s a reason people say “Hi, Mom” when a television camera finds them: Mom serves. Even when it’s hard – especially when it’s hard – Mom serves. To all you Mom’s,...
Read MoreA Full Ledger…
“If man has any greatness in him, it comes to light, not in one flamboyant hour, but in the ledger of his daily work.” – quote by Beryl Markham from Randy Lewis’s new book “No Greatness without Goodness” I saw this quote and thought immediately of Steve Palmer, our VP of Transportation, who is retiring tomorrow (April 30th) after 38+ years with Lowe’s. For over 38 years, Steve built a career and a leadership ethos founded on character: patience, kindness, humility, respectfulness, selflessness, forgiveness, honesty, and commitment. He has been a true servant to his team,...
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“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” – Mark Twain I heard a college professor talking about making decisions based on facts. He said not only was it important to have facts, but to have the right facts (and all the facts). His point was that in large complex organizations (such as Lowe’s), individuals have a very limited perspective of problems and opportunities. In other words, no single person has enough information to have a strong opinion. To be successful… to make the best decisions… we...
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