Skip navigation

Throughout 2021, our written blogs have focused on our belief statements. Today, we’re focusing on the the belief that “all people have the potential to change and grow.”

Surely, we all believe in the truth of this statement. But what about real life application? Do we believe in the potential of the difficult people placed in our lives? Do we believe this about ourselves? Do we harbor self-limiting beliefs that hinder our growth and human potential?

We are all caught in situations that make us feel frustrated or uncertain. During these times, our self-limiting beliefs loom large. What are the practices that allow us to extricate ourselves from these self-limiting beliefs and “be” the leaders we have been called to “be?”

  • Commit to regular times of reflection – How did I arrive at this uncomfortable place? What did I contribute to the frustration of the matter at hand?
  • Cultivate regular feedback – Seek out confidants, coworkers, and trustworthy friends who will be both honest and direct in their assessment of your behavior.
  • Recruit an accountability partner – Create a mutual relationship committed to positive change and growth.
  • Trust the process – It took a long time to arrive where you are.  It will take time to cultivate sustainable change.
  • Celebrate success – Recognize when your behavior changes for the benefit of others. Find small ways to reward yourself as a means toward creating new and beneficial habits.

All people have the potential to change and grow. To what growth processes are you committed?

Balanced Living…
Is your life in balance?
How many balls are you juggling at one time?
Have you dropped any lately?

I love to juggle! I’ve got a dozen important balls in the air most of the time. However, when I drop balls, I don’t love juggling at all.

One day, I realized not all 12 of those balls represents an important piece of what makes me feel whole.  I started to think about who or what got to be a ball in my juggling act. I needed to concentrate on one at a time – even if it was just for a split second – and the other balls needed to be able to continue the act without my full attention, knowing they were still an indispensable piece of who I want to be.

I picked categories and gave each ball a color:

  • Family is blue (for first place)
  • Physical health is gold (where am I without that?)
  • Spiritual growth is red (see the reason for gold)
  • Friends are green (I need diversity of thought and connection)
  • Challenging my thinking is purple (I can’t remain stagnant)

I could pick many more but I am happy, fulfilled and blessed with these five categories.  In fact, five categories are really all I can manage well – even though I keep trying to add more to the mix.  I know that when I drop one, I need to pick that one off the ground, apologize to the people affected, and start over juggling my five indispensable colors.

It’s really just a choice.  How many balls can you juggle and stay in balance?  Do you recognize when you add a new color to the mix? Do you know the priority of the new one? When you inevitably drop a ball, you’ll know which ones to pick up again and which ones to say “I’ll keep practicing. For now, this is the best juggler I can be.  I’ll get back to you as soon as I improve my game.”

The foundations of healthy companies are always rooted in values, vision, and mission. They declare who we are, where we’re going, and what we do – often for generations to come.

The business decisions we make every day are ever evolving due to disruptors like market changes, technology, competition, and government regulation. Staying abreast of trends and remembering to differentiate yourself in a sea of similarity while still holding on to your roots can be a daunting task and, at times, a slippery slope.

At North Group, sustained relationships are the foundation of our consulting practice. We succeed by continually investing in trusting relationships with our clients. We build trust by asking challenging questions and listening intently, while honoring the good work that is already being done. In this process, we combine kindess with truth; candor with empathy.

Growing leaders and their businesses is a long-term endeavor. How will you lead your team toward answering the question, “How will we succeed?”

Leadership can be hard to define, but it’s abundantly clear whether or not it exists in an organization. A strong leader is the very heart of a healthy organization. He / she drives the culture, which influences the behavior of employees and drives the performance results that lead to a successful endeavor. They are in tune with the people who make the business work and inspire team members to believe in themselves. Leaders cast a vision for reachable stretch goals, show empathy, and work through disagreements and conflict.

For leaders at any level, self-awareness is essential. In particular, it is important to know one’s leadership style and recognize the effect decisions / approaches have on those looking for guidance. This self-awareness process is a gradual one and can be encouraged in many ways – individual confidential coaching, personality assessments, and open, honest conversations about lessons learned through personal experiences.

As individual leaders are more fully developed within an organization, Leadership Teams often begin to emerge. Leadership Teams are a huge asset to organizations as leaders work together to recognize and pursue opportunities that can grow and expand the business. Their combined experiences and expertise can help the organization navigate changes and develop a healthy confidence in taking risks that can have a lasting effect on the future of the company.

Developing the leader in yourself and in your business is not for the faint of heart. It is essential in fulfilling the dream of a caring, successful business entity that will grow and flourish for generations to come. And businesses that last for generations are the real vision for all of us at North Group. It’s why Leadership and Team Development is one of the foundations of our daily work.

There is nothing more heartwarming than the story of a successful multi-generational family business. Carrying on the legacy of one’s parents, grandparents, or sometimes even great grandparents is an honor.

I have had the privilege of being on both sides of this equation – the person learning and eventually taking over my mother’s role; and, the person transitioning out of a leadership role. I learned a lot through the process. I learned that there is a technical side to succession planning. I also learned that there are some very real personal elements to consider and think through:

  • What will my new life be like without work? Some of us can hardly wait to get out on the golf course, spend more time with loved ones, or finally read those books that have been piling up on our nightstands. But, often after a short time, we find ourselves caught up on all of those things.
  • Where will I find new purpose? We all need to know that we’re making a difference. A business is a tangible way to make a difference in the lives of employees, customers and future generations.
  • Am I financially prepared to retire? It can be difficult to discern the financial capacity needed to continue our customary lifestyle. Uncertainty can cause fear and concern.
  • Is there an appropriate role for me in the business to ensure my investment (and buyout) is safe and sound? If you’re being paid out over time, the need to stay in touch with the financial results of the business is real. It can be challenging to develop a healthy balance of staying informed without meddling.

In addition to working through these questions individually, it is also essential to:

  • Take the time for authentic, honest and caring conversations between the new leadership and the prior owners.
  • Create transparency in business results so that everyone’s perspective is kept in alignment.
  • Empower a leadership team that honors the past while responding to the realities of the present and the challenges of the future.

At North Group, we consider it a privilege to walk alongside clients in this stage of the business transition process. We’d love to walk alongside you as you put healthy thought into what will inspire you to be the same kind of leader “outside” the work world as you were in your former leadership role.

By the way, it’s also okay to just take up golf or travel to those places you always dreamed of visiting!

Have you noticed how people are creating their own job titles these days? There are Chief Creative Officers, Chief Mission Officers and the more traditional Marketing Managers and Directors of Human Resources.

What’s in a name? Or, for that matter, what’s in a title? Are you a manager of your company? Or, are you a leader enlisting people in your company’s mission?

Can you be both a manager and a leader? I think so, but maybe not simultaneously. The skills are very different. In North Group terminology, when you manage things you are “doing.” You are:

  • Calculating percentages of profit
  • Following a pre-written plan to ensure results
  • Using checklists
  • And, making sure people aren’t going out of bounds in their work

When you are leading, it’s more about who you are “being.” You are:

  • Inspiring the people who want to follow you by believing in them
  • Being inspired yourself by a mission or vision and inviting others to put their own creative touch on that journey to success
  • Acting strategically to see where your company could be in two years, five years, maybe even ten years
  • And, putting the pieces in place to find your way to those two, five and ten-year goals

In order to reach those ten-year goals it means managing carefully. So you see, management and leadership are not opposing forces, but do take different skills, approaches, risks and intentions.

You can be both a manager and a leader. But, for the best results, recognize which hat you’re wearing and know when it is more appropriate to lead and when it is more appropriate to manage.

The succeeding generations of your business will thank you for knowing the difference and practicing both of these distinct qualities. It takes both of them to make a successful, long-standing business.

When a strong leader decides to leave an organization it can strike fear in the hearts of an owner, CEO or board chair. Such change can feel a bit chaotic.

Right now I am training a new person in a leadership position in my own company. That means I need to refresh myself on how the day-to-day systems work. I have to put my own schedule on hold while I recruit and then teach a new person our processes and culture—a wonderful opportunity to see how we’re doing in those areas. I’m tweaking and re-thinking lots of systems along the way.

Here are a few tips I’ve learned toward making the transition more smooth:

  1. Meet regularly with your leaders one-on-one while they’re at the top of their game so you can stay in touch with processes that work well.
  2. Ensure you have systems in place that don’t depend on personalities or strategies.
  3. Live your culture every day so when someone else in your business doesn’t, it is noticed and can be addressed. Then new employees will immediately understand “how things are done around here.”
  4. Remember, it will take time for a new person to “get it,” so be patient, encouraging, and clear about his/her progress along the way.
  5. When the transition is not coming together in a timely fashion, remember, there are resources for interim leadership roles. Consultants at North Group have taken on the role of interim leader in many instances.

Don’t panic when a good employee decides to move on. Instead, use this opportunity to review your practices and make your company even stronger than it was before.

Next week is Thanksgiving. It’s a day for families to gather, often overeat, and sometimes watch football. Isn’t it interesting that the first three things I think of have nothing to do with being thankful!

Gratitude can change your world. Have you ever met people who seem to have no apparent reason to be thankful, yet they are smiling, grateful for the sunny day and the little that they have? There might be no food for next week’s meals, no money for heat or new clothes for their children. But you wouldn’t know it by their conversation or facial expression.

Oprah Winfrey recommends that everyone start a Gratitude Journal. Each day make a list of what you’re thankful for. There’s always something. After a few days of being mindful of how lucky you are, watch all those doom and gloom thoughts begin to fade away.

In the same way individual gratitude can change your own world, an entire company’s culture can quickly become a culture of recognition—of giving thanks. I’m not talking about Employee of the Month programs. I’m talking about genuine gratitude that is expressed to the people who work for you—just a kind word, an acknowledgement of the quality of someone’s work, a simple thank you for following through. It doesn’t matter who you are, a thank you brightens your day. And guess what, it brightens the day of the person delivering the thank you as well. What a bonus!

So, Happy Thanksgiving! And may I invite you this holiday season, to establish an Attitude of Gratitude. You may be surprised at what sincere thankfulness can do, both to you and those around you.