Craig Schloneger, Partner and Senior Consultant with North Group Consultants, joins Roger North in discussing the importance of taking care of ourselves as leaders and the direct relationship self-care has with our ability to better serve others?
We also invite you to tell us, “What have you been thinking about?”
North Group Consultants’ Founder & President, Roger North, explores the topic of energy… As leaders, how do we protect, preserve and create the energy we need to lead well?
We also invite you to tell us, “What have you been thinking about?”
Roger North, President of North Group Consultants, and Partner, Daryl Leisey discuss the relationship between the intentions of leaders and their actual behaviors.
Is it helpful to let others know our intentions? How closely do your behaviors align with your intentions?
We also invite you to tell us, “What have you been thinking about?”
North Group Consultants’ president & founder, Roger North, discusses the differences between leadership and management. The better we lead, the less we need to manage. How do you best influence others?
We also invite you to tell us, “What have you been thinking about?”
We lost a family member recently. Laurie Black, the much loved wife of our partner, Brian Black, died on May 5 following an exemplary and courageous 4 1/2 year battle with ovarian cancer. She was 54 years old.
Laurie was only “officially” a member of the North Group family for 16 months. (Brian joined us in January, 2014). Her influence on each of us is surely outsized to the 16 month time span.
As we prayed, cried and laughed our way through her memorial service, we were again reminded that there are people that cross our paths in life that teach us more than we could ever learn in a classroom or under the guidance of a consultant.
Laurie Black taught us that positivity beats negativity any day. She taught us that gratefulness is a compelling lifestyle, even in the face of great challenge. Laurie taught us that courage trumps fear. And, that the spiritual trumps the physical.
Laurie Black showed us that the quality of your relationships is how the quality of your life should be measured. She taught us that laughter beats anger. That giving beats taking. That love beats hate. Laurie showed us what it means to believe in a sovereign God. And, she taught us that the Eagles should always beat the Cowboys!
We all have our own ways of pursuing the concept of “a life well lived.” We know what the lessons are, but we violate those lessons all too often. At least, I know I do. I get too “busy,” too “task oriented,” too “me focused”. Would I behave differently if I knew what the number of my days was going to be? I suppose so. But why wait? Laurie didn’t. She started living this way long before the diagnosis.
Thank you Laurie. Thank you for the much needed example of a life well lived.
We love you.
In this short video North Group Consultants’ president and founder, Roger North, along with partner and senior consultant, Brian Black, discuss how the patterns and routines of a leader can impact an organization. What patterns should you be continuing? What routines should you be changing?
We also invite you to tell us, “What have you been thinking about?”
We invite you to view our first video blog. In this edition we introduce the leadership characteristic, likability. Is it important for a leader to be likeable? As leaders, are there things we can do to become more likeable?
We welcome your thoughts on our new format, and invite you to tell us, “What have you been thinking about?”
August 5, 2014
Taking Your Own Medicine by Roger North
My mother and three sisters love to remind me of what a tease I was when I was a boy. Apparently, my favorite activity was teasing and provoking my sisters, especially Margie who is the youngest. Of course I do not remember it that way at all! Always affirming, kind and encouraging – that’s the way I remember it!
My family still gets together often. Whenever someone dares to point out any of my obvious faults, great glee ensues among my sisters and mom. “He’s getting a taste of his own medicine!” they exclaim.
Recently I have found myself seeking and receiving quite a bit of advice about the future of our firm. There is plenty of good advice available. The question is: Will we take the medicine? Certainly a challenge for us consultants!
Since the beginning of our business, we’ve been receiving insightful and valuable input from our marketing consultant, Scott Scheffey. He is a great friend and an astute observer of the world around us. Not long ago, Scott made several observations about the growth of North Group and offered ideas about how we can better engage with our community. He advised us to consider significantly changing our audio series, StraightForward, as well as shortening our blog posts by half!
So, it’s time to take some of our own medicine.
For those who notice such things, look for a significant change in our StraightForward audio series soon. And, look for blog posts that come in under 300 words. In fact, if you count the words on this one, you’ll see I’ve stayed under the limit! Doesn’t taste great, but I’m taking my own medicine!
January 6, 2014
Growing Pains by Roger North
At a recent holiday gathering, my 15 year-old nephew wanted to stand back-to-back with me. He wanted to see how his recent growth spurt measured up to his tallest uncle. He seemed to be feeling pretty good about being within 3 inches of me.
Justin has grown about 5 inches in the last year. When I asked him if he was experiencing any growing pains, he told me that he has had some pain in his back and his mom thinks it is related to his fast growth.
I know the feeling!
Most of us think about growth as vital, exciting, even fun. But it can be painful, too.
May I share personally here? Some of you have commented on the growth you have noticed at North Group in the last year. Thank you for noticing. We have been experiencing a growing demand for our services. We’ve been able to recruit some really talented people to help us meet the demand. We have gotten a fair amount of affirmation for the help we are giving to our clients and for our ability to be relevant in the marketplace. It’s been a vital, exciting, even fun year at North Group.
But that’s not all it’s been. I’ve been experiencing some pain along the way. I no longer know everything that is going on in my company. I don’t know all of our clients by name anymore. I am unable to connect with all of my colleagues on a weekly basis as I used to. We are outgrowing our beautiful building, and I don’t want to move. And my partners don’t want me to be in charge of everything anymore. Imagine that!
Of course, we work with growing businesses for a living. So, it is time to take some of our own medicine. That means me in particular. It can’t be advisable for me to consult with myself, can it?
All kidding aside, we are taking this growth thing pretty seriously. We are looking at all our systems and processes. We’re upgrading our technology. We are rearranging responsibilities to become more efficient and effective. We are changing a lot of stuff.
And I’m looking at myself. As the guy who has been here all along (almost 17 years now), I suspect I am experiencing the most pain. That is as it should be. Founders, entrepreneurs, CEOs should not be immune to the pain and change that growth brings. In fact, they should be on the leading edge it.
So, like my growing nephew, I’m experiencing a few pains. After having thought it through, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Here’s to a painful 2014!
