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Roger North and Craig Schloneger, Partners at North Group Consultants, discuss the ways they bring energy & objectivity to an organization when they are functioning as an interim executive within a company.

As a leader, how do you generate energy and continue to bring a fresh perspective to your organization every day?

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?”

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!