Category: Leadership Skills

November 4^th is the birth date of actor Will Rogers, who once said, “Common sense ain’t that common.”  So, we celebrate today as Common Sense Day.

In 1776, American Founding Father Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet called Common Sense, arguing for independence of the 13 British colonies in North America from Britain. Paine’s pamphlet was one of the inspirations of the American Revolution.

What leadership lesson should we target today?  Recently, I read Lee Cockerell’s Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney.  While Disney’s journey and leadership lessons gleaned from it are dense, I encourage you to check them out.

Click here for a summary of Creating Magic

As we continue this month’s focus on communications, we’ll turn to Sync or Swim by Gary Chapman, Paul White, and Harold Myra.  I received this book from the Moody Press booth at the Christian Leadership Alliance’s Outcomes Conference in Dallas more than four years ago.  It’s a quick read fable about workplace communications and coming together in a crisis.

You may recall that Chapman and White previously collaborated on The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace.

Sync or Swim points out that the #1 reason Americans leave their jobs is because they don’t feel appreciated.  And there is a significant disconnect between Managers and Employees on this issue.  Specifically, more than half of all managers believe they do a good job of recognizing employees, but only 17% of workers agree that’s true of their managers.

Additionally, two-thirds of workers say they’re more motivated by praise from their managers than anything else…including money…

Click here to learn more from Sync or Swim