It doesn't take a genius.

Aristotle and Teddy want you to stay in the fight!

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. 
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." 
Interested in coaching or training on these topics for you or your team? We'd love to hear from you! Email Mike and Mark.

Transitioning from Go-To Person to Empowering Leader!

Your boss was incredibly successful because he or she had you!
What happens after you get promoted and the team you are now leading no longer has a "you?"
Recreating yourself as a leader means shifting focus from personal achievement to team empowerment. Your new role is about creating opportunities for others to shine, building trust and independence.
Interested in coaching or training on these topics for you or your team? We'd love to hear from you! Email Mike and Mark.

Three kinds of stories your culture must discover and share

Want a corporate culture as strong as Western Civilization itself? Find your stories. 
Mark and Mike discuss the importance of stories in shaping culture and their potential impact on an organization. They discuss three kinds: "origin stories," "stories of bad times and lessons learned" and "stories of heroes and triumph." They can help you and your people not just understand but shape your culture.
Interested in coaching or training on these topics for you or your team? We'd love to hear from you! Email Mike and Mark.

Are you guilty of LCD Management?

Do the rules not apply to you? No, really: Have you ever been with a company that announced new rules that seemed completely unneeded? You might have been a part of LCD Management. 
It happens to the best of us in leadership--and there are simple methods to avoid all the problems it causes. 
Interested in coaching or training on these topics for you or your team? We'd love to hear from you! Email Mike and Mark.

FOLLOWUP: The keys to a strong culture ... and a strong you

Thought-provoking feedback from a listener inspired this followup episode about the two things that made Western culture so strong and long-lasting: Dignity and Excellence. Excellence has evolved over the millennia ... and Dignity is a relative upstart. If they work for growing culture ... could they work for growing you? 
(Check out this episode on our YouTube channel to see the graphics.)
Interested in coaching or training on these topics for you or your team? We'd love to hear from you! Email Mike and Mark.

FOLLOWUP REPORT: I'm managing monkeys, how do I free up time for my gorillas?

Want more on time management and delegation? 
There is even more to glean from Harvard Business Review's second-most popular article. We covered 1-3-1 last episode ... now it's time to address the rules for monkeys that allow you to tackle gorillas. 
Interested in coaching or training on these topics for you or your team? We'd love to hear from you! Email Mike and Mark.

LEADERS! PARENTS! Get the monkeys off your back with 1-3-1

Discover how to stop getting bogged down by your team's challenges and start empowering them to solve problems on their own. In this episode, Mark and Mike introduce the powerful 1-3-1 delegation method, a game-changing approach for managers who want to stay focused on leadership without being drawn into every issue.
They also dive into why it’s crucial for employees to show up with solutions instead of waiting for direction and how fostering a culture of problem-solving and continuous growth can transform your team. If you’re ready to level up your leadership and reclaim your time, this episode is a must-listen!
Interested in coaching or training on these topics for you or your team? We'd love to hear from you! Email Mike and Mark.

Dignity and Excellence: The West's culture code

Do you strive for Excellence? Do you honor Dignity? If you don't have both, you're missing out on what made the West so successful. Enjoy some ideas from Mark's upcoming book, "The Lost Tools of Business." 
(Mark's podcast interview on Refining Rhetoric is found here.)
Interested in coaching or training on these topics for you or your team? We'd love to hear from you! Email Mike and Mark.

DiSC: How to work with anybody

Mike and Mark kept meaning to record an episode on DiSC, and Mark had a request for the very same thing after a recent speaking engagement. 
Two questions! That's all it takes to tap into a system used to describe and make use of our differences for, literally, millennia. (If you'd like to take Wylie's excellent DiSC assessments, drop us a line.) 
Interested in coaching or training on these topics for you or your team? We'd love to hear from you! Email Mike and Mark.

Locate yourself in the Customer Experience Death Spiral®

Mike has been noticing a trend ... and after some research, he has realized: We are all doomed. The Customer Experience Death Spiral® has come.
(Unless we break out of it, that is--listen in for some tips.)
Interested in coaching or training on these topics for you or your team? We'd love to hear from you! Email Mike and Mark.