The trU Group

Lessons in Honesty: My Menlo Tour

Lessons in Honesty: My Menlo Tour

Recently I took advantage of a culture tour of Menlo Innovations in Ann Arbor. While I have been on the tour seven times over the past seven years, I always leave with a key lesson or two that I can practice in my own work. This time the word radical hit me as I...

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The Most Valuable Hour in Your Week

The Most Valuable Hour in Your Week

The ‘To-Do’ list on Monday often starts with what was left on Friday. Then the messages start coming in from the people that depend on us for things — boss, peers, customers, kids, spouse, aging parents, our team, and friends. Then we respond like we have on every other Monday — we get to work. Here is a solution that will cost you an hour and give you a return many times your investment.

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3 Reasons Culture Matters

3 Reasons Culture Matters

Does culture matter at your company? If it does, where do you start in order to make it stronger? Here is some help answering both of those questions – prepare to be challenged to add the title of Chief Culture Officer to your job description.

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Exit Interviews – 1 Question Leaders Should Ask

Exit Interviews – 1 Question Leaders Should Ask

It is expensive to replace great people, so understanding why you lose people is critical for leaders. It is especially important for executive leaders who are far removed from the day to day work, because where there is smoke (turnover) there often is a fire starting (leader not being effective). Here is one powerful question you should make sure you get an answer to whenever someone walks out of your organization voluntarily.

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3 Questions to Test for Trust

3 Questions to Test for Trust

Do your people TRUST you as a leader? Here are three questions to test that by simply asking and listening. The hidden benefit of asking a great question and listening is that it actually builds trust.

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Teambuilding 101 – Enter the Danger (and I don’t mean find a ropes course)

Teambuilding 101 – Enter the Danger (and I don’t mean find a ropes course)

Have you ever seen a group of leaders start becoming a team? The irony is that it does not take a ropes course or a walk in the mountains to find the danger that binds leaders together. EOS® creates opportunities for groups to become teams every time we get together. This story is based on several dozen EOS moments that I have experienced with teams on the journey to achieve what I have learned to call vision, traction, and healthy.

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Help is Not a 4 Letter Word

Help is Not a 4 Letter Word

How well do you manage change? More directly, how skilled are you at seeking the help of your peers, leaders, and key people when leading a team through a difficult change? Too often leaders treat Help like a four letter word, never to be uttered lest we be punished! Here is a lens to assist leaders in seeing their role in supporting in and dumping out, so that help becomes part of the process of change and healing.

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The Sweet Spot: How to find it for yourself

The Sweet Spot: How to find it for yourself

Seeing plants grow and watching people perform results in the same comment: “Wow, they love it here.” How do you recognize that sweet spot, and more importantly, do you know how to get back there? Here are a few tips to know when you are there, and 3 resources to help identify and find your own sweet spot.

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Golf, Ego and Leadership: 3 questions to get you out of the trap

Golf, Ego and Leadership: 3 questions to get you out of the trap

Leadership lessons are all around us. Here is a lesson I learned around EGO during a golf game. The irony is that I failed to listen to the exact words I wrote and the metric(my score) reflected it. Here is how to identify where your ego is getting in your way and three questions to step back and reset. Watching the movie Tin Cup is your homework if you want to explore the topic further.

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Easy Way, Hard Way

Easy Way, Hard Way

As a parent of infant children, bath time taught me a few leadership lessons. My method of framing the choice of ‘Easy Way’ or ‘Hard Way’ has found its way into my coaching practice and in my own roles as leader, father, and friend. Here are some tips on facing these challenging intersections as a leader and individual.

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Leadership Wisdom 101: Developing Your Capacity to Lead Change (Part 2 of 3)

Leadership Wisdom 101: Developing Your Capacity to Lead Change (Part 2 of 3)

Managers make widgets; leaders make change. Seth Godin said this, and I believe it. It is why change management is one of the key skills we need to develop as leaders. Opportunities to develop these skills are found both in and outside of work. Here are two models that will help you navigate any life change, and a free download to help guide you next time you are faced with a change.

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