Last year I hosted a going away party for a close friend. It was a small gathering of some of his closest relationships. Within two weeks of the party, my friend would be deployed to Afghanistan where he would spend the next year aiding the military reduction in force.As he sat in my living room pondering his uncertain future, we each took turns, expressing our love for he and his family, providing words of encouragement, and vowing to protect and

I’ve heard the conversation a hundred times. I can’t tell you how it starts, but at some point, a manager says, “We need to figure out a way to hire better people. It’s hard to find good people who work harder and show more initiative. If we just hire the right people we can increase our engagement.” They’ll often throw in, “This generation just doesn’t like to work.” It’s as though there is something wrong in the hiring process and

Nowadays you can’t go 20 minutes without seeing an article contrasting leaders and managers. Leaders are described as those who inspire, motivate, and empower. They establish direction, create vision and clarify the big picture. Managers by contrast plan and organize. They oversee a team of employees, manage schedules and activities, establish rules and procedures, provide structure and ensure that things run smoothly. Being a leader has become the Holy Grail of business whereas managers have become second-class citizens. In fact,