During the 1980s, the Milliken textile company dramatically improved its customer service, product quality, and financial performance through an intense quality improvement effort. They eventually won a national quality award in recognition of their success.  more  

Motivation or morale problems are usually rooted in leaders failing to engage people in the broader aims and ideals of the organization.  more  

As the years slide by, a growing number of people don't really live, they merely exist – trapped in their lives of quiet desperation. Just getting by is as dangerous as resting in the snow on a frigid winter night; our passion and spirit dozes off and dies in our sleep.  more  

Leadership charisma and energy flow directly from our personal passion and commitment. We can't impassion others about life or their work if we don't feel passionate about ours.  more  

When confronting morale problems, managers will often succumb to the Victimitis virus and blame the declining work ethic, or any number of societal factors. But these factors are more imagined than real. Studies show that people's real needs are much less mercenary than most managers believe.  more  

One deadly consequence of the management credibility gap is that employees emotionally distance and disengage themselves from their bosses and their organizations, and this we/they schism can have profoundly negative consequences.  more  

Committing to your business is essential for its success. According to Wal-Mart's founder, Sam Walton, "If you love your work, you'll be out there every day trying to do the best you possibly can, and pretty soon everybody around will catch the passion from you – like a fever."  more  

A company's external customer service is only as strong as the company's internal leadership, and the culture of commitment that this leadership creates.  more  

Discipline means having the vision to see the long term picture and keep things in balance. Regret can cost hundreds of hours, discipline costs minutes. An ounce of bite-my-tongue can outweigh a ton of I-am-so-sorries.  more  

Most managers recognize that one of their key roles is motivating others, and the key to motivation is empowerment. Internal commitment is participatory and very closely allied with empowerment.  more  

Making jobs more rewarding is the best way to influence motivation and job satisfaction. It requires giving employees more control over the processes they are involved in for real empowerment.  more  

Building partnerships through involvement and participation results in strong leadership that leads to high performance.  more  

Create strong passion with a clear and compelling vision and hang in there during the inevitable downs and defeats until dreams are realized.  more  

We need to either find the work we love, or learn to love the work we have. Get passionate or get out.  more  

There is no particular job, industry, or organization that magically transforms "just a job" into passionate life work. However, to spot an opportunity we need to know what we're looking for. We need to clarify our purpose.  more  

Strong leaders harness the passion of the monomaniacs on their team to bring about change.  more  

People rally around passionate leaders with a compelling vision and purpose. Effective leaders generate action that comes from creating energy and transforming jobs into crusades, exciting adventures, or deeper missions.  more  

There are no "success secrets." However, there are success systems, success habits, and success principles applied through discipline and persistence. Failure often results from following the line of least persistence.  more  

Discover the Personal Visioning approaches that can help you to avoid the pitfalls and pave your organization's pathway to success.  more  

Retention and engagement are critical to an organization's success, but attracting and retaining talented people is a growing challenge for many organizations.  more  

There are no dead-end jobs, only dead-end people. Meaningful work goes well beyond what I do for a living, it joyfully expresses what I do with my living.  more  

Technomanaged organizations have things backwards. They are organizations where people serve the systems or processes and customers are made to fit the organization.  more  

Six questions to help you discover whether your career is healthy -- and, if it isn't, to help put it back on track.  more  

Highly effective leaders are in love with the organization, community, or team that they work or live in. Their love is expressed in a deep desire to see that organization, community, or team grow to its full potential.  more  

Leadership is emotional. Leadership deals with feelings. Leadership is made up of dreams, inspiration, excitement, desire, pride, care, passion, and love. The areas of our lives where we show the strongest leadership.  more  

When our work is part of a deeper life calling we put our heart into it. Our work becomes our contribution to making this team, this organization, and this world just a little better because we passed this way.  more  

We need to be less afraid of death and more frightened by an empty life. When we feel the most love, passion, or energy is when we are the most alive. That's when our soul sings.  more