Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Michelle Gladieux, President of Gladieux Consulting. We hope you enjoy Michelle’s wisdom and perspective.

Dear Michelle,

We’re suffering from division on our team. Some employees aren’t on speaking terms with others. It’s stressing me out.

I’m sorry you’re dealing with dysfunction. You’re not alone. It’s wishful thinking to believe we can completely avoid workplace cliques, because humans are social, political, emotional creatures. Most of us wish for a harmony. Others enjoy drama and intentionally create it – a frequent and unpleasant challenge in my line of work. The good news is that you have power to improve your environment.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Mike Paton, Visionary at EOS Worldwide, LLC. We hope you enjoy Mike’s wisdom and perspective.

Carl Jung famously said, “You are what you do, not what you say you'll do.”

As clear and simple as that statement is, I’ve seen hundreds of otherwise successful leaders behave as though it doesn’t apply. If you want to quickly kill your company’s culture, consider making that mistake yourself. 

Here are a few ways I’ve seen others do it.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Jill Bodensteiner, Senior Associate Athletics Director at Notre Dame. We hope you enjoy Jill’s wisdom and perspective.

I’m almost 25 years into my professional career, and I’ve finally figured out why most leadership books and professional development seminars don’t resonate with me. The answer is simple – because they are not about me! That sounds incredibly selfish (at least I’m self-aware…), so let me explain. The only success I have had in developing me comes from truly, deeply understanding me. I tend to really develop when I operate from the inside out, rather than from the outside in.

Not long ago, I wasn’t having much fun at work. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was off. I was frustrated with my team and things felt out-of-control. In spite of much growth and success, it seemed like we had hit a ceiling.

I didn’t know exactly how to describe my situation. I wasn’t sure what the reaction would be. Who would feel sorry for me, someone given the great privilege and opportunity to lead an amazing team at a great company? But that didn’t change the internal conflict I was feeling while trying to perform two important roles in our organization: Visionary and Integrator.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Jon Wenger, President & CEO of Genesis Products. We hope you enjoy Jon’s wisdom and perspective.

The RV industry is having its best year ever - and this is great for Elkhart County and the surrounding area. As a result, our community is experiencing record low levels of unemployment. As a large employer in the region (Genesis currently employs over 500 people in Indiana), I am asked this question all the time: “Do you struggle getting good people?” In my opinion, this is the wrong question.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger David Nicole, President & CEO of the United Way of Allen County. We hope you enjoy David’s wisdom and perspective.

We used to “Show up and Throw up.” For United Way the relationship with a company’s CEO is critical. The CEO determines both the corporate contribution and the level of access United Way has to the company’s employees. As any good sales department would do, the fundraising team would make annual visits to the CEOs of our top campaigns.

There are plenty of book lists out there. This post is a little different. While I’ve got examples of specific books for you, more importantly I want to emphasize the kind of books you should read. As Japanese author Haruki Murakami has written, “If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Justin Maust, President and Founder of Leader Legacy. We hope you enjoy Justin’s wisdom and perspective.

Your personal and team success hinges on one primary skill…your ability to identify and solve your issues. In my 7 Practices For Building Powerful Teams, Remove the Ripple is the 6^th practice.

“Houston, we have a problem!!” I’ve got lots of energy. I’m passionate. I run hard. However, behind closed doors, I’ve been known to procrastinate.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Ron Kitchens, Chief Executive Officer of the Southwest Michigan First Group of Companies. We hope you enjoy Ron’s wisdom and perspective.

Each year, I get to welcome a group of local, future leaders to “my house,” our offices at Southwest Michigan First. Recently, I found myself being a bit overwhelmed at the opportunities each of these kids has in front of them. The generosity of the Monroe Brown Foundation has arranged for each of these dynamic young people to not only receive a tremendous internship with an innovative company, but also a college scholarship.

I consistently have great conversations with most of these young people but one that stands out was not the one that thanked me for the free food or for helping the Monroe Brown Foundation. It was the young lady who asked, “Other than education, what else should I do to succeed?”

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Dan Asleson, President & CEO of the YMCA of Michiana. We hope you enjoy Dan’s wisdom and perspective.

Isn't it strange, that princes and kings,
And clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
And common-folk like you and me,
Are builders for eternity? 

Each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass, a Book of Rules;
And each must make 'ere life has flown,
A stumbling block or a stepping stone. 

R.L. Sharpe

I was young (17 years old) when I first heard this poem and decided I would commit it to memory. I fell in love with the simplicity and beauty of the first stanza. We are all builders, regardless of one’s roots.

And I figured at that young age whatever tools I had in my bag would be enough to build whatever I set out to build. And they were. Those tools did me well over the next two decades. I was definitely making stepping stones, moving up in my career, and taking increasingly greater positions of leadership at work and in the community.