Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Dr. Kathy Cramer, founder and managing partner of The Cramer Institute. Tim Leman is taking some time off from writing his weekly blog to work on an exciting project focused on culture and leadership. We hope you enjoy Dr. Cramer’s wisdom and perspective.

Highly effective leaders tend to be highly responsive leaders. In psychological terms, being responsive involves thoughtfully and intentionally adapting your behavior to the current circumstance. It entails first taking the time to calmly digest what is happening.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Scott Franko, President of Franko Design Concepts and Consulting. Tim Leman is taking the summer off from writing his weekly blog to spend time on an exciting project focused on culture and leadership. We hope you enjoy Scott’s wisdom and perspective.

There are a set of principles that delineate champions, winners, and leaders. They are quite simple to understand. They rise, win, and lead through ambition, dedication, and hard work with passion toward a vision or goal. 

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Dr. Kathy Cramer, founder and managing partner of The Cramer Institute. Tim Leman is taking the summer off from writing his weekly blog to spend time on an exciting project focused on culture and leadership. We hope you enjoy Dr. Cramer’s wisdom and perspective.

Failing fast.

Sounds good in theory but in practice it can feel very wrong—and be very painful.

For most of our lives we’ve been told that failure is not an option. So despite the obvious benefits of experimentation, bouncing back from failure—much less bouncing back “fast”—remains a lofty ideal. And the challenges of failing fast are magnified when you’re dealing with teams of people each with their own personal investment in the success of a project.

So how can leaders make failing fast a part of the culture?

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Karen Moscato, Chief Human Resources Officer at Notre Dame Federal Credit Union. Tim Leman is taking the summer off from writing his weekly blog to spend time on an exciting project focused on culture and leadership. We hope you enjoy Karen’s wisdom and perspective.

Ah, fall is coming when you see pre-season football on TV. The anticipation is building for college football to begin. I just love the game and everything about it. There is so much pageantry, tailgates, and the half-time adjustments. Now I may have caught you saying, “What?” when you read ‘half-time adjustments’. But that part of the game is the most intriguing to me. What an advantage to stop a contest, talk about what your opponent is doing, and have the ability to change your tactics for a possible victory!

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Blake Cavignac, President of Intellectual Innovations and Founder of YoungPro Elite. Tim Leman is taking the summer off from writing his weekly blog to spend time on an exciting project focused on culture and leadership. We hope you enjoy Blake’s wisdom and perspective.

Do you know of any young professionals today that dream of retiring from the same company where they began their career?

With young professionals changing jobs faster than the generations that came before them, it’s rare to find companies capable of accomplishing this.

However, they do exist.

These companies are breaking through barriers and redefining the new standards of leadership. They’re trailblazing thus gaining well-deserved recognition for creating cultures that are highly attractive to young professionals.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Jerry Scott. We hope you enjoy Jerry’s wisdom and perspective.

One of the coolest and most interesting things about working at Gibson is the influx of millennials. Having survived the “once in a generation” downturn, we are sourcing talent with gusto to meet the mission of our strategic plan to double the size of our company by 2022.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Scott Franko, President of Franko Design Concepts and Consulting. Tim Leman is taking the summer off from writing his weekly blog to spend time on an exciting project focused on culture and leadership. We hope you enjoy Scott’s wisdom and perspective.

Disney got it right when they told us the first rule of leadership through the words spoken by none other than Hopper, the big bug-bully from the 1998 movie "A Bug's Life". My kids were one, three and five. When this powerful rule was revealed on the silver screen, and ever since, I've reminded them repeatedly to always remember those four important words: "Everything is YOUR fault!"

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Mike Cahill, CEO of AWS Foundation and former CEO of Tower Bank & Trust. Tim Leman is taking the summer off from writing his weekly blog to spend time on an exciting project focused on culture and leadership. We hope you enjoy Mike’s wisdom and perspective.

The best way to manage risk is to dedicate one’s self to lifelong learning. Knowing as much as you can about your job and industry protects your ability to earn a living. Knowing as much about your town and city will help you make the right choice on where to live and what schools to send your children to. Knowing as much as you can about the candidates for local, state, and federal government allows us to elect the best officials. Knowing about your community and what it has to offer allows you to live your life to the fullest. Knowing what’s included in your insurance program will help you better deal with an unfortunate claim.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Greg Downes, Chairman Emeritus at Gibson. Tim Leman is taking the summer off from writing his weekly blog to spend time on an exciting project focused on culture and leadership. We hope you enjoy Greg’s wisdom and perspective.

My good friend and business partner, Dave Gibson, told me years ago after I had become one of the owners in Gibson that we should always “run the business like we’re going to sell it”. Quite frankly, that statement really startled me. The main reason I had come to Gibson was that Dave was fiercely independent. He made it clear during my recruitment that his intention was to always keep Gibson that way. Which is exactly what he did. What did he really mean? If we do what should be done, we won't have to sell it.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Ryan Colvin, Principal at Gibson. We hope you enjoy Ryan’s wisdom and perspective.

A recent Gallup study shows only 30% of Americans are engaged at work. What remains is 70% of workers whose engagement level leaves something to be desired. But what does this mean to businesses? According to Gallup, approximately 20% of employees are “actively disengaged,” they are unhappy at work and even act to undermine the organization. This group of actively disengagedemployees costs the US about $450-550 billion annually. A strategic and purposeful employee engagement strategy can help cut these costs and result in a significant impact to their bottom line.