Last week we were invited to the corporate headquarters of Target. Target is one of the world’s largest retailers. They have about 2000 stores and take in about $70 billion in revenue every year. They are number 39 on the fortune 500 list. I have never been invited to
It’s important to inspire the best in other people. Recently a job candidate turned me down for an interview, but I hired her anyway. Let me share with you why. Ann (not her real name) was quiet and nervous. She was soft-spoken and unsure of herself. During the phone
Only two people said they would come to our new resident board information meeting. This seemed like a disaster. See our goal is to create a better way for our residents to live. One key strategy is to build a stronger sense of community in our apartment buildings. One of
I almost blew it! One of our staff members came up with an incredible idea. And I just about missed it. Last Friday was Good Neighbor Day. One of our employees came up with the idea to share a little gift to all of our residents and neighbors. She shared
Employee: “Mike, you aren’t going to be able to attend your peer group this month.” Mike: “What? Why?” Employee: “Your flight doesn’t land until after the peer group.” Mike: “Let’s call and reschedule the flight to get in late the night before.” Employee: “But you told me
I came back to my office, opened up my laptop, and there it was… A picture of me and Tape Face taped to my keyboard. Let me back up… Last week, I went to a conference in Las Vegas. My goal was to learn more about how to better run
Getting the right job from a great company can be hard. Hiring the right person can be challenging. But having the wrong person in a team can be disastrous. We recently created a new data analyst position at our company. It’s probably my favorite role at the company. I
I love connecting with people authentically. I believe it’s important for leaders to be approachable and to make time for the people around them. One of the ways we do this is through one-on-ones. Leaders who don’t spend the time necessary to build relationships won’t be respected
It can be really hard to work with people who have so much power over you. We have been working on the design for a new apartment building for months. It will be the single best building we have ever developed with a two-story front entry, an internet café, a
I laughed so hard. In fact, I think this was the hardest I have laughed in a long time. Let me back up. Our company supports a non-profit organization called Stepping Stone Emergency Housing. They do incredible work helping the homeless get back on their feet and thrive in society.
More than a decade ago, I got to meet Ken, the CEO of Toro. Toro is a company that makes lawn mowers, snow removal equipment, lawn sprinkler system, and more. They are a publicly traded company worth billions and have thousands of employees. Ken became CEO while the company was
There are many studies to show that the level of disengaged employees is very high. One Gallup study showed that only 30% of employees are engaged at work. This is shocking. I’m surprised to hear that so many people aren’t engaged at work. That means there are many
