“Would you just make a decision already?”

I’ve said those words out loud plenty of times, but this time I was posing the question to myself, while staring at a 60-pound crate of apples. The decision at hand: Does this apple look good enough to keep?

I frequently encounter questions like this during volunteer shifts at my local food bank where there are a surprising number of decisions to make. Most of the time the answer is obvious, but getting stuck on one apple bottlenecks the entire process of sorting through 60 pounds of apples.

My fellow volunteers run into the similar situations every week. One week it’s apples the next its onions, but the decisions and the questions never stop. How do you want to organize this? Where do the crates of past go? How should we label the snack items? It’s one decision after the other and it’s the biggest roadblock to productivity.

The reason we get stuck is because we all want the best possible outcomes. We home...

In traditional business settings there’s performance review “seasons.” In sports, every game during a season offers its own performance review. Certainly fans weigh in on individual performances (usually by cheering, booing or their reactions on Twitter) but here’s what is more relevant to our conversation - coaches and players are forced to evaluate effectiveness each and every game.

Athletes can’t avoid what shows up in the stats. Coaches can’t ignore the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of plays that were called.

When coaches and players evaluate games and outcomes its usually based in facts, like stats and outcomes. Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt lays it out in this Learn From A Leader video. 

It’s a model that works for all types of performance reviews. Deal in facts. Know your numbers. Don’t just say, “I improved from last year” provide specifics like “I increased by sales by...

Strong personalities can be an asset for any team. Often those team members are driven, ambitious, competitive and confident in their skills. They want to forge ahead and are always looking for ways to win. 

It's not hard to see where they stand, but they can present challenges for leaders. 

There's probably a specific person who comes to mind (it might even be yourself) when you think about a "strong personality" at work, but for right now let's look at a different type of workplace environment - an NFL locker room. 

I've worked in NFL locker rooms for more than 20 years. I've worked closely with the Seattle Seahawks as their sideline reporter for 13 seasons. I know from personal experience and observation that the personalities in an NFL locker room more closely resemble your team at work than you realize. There are introverts, extroverts, easy-going guys and strong personalties. 

Effectively managing strong personalities is critical for creating buy-in. That's...

I love the idea of a fresh start at the beginning of the... and then the “what if’s” set in. Am I the only one?