The Barzel Group Blog
It’s not mean, it’s clear!
I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan which is in the Midwest. So, we have an extra helping of “Midwest Nice” often referred to as “West Michigan Nice”. West Michigan Nice is a behavioral paradigm often seen when conflict or challenging others toward better behavior is purposefully avoided, then accompanied with “I didn’t want to make…
How Are You Doing?
About 18 months ago, I wrote a blog post on “The Essentials of Business”, a framework for assessing how your company is performing. This framework from Five Capitals lays out four essential components that make up any business or organization. All four need to perform at optimal levels for the organization to truly succeed. Here’s…
What’s Your Vocation?
A few summers ago, I listened to a podcast by author and teacher, Terry Wardle. The title was “What’s Your Vocation?”. As an Executive Coach, the title caught my attention enough to listen. In this 15 minute podcast, Wardle explained that most of the time, people answer the question “What’s your vocation” erroneously, citing what…
True Leadership Begins with Humility
Years ago, I read an article by Dr. Dwight A. Pryor, the Founder and President of the Center for Judaic-Christian Studies. In it, he compared two ancient locations: Herodium and Bethlehem. I’ve secured permission to reprint his article here. For leaders, it provides such a stark contrast that the lesson is clear: True leadership begins…
The Benefits of StratOp Planning
For the last few years, I’ve been working with companies and non-profit organizations on installing strategic and operating systems that lead to growth and effectiveness. I chose to become a facilitator of StratOp (which uses the Paterson StratOp Process) over other systems. I was recently asked, “Why StratOp over EOS®, Gazelles, CEO Advantage, etc.?” Great…
So You Want to Be a Leader?
The following is an ancient story that teaches us that leadership is not always what it seems. So, be careful what you wish for… There was once a king whose name was Dionysius. He was very rich, and he lived in a fine palace where there were many beautiful and costly things, and he was…