Author: Chet

Sometimes, leader, you over-operate in another’s space. Sometimes you under-operate. Your aim is always the same - transformational performance gains. Your job is to make your team do what they can. There is no one size fits all. There is no strength of yours you overly lean on. The best simply toggle between the two … Continue reading Over under…

We write our Builder’s journey to gain clarity of who we are and where we’ve been. We write it because there’s something very special about putting your story of origin, your story of how you’ve become you, in written form. It’s more concrete than simply holding it loosely in your cranium. Something special happens when … Continue reading Why not…

Littlest is 65 and heading to double knee replacement a week from now. He will have his shoulder replaced immediately after. 2021 is a hard year for the Littlest Fricker. You wouldn’t know it looking at his production. He runs the best high end home building business in our fine city. He, Andy, Brett, and … Continue reading Littlest…

The year was 1995. I’d been to The Center for Creative Leadership back in 1993 and was starting The CompuServe Leadership Institute. I had no clue. So, we had one of our first management training programs and brought leaders into Columbus from all over the world. I figured they wouldn’t want to hear from just … Continue reading Tired together…

You don’t really learn shit sitting in a classroom. At best, you learn how to learn. I didn’t. Some do. Here’s how most learn. We learn by doing shit we don’t know how to do but want to, or better yet, have to. We learn by leaving our family business because we want to build … Continue reading Learning…

I tasted my first Coors (3.2, for those old enough to know) around age 17.  Tasted weird. Smelled worse. I drank it with friends so it went down fairly easily. The Paramount bar allowed 18 year olds to come in and play shuffleboard and mini bowling while having a cold one. It was easy and … Continue reading Alcohol and me…

We’ve all heard plenty of Tiger stories. Here’s one that blew my mind about his hunger for feedback. Back in 2000, one of my clients mom volunteered to be a chauffeur at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. She was assigned to drive for Tiger Woods. This was the tournament where he beat the … Continue reading Feedback…

Today, during practice eleven with a team feeling like they’re just this side of Heaven, I asked them to write about their most important asset. Whenever we ask them in BTL team practice, we mostly hear one answer - the team. This is not correct. Fact. Your most important asset is you. So, leader, how … Continue reading How you become Y.O.U.