Helping your employees set new goals for 2018 is a great way to motivate your workforce and accelerate their professional growth for career advancement. When all levels of the organization buy into a common set of goals it also improves employee engagement and creates a more positive work culture.

I can sum up in one phrase what leadership entailed when I first came to the parking industry: "Tell 'em what to do and if they don't like it, tell 'em they can leave." It's kinda comical some twenty years later to think this was the essence of leadership and at the same time amazing how far the industry has come in supporting our parking leaders to better their ability to drive results through their teams' performance.

While tempted to write a page and half about how amazing it is for a Cleveland fan to finally see “the curse” lifted with the Cavs winning the NBA Championship this past Sunday, I think as importantly is to acknowledge the lessons any leader who is interested in improving her craft can glean from this particular finals series.

Four high school girls thought it would be funny to wear bright red lipstick to school and kiss the bathroom mirror, leaving their mark for all to see. Once their homeroom teacher figured out what the four were up to she issued demerits in an attempt to get them to stop it. The punishment proved useless as the girls came to school day after day with lipstick in hand. Until one day when the teacher called the girls into the ladies room where the school’s custodian was waiting with her. She asked him to demonstrate to the girls how he cleaned the mess they’d leave behind. He proceeded to dunk his mop into a toilet and wash down the mirror.
No more red lipstick.

Between the Marlyn Group’s recruitment and consulting activities, quite often we are involved in the onboarding and coaching of new leaders within an organization. There are many drivers behind these personnel changes, but a common theme among them is a desire for change. The early days for a leader in a new role are a telling time for whether he or she will deliver on those anticipated changes or become part of the status quo. If you have recently taken on a new role or are considering a career move keep the following in mind to stay on track with your objectives.