Leadership problems

What Three Things Make the Biggest Difference? (Part Three)

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This week, we look at the third concept of “The Big Three.” This is not new ground for this blog, and I encourage you to check out related posts: Effective Feedback is About the Future Leaders Model the Behavior they Expect Attitude is not everything. Listen to Batman and focus on behavior… What’s the Magic … Read more

What Three Things Make the Biggest Difference? (Part One)

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It is good to be efficient, yes. It is also good to be comprehensive. Sometimes, however, those two things don’t work well together. Since starting this business, most of my work helping groups has been through 4-8 hour workshops. There is a demand for leadership training that can be delivered in much shorter periods of … Read more

What’s the Magic trick used to control Disney guests?

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Something that strikes most visitors to Walt Disney World is how “nice” of a place it is. It’s very clean. The employees are called “cast members” because they’re playing a role and they have a reputation for great service and friendliness. Everyone knows that. But there’s another unique element present at Disney World that is … Read more

Effective Feedback is About the Future

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The title is lifted verbatim from the tenets of Manager Tools, and the brilliant minds of Mark Horstman and Michael Auzenne. I encourage you to go to the source if you want to go deeper.

But the short version is this:

Any feedback on any behavior is most helpful to the individual and the organization if it is

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Things successful leaders avoid saying (part 3)

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Don’t say don’t.

Really.  Two reasons- one is pretty esoteric and provokes skepticism in me, but the second is nearly self-evident:

1) Some research shows that the use of words/phrases involving “not” or even “-n’t” (like don’t) are subconsciously turned into the positive by the listener, because negative talk is rejected.  So if a person is told “don’t be late!” they actually perceive “be late!”, increasing the likelihood of non-compliance.

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Why “Tabatha” smokes “Boss”…

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As a guy obsessed with maxing out potential in groups and individuals – and one who believes the person at the top is the one most responsible for making it happen – I was pretty fired up about the concept of Undercover Boss.  In each episode, a CEO goes undercover, in disguise, to work next to front-line employees.

The format got tired quickly – boss leaves fancy home and doting family, stays in fleabag hotels, realizes he/she is totally inept at frontline tasks, discovers that employees are (gasp!) real people with real problems, cries (most episodes), promises to change, and gives lavish rewards to the episode’s featured employees.

What a great concept – and what a disappointment in a show.  

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Beware acting while stressed…

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Something we talk about in Group Dynamic workshops is this: 80% of decisions are made based on emotion, not ration. Also, we tend to act less mature when stressed. The lessons? There are many.

One is this; when stressed, see if you can delay acting, or speaking, or addressing a situation until the stress passes. This will increase the likelihood of a better decision, and (more importantly) better interactions and relationships. Be nice.