A few years ago, I wrote a piece dedicated to the dangers of starting sentences with “to be honest,” and I still think it’s not the best choice. However, there’s a point I’d like to emphasize, because it’s buried at the end of that post: Look out for judging others who start their points with … Read more
A few years ago in a post titled “Strong Team Members Hold Each Other Accountable,” I wrote that once people get in the habit of holding each other accountable without making it personal, teams hum with productivity and gossip is diminished. Does it hold up? Accountability will always hold up. But in the original piece, … Read more
~ Alan Seven years ago I shared the technique of conducting a “Vote One to Five” in situations where you’re short on time but need to check a team’s response to an idea, action item or new direction. You can read the specifics of the technique here: Leaders Use This Quick Buy-In Check For Teams Not … Read more
Engagement matters. Gallup quantified this issue by studying employee engagement for 40-plus years. Some of their recent findings include: 34% of employees report active engagement in their jobs. 50% of employees report a lack of engagement in their jobs. 16% of employees report active disengagement. In world-class organizations, the ratio of engaged employees to actively … Read more
I’ve been working with organizations in all sectors for over ten years, helping them develop leaders who motivate and teams who love working together. However, it took a few years for some skeptical high-level leaders and large corporations to take me seriously. Why? Because I had no background working in a corporate environment. My degrees … Read more
Jim, the principal at my first teaching job, often said, “Most days, we have fun around here.” He said this to me at my job interview and followed it with “…and you can’t say that about most jobs.” I accepted the job and realized he was right. But that was 30 years ago, and Jim … Read more
Like the many businesses right now, Group Dynamic is also changing. Yesterday, the current Group Dynamic staff met to talk about what the business will look like in 2022. Specifically, we discussed what we need to keep and what we need to change. For many years, the old model of Group Dynamic staffing included: Alan … Read more
There is no shortage of information about how work is changing. Many sources support these two points: Employees have several options about where to work, and a lot aren’t happy where they are working now. Employers know these facts, and they’re worried. “Insight #2” on Principal’s 2021 Quarter 3 Retirement Security Survey provides the following … Read more
Around the time I changed careers, 2008-2010, I discovered the book The Four-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. This recent article in the New Yorker reminded me of that book. Consider reading the article to learn more. However, I found some of the suggestions and concepts interesting enough to share here. One area of interest I … Read more
There are three steps to understanding and addressing Unconscious Bias: Two weeks ago, we started an exercise on the first step, identifying bias. Last week, we focused on cultivating additional connection. Today we will dive into the final step. Step Three: Choose Courage Stick with me, because the language may be a touch out of … Read more