Organizational Improvement

Leaders Enable Healthy Conflict

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When you hear “conflict,” do you a) think of healthy and open conversations around ideas, issues, and concepts? or b) recall disputes between and about people? Do you have a) interesting meetings where big tactical and strategic issues get disagreed about, but resolved? or b) meetings loaded with artificial harmony, followed by “meetings after the meeting”? If … Read more

Leaders Develop Trust

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Do you have “meetings after the meetings?” Can you see people holding back their true thoughts the first time around? Would you face resistance if you asked people to be open and vulnerable with one another? In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, the need for vulnerability-based trust is considered foundational for any team … Read more

Leaders Use This Quick Buy-In Check For Teams

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If you’re short on time, and need to check a team response to an idea, action item, or new direction, but you detect that a simple “show of hands” won’t tell the whole story, try this – Ask for their response on this 1-to-5 scale: 5 = Totally agree. No reservations. 4 = Basically agree. Minor reservations, … Read more

Production versus Research and Development for Leaders

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I was visiting with a seed scientist once, and I opened the conversation with a simple “So, how was your week?” “Oh, Alan,” Dr. Kim said. “I worked on the Acme project this week. And I learned a lot. There were a lot of mistakes, so we learned a lot. It was a week of research … Read more

Leaders Set Communication Standards

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Communication. Always a concern. Two areas that get the best of us are: Speed of response Method of communication One team I worked with recently was typical: There was a broad range of expected response times. When we surveyed the group, asking the question “What’s your personal standard for responding to email?” the answers ranged … Read more

Leaders Address Lateness

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A very common transgression that starts small, then grows when not addressed, is lateness. Whether it’s late delivering on a deadline, or late to meetings, it needs to be addressed early and directly. How? Let’s start by addressing meeting lateness. Below are four approaches; feel free to adapt however is most comfortable for you. Note … Read more

Great Leaders Know: The Secret to Engagement is Productivity

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There’s a funny episode from The Office in which Michael thinks that if he makes his office more like Google, then people will be happy and work harder. He goes all out, installs a Nerf hoop, gets a beanbag chair, and creates an open office floor plan. While this was a funny TV show, I’m … Read more

The Opposite of Delight (The Worst Dining Service Experience Ever)

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A while back, I wrote a post describing the idea T=r+d: Trust equals reliability (meeting expectations) plus delight (exceeding expectations). How about a story describing precisely the opposite? I actually wrote this post about a restaurant experience my family and I had in 2011. I didn’t publish it back then for two reasons: I didn’t … Read more