In earlier posts, we’ve looked at the Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and we’ve looked at DiSC. Please look back for a refresher if you need one. Most teams struggle with the “Trust” and “Conflict” behaviors, and this series of short posts examines the ways each DiSC style can influence those areas. The Dominance style … Read more
Originally, this blog was going to be about goal-setting. I spent some real time on it. Then, when Ashleigh went to proofread, revise, and schedule it, her reaction was to send me this email: This post is very, very similar to “Leaders Write Effective Goals and Help Others” posted last July, except there you suggested a different starting … Read more
Patrick Lencioni has done it again. His latest book, The Ideal Team Player, is brief and brilliant. In this fable, followed by a model outline, Lencioni shares a hiring secret of his own company, The Table Group, and shows us that we can apply this to any team. They look for three virtues that they’ve … Read more
Change is inevitable, and so there are many resources to help organizations deal with change. The John Kotter works (Our Iceberg is Melting) are very popular, and for good reason. You’ve heard of Who Moved my Cheese? as well, certainly. Change management resources like these can help leaders navigate and push change successfully, but something … Read more
A colleague recently shared a success story with me. She said, “We’ve finally addressed the problem we had with people being ‘violently polite’. Once we put this label on the passive-aggressive talk, and the avoidance of speaking up, we started to get more engagement.” How cool! I immediately fell in love with this term. Asking people … Read more
Are individual team members slow to execute tasks which they may not be in agreement with? Does the team lack passion for their goals? If so, there may be an issue with commitment. In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, the need for vulnerability-based trust is considered foundational for any team to … Read more
I confess to a pet peeve – I cringe when people say some version of this: “If you’re just going to complain, you’d better have a solution. Otherwise you’re wasting my time.” If you say this, you may be ignoring the fact that there are two kinds of naysayers: Type 1: The ones who never … Read more
I don’t usually share news through my blog, but this news is BIG! My first book is now available. Launch event and ordering info are below, and I want to personally (through this mass publication) invite you to come! And, please buy as many copies of my book as possible and give copies to everyone you know … Read more
Last week, I wrote about shame having no place in effective leadership. Shame is a destructive discomfort. But, other discomforts can have a lot of value. We only grow when we are uncomfortable. Leaders not only make sure the work gets done, they develop their people. Below are several examples of ways you can push your … Read more
Perhaps this seems like a tangential post, but there is an overall relationship to the concept of “Leaders Meet Needs” here. When you travel on business, travel and pack in such a way as to maximize your ability to meet needs and minimize the possibility of distraction. After many years of business travel, here are some … Read more