It can be helpful for leaders to use feedback from their teams in order to become more effective. Getting feedback from your team, however, comes with obstacles. One such obstacle is that people are often reluctant to be totally honest with their boss. They may be skeptical or feel like it’s not completely safe. Relationships … Read more
In July of 2009, my family and I sat reading in a quiet lobby in a small inn in rural Prince Edward Island. It was about 9:45 p.m. This kind of thing is often hard for me. I like to move, change activities quickly, and have my senses stimulated. Those are all reasons I love … Read more
There are people who take to-do item emails and file them into different folders, depending on their urgency or the area of control of their work. Later, they have to remember where they put those emails and reorganize the work. By this time, they’ve spent a lot of time organizing their system, and they think … Read more
A member of a client team gave me a book as a gift. The book is The Meaning Revolution by Fred Kofman. It’s very good, and I’m likely to write more about its insights in the months to come, but for now, I want to share my new favorite saying: To optimize the system, you … Read more
If you’ve been following for a while, you’ll notice that this blog is loaded with lists. That’s because hard-working people respond well to quick and actionable ideas and tools. Something else that you may have noticed is that I’m usually generic regarding list content. I want the lists and list information I post to have … Read more
Some people think the U.S. is headed for an economic downturn, and I know some managers who are bracing for that potential storm. Samir runs a boutique marketing firm that promises clean and consistent brand development and graphic design. Ellyn manages a production facility. She ensures that products are produced with quality consistency, just-in-time delivery, … Read more
Recently I worked with an executive team on how to be more productive and candid during disagreements. We had a deep conversation about productive and healthy conflict. Then, using that discussion, we examined the data measuring their teamwork behaviors. Nearly everyone admitted these truths: I can get defensive sometimes. When someone else in the room … Read more
I really appreciate—and have totally used—Brené Brown’s tools. You can find downloadables on her website. Brené Brown recommends the following phrases to push vulnerable and trusting conversations forward: “The story I make up…” Often, we have an experience and don’t know the whole story. Then, our imagination fills in a story. For example, Jack might … Read more
We often use the words shame and guilt interchangeably, but this causes problems. If we avoid tough conversations in order to save someone from shame, what we actually might be doing is avoiding important information that simply makes someone feel a little guilt. In a nutshell: Guilt – “I did something bad.” Shame – “I … Read more
I wrote a post back in 2015 that talked about leaders not saying “busy.” The word itself is so commonplace in our every day lives that we say it without thinking about it or considering its meaning. But the word itself can mean several different things, depending on the context and implication. That’s why I’m … Read more