A recent report by McKinsey and Co. found the pandemic has caused half of employees surveyed to consider leaving their current job. This research also found that 70 percent of workers said their purpose is defined by their work. The Big Resignation is a big pain point for many organizations. Attracting and retaining top people […]
Read post »Years ago, we helped an international mining company transform its safety culture from good to outstanding. Their 65% reduction in injuries over a three-year period vaulted them to become a benchmark company in their industry. A delegation of senior leaders and safety professionals from another mining company visited a few of their mine sites to […]
Read post »When he spotted his grandpa asleep on the family room couch, the rambunctious ten-year-old saw his chance. With cat-like stealth, Lucas quietly crept up on grandpa and gently smeared a small bit of smelly old cheese into his moustache. As grandpa mumbled and stirred, Jason bolted from the room. Peeking around the corner, Lucas fought […]
Read post »Frank is a manager for a technology company who I first wrote about his personal transformation in Growing the Distance: Timeless Principles for Personal, Career, and Family Success. The hugely successful career everyone envied him for on the outside was merely a facade for the equally overwhelming unhappiness he felt on the inside. He was […]
Read post »Many organizations have a set of core values along with vision and mission statements. And many leaders are frustrated that people in their organizations aren’t getting the message. Teamwork, customer service, quality, trust, communication, or whatever’s declared as culture ideals aren’t lived. But people are getting the culture message from their leaders. They see it […]
Read post »A senior leader was determined to strengthen her organization’s culture. She recognized that getting her executive team to work together more effectively was a key first step. In preparation for an offsite leadership team retreat I interviewed each executive with a series of team and organization assessment questions and ratings. It became clear that a […]
Read post »As outlined in my last blog, step two of “8 Vital Steps for Executive Teamwork and Organization Development” is visioning your ideal culture (or team). For years I’ve used variations of this critical step for team building, culture development, conflict resolution, strategic planning, etc., at Leadership Team Retreats. Many leaders confuse goal setting and visioning. […]
Read post »We’d just finished facilitating a two-day offsite retreat with an international resources company when I came back to my office to find the June issue of Harvard Business Review with a feature article on “The Secrets of Great Teamwork.” The authors — two management and organization behavior professors at Wharton and INSEAD — were reporting […]
Read post »Communication is critical to team and organization effectiveness. Communication is the lifeblood of trust, cooperation, and teamwork. But communications is a complex topic with many interconnected elements. Communication breakdowns are a major problem that prevents many leadership teams from being highly effective and leading their organizations to peak performance. Many breakdowns in leadership communications can […]
Read post »Alvin Toffler, former associate editor of Fortune and bestselling author of books such as Future Shock, The Third Wave, and Powershift advises, “You’ve got to think about ‘big things’ while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.” This is an update of ancient wisdom from the Roman […]
Read post »Highly effective leaders are now showing the performance power of building a team-based organization. Where teams have been effectively organized and led, the list of team outcomes has led to dramatic improvements within the organization.
Read article »We need to be less afraid of death and more frightened by an empty life. When we feel the most love, passion, or energy is when we are the most alive. That's when our soul sings.
Read article »A few tips and traps on chosen pathways that help teams and people throughout the organization to clarify or clearly see pictures of their preferred future.
Read article »Goals need to be energized and focused by the larger context of exciting visions. These paint us into the big picture and draw us forward to the future of our dreams.
Read article »The 3 Ps — picture or preferred future, principles, and purpose — are critically important. Our answers to three basic questions define the team and/or organizational culture we are trying to create.
Read article »The paradox to be managed is: Companies that exist only to produce a profit don't last long and companies that don't pay attention to profits can't exist to fulfill their long-term purpose.
Read article »Hope is one of the most powerful sources of energy ever known to humankind. Highly energized cultures are charged with hopefulness and optimism. It's the dynamic power that mobilizes individuals and teams to make the improbable possible. It's the mark of a leader.
Read article »Whether you think the world is full of richness and opportunity or garbage and despair – you are right because that is your point of focus.
Read article »As we contribute our work to our team or organization, we also need to contribute a deeper sense of meaning or purpose. If we're going to be leaders, we need to take ourselves and ours to the Emotional and Spiritual levels.
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