As I wrote about the accountability mess, a good person in a bad system or process sets that them up for failure — and blame. “The 85/15 Rule” emerged from decades of root cause analysis of service/quality breakdowns. About 85% of the time the fault is caused by the system, processes, structure, or practices of […]
Read post »I was interviewing a leadership team member to prepare for an offsite planning retreat. I asked about the biggest challenges facing their team. She wearily said it was their unfocused frantic pace of activity. “We have lots of projects, goals, and priorities. We’re constantly making lists and setting action plans. But we seldom see […]
Read post »Ever heard comments like these in your organization? “How many people work in your organization?” “Oh, about half.” “The most dangerous place in this organization is at the exit door around quitting time. You’ll get trampled.” “Working is like a nightmare. I’d like to get out of it, but I need the sleep.” “I used […]
Read post »How are workers doing as our pandemic drags on? Is it possible to thrive amidst the chaos and struggles of these turbulent times? What can leaders do to build thriving workplaces? These are key questions addressed by Michelle McQuaid during a recent webinar on workplace wellbeing. Michelle has a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology and […]
Read post »Daniel Boone once said, “I can’t say I was ever lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.” Of course, being a real ‘he-man,’ he would never ask for directions! Many leaders are bewildered about communication problems in their organizations. A well-known line uttered by a desperate sailor in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime […]
Read post »Is “we really need to improve communications around here” a common refrain in your workplace? It’s a very common frustration and complaint. ‘Increasing Communications’ was the highest voted topic by nearly 500 readers who completed our “reader sourcing” survey on key topic areas for the new book I am working on. Given the importance readers […]
Read post »Raise your hand if you’re an above average driver. According to the American Automobile Association, 73% of drivers feel they’re better than average — a statistical impossibility. How’s your meeting leadership? You likely feel that many meetings you attend suck. That’s because…many do. Too often meetings suck time and energy out of everyone. And most […]
Read post »Declining or stagnant engagement is an all too common organizational problem. Many people quit their jobs – but still come to work every day. Quit-and-stay and on-the-job-retirement are symptoms of weak leadership. Countless studies over decades show a big gap between what managers and frontline staff feel energizes and engage people. In one such study, […]
Read post »After reading my post “Recognition Pitfalls and Traps” a reader sent me an e-mail highlighting two points that resonated most with her: “Employees are like partners, to be listened to and involved in running the organization”; and “Sincere and honest recognition is one of the lowest cost and highly effective ways a leader can inspire […]
Read post »Technomanaged organizations have things backwards. They are organizations where people serve the systems or processes and customers are made to fit the organization.
Read article »Most high-performing organizations use a wide variety of teams. Discover the Leading Teams approaches that can help you to avoid the pitfalls and pave your organization's pathway to success.
Read article »Improvement planning, process management, teams, skill development, and the like are either constrained or boosted by our organization's structure and support systems. If we are unhappy with the behavior of people on our team or in our organization, we need to take a closer look at the system and structure they're working in.
Read article »Take the courageous approach to leadership by building team commitment and ownership. Our "Energy Index" Assessment is a great place to start.
Read article »Leaders know that poor performance is like a highly contagious disease. The longer it goes unchecked, the more everyone suffers.
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If you’re looking for a book that illuminates the topic of leadership in a useful, readable, and lively way, this is it. - Warren Bennis
View book/ebook/CD »Effective leaders that inspire, energize, and arouse people to improved performance, can stand in front of a large or small group and express themselves with a clarity, conviction and credibility that stirs their audience or group members' feelings and emotions.
Read article »Trust and communication levels go together. The source of misunderstandings and mistrust is often in the leaders' behavior and lack of communication.
Read article »If we want people on our team or in our organizations to behave like business partners, we need to treat them that way. Education, combined with powerful communication systems, processes, and practices, is one of the keys to organizational learning and innovation.
Read article »Effective communication is no more a natural skill than leadership is a born trait. However, strong communication strategies, systems, and practices are necessary to keep everyone focused on goals and priorities while providing feedback on progress.
Read article »One deadly consequence of the management credibility gap is that employees emotionally distance and disengage themselves from their bosses and their organizations, and this we/they schism can have profoundly negative consequences.
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