Curtis H. sent me a question via Linked-In: “As a previous leader in my fraternal organization at University, I found staying positive and bottling complaints overwhelming at times. If leaders shouldn’t show insecurity or vent around their followers, then is … Read More
I recently read an article by Scott Warrick containing a practical model for looking at trust development. It’s helpful, and I’m highlighting the coolest point. “Seek out points of disagreement with people, then make the disagreement safe.” I’ve written about … Read More
In Westernized societies, we have quite the bias toward extraversion, and this can hurt organizations. My assistant (an introvert) and I (an extravert) recently had a conversation about extraversion bias we thought we’d share with you. Extraversion and Leadership DeAnne: … Read More
You’ve read a lot on this blog about feedback and how to give it. I’ve often reiterated how the old “compliment sandwich” is tired, transparent, and holds the possibility of backfiring. First, let’s review what a compliment sandwich is and … Read More
My sixteen-year-old daughter made an observation during a trip to Disney World that may be helpful to you. She believes the phrase “you too” is a frequent automatic response to parting words from service people. Some phrases, however, don’t work … Read More
In a recent team-development session, we made some important growth happen. Growing as a team isn’t arbitrary, and it doesn’t happen without real, hard work. And it especially doesn’t happen when the team lacks vulnerability-based trust. As with building trust … Read More
New to conference calls? Intimidated by the video that went viral a while back? Seven tips for better conferencing. First, restrict small talk to the first few minutes and be ready to get down to business. Second, outline the agenda … Read More
A couple of weeks ago, I was challenged to provide five minutes of content that would make a difference for leaders. Because of the power of questions, I decided to come up with three questions that are easy to explain … Read More
In The Effective Manager, Mark Horstman shares data on the value on one-on-ones. In their research, which has been replicated multiple times, they found that results and retention improve by about 10% when managers implement weekly one-on-ones. Another finding is … Read More
I was re-reading the outstanding Flawless Consulting by Peter Block and appreciated how he outlined the issues underlying phrases like: “These people” OR “Those people” (followed by) “don’t understand” OR “need to understand.” WHAT THESE PEOPLE DON’T UNDERSTAND… So, what’s … Read More