Recently, Sarah Noll Wilson asked me to be a guest on her Manager Minute or Two! series. I have a great appreciation for Sarah, so of course I couldn’t pass this up. And what better topic to cover than— BSaAFWYW. … Read More
Recently, I had the chance to hear legendary football coach Lou Holtz deliver a keynote address. He’s best known for turning around the Notre Dame football program, and one of my favorite factoids about that process is that he removed … Read More
Recently, I chaperoned a large group trip for a bunch of teenagers—over 300 of them. I had to keep track of about 35 of them myself, and punctuality was the most pressing issue of the trip. If any one person … Read More
Some words and phrases give off the wrong vibe, tone, or meaning. We’ve explored several of these over the course of this blog, and today we’re adding one more to the list. How do these conversations hit you? 1. “Hey … Read More
We all have our own unique styles of communication. Whether it’s derived from nature or nurture, one’s personality style, or one’s language of appreciation, how we communicate and prefer to be communicated to are different. And sometimes we perceive what … Read More
Effective communication avoids misunderstandings. It can also clear up existent misunderstandings. In our quest to be understood, we may accidentally slip into using one of these versions of a potentially manipulative accusation: “You misunderstood me.”“You must have misunderstood me.”“You don’t … Read More
We all have situations where we feel stuck and think there’s no way forward. Let me give you some examples: I need to address someone’s obnoxious behavior in meetings, but I don’t know how to bring it up. I’m bothered … Read More
Change is inevitable, and for creatures of habit, change is hard. Yet, it’s also necessary. No one deals with all changes well, but there comes a moment in every change cycle when we must make a choice: accept the change … Read More
Here’s an idea for a team-building activity, with an added bonus— It can start the conversation about how important and welcome performance feedback is. First, ahead of time, ask each participant to come prepared with examples of two bits of … Read More
A brief one today; a reflection on three quotes I heard in the Cy Wakeman interview for The Leader Campus. “Change is only hard for the unready.” “Stay in a state of preparedness.” “Stop saying ‘I know change is hard.’” … Read More