Good Leaders Delegate Into Their Weaknesses

At the risk of adding fuel to a fire that’s burning pretty much out of control already, I will submit that, for those interested in learning, there are a plethora of leadership lessons currently being taught daily on the national stage. Some of the lessons come from good examples, while others involve some pain, ‘er […]

Making No Decision is a Decision, and Usually the Wrong One

Last week I spoke for a group of college students in a management course. Corresponding with a chapter of the text currently being studied in class, the subject of my remarks was,  “You Get Paid to Think.”   As a contemporary template for encouraging the class to do exactly that, I challenged them to assume the position of the […]

Huddles or Hurdles? It’s Your Choice

Let’s start with some locker room talk. No, not that kind… This morning, at the Y, I overheard a conversation between two guys who were, like most of the rest of us, getting dressed and groomed in preparation for a day at the office. Guy Number One observed aloud that Guy Number Two seemed to be […]

Three Ways You Might be Undermining Employee Engagement

We won’t bore you with yet another recitation of Employee Engagement stats. They’re ugly. And it’s costing businesses worldwide more than anyone can afford. Way too few people are excited about their work, and the organizations and people they work for. And it shows. Before (but not in place of) worrying about what you’re doing to increase […]

Keeping Some of your Powder Dry

When coaching those who are new to a leadership role, one of the top five items we deal with pertains to the advisability of keeping some of your “powder” dry. Translation: Your role vests a certain amount of authority in you to use positional power in order to get things done; power to decide, to […]

Be Quicker and More Courageous in Dealing with New Hires

Whether one works in the public eye or not, somewhere in the 50 to 100 day window after a person has started a new job, people around them are forming some pretty strong impressions about whether or not “this dog is going to hunt” as they say in Mississippi. I’ll let you in on a […]

The Singular “They”, And Other Things That Evolve

Today’s blog post is a video blog. Here’s the video. And a transcript of the video is right underneath it. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Xu891wlFsvQ%3Frel%3D0%2520width%3D560%2520height%3D315%2520frameborder%3D0%2520allowfullscreen%3Dallowfullscreen The longer I live, the more acutely aware I become that we live in an ever evolving world. For instance, have you heard that the Chicago Manual of Style has just decreed that because […]

When Someone’s Trying to Apologize, Get Off Their Back

I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but it has become all too rare for someone, anyone, upon making a mistake to step up, acknowledge their error, meaningfully apologize, make it right as best they can, and promise to do better. Due to lots of poor examples and an over-indulgence of “reality tv”, the reaction […]

Speaking Each Other’s Language

Let’s face it. Communicating at work is tough enough when both the speaker and the listener speak the same native language. Add different tongues to the dynamic and, sacré bleu! You’ve just hit a wall, and not the kind that’s proposed for the US’s southern border. To be clear, language, as well as literacy (the […]

Guest Post: 6 Tips to Get your Employees Engaged

By Sydney Frazer, Partnerships Manager, Glassdoor Employee engagement is often the buzz among HR circles. You hear about it and you know you should take steps to engage with your employees. You probably even know only a minority of the American workforce is engaged (in fact, only 32 percent is considered engaged). But why should you care […]