Thanksgiving is Thursday, and today I am asking you to choose to be grateful for something that you may have never said "Thanks" for: criticism. Especially criticism that comes from your employees. When you are a new leader, I know it's hard to hear that you aren't doing well or that your ideas are flawed. Hearing that from people who report to you can be infuriating. … [Read more...]
Showing Appreciation Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated
Employee recognition is an essential element in the effort to reduce employee turnover in any organization. It is pretty obvious that everyone enjoys being thanked for the hard work and contributions they provide to their organization. So why is it that employee recognition seems so scarce in today's workplace? Don't get me wrong … I'm not trying to say that all managers and … [Read more...]
To Terminate or Not to Terminate That Employee?
I don’t think firing employees comes naturally to anyone. Many new leaders avoid making this tough call. But keeping a poor performer on staff is detrimental to your bottom line as well as your team’s productivity and morale. Your staff knows when a teammate isn’t pulling his or her own weight, and that can lead to laziness (“If she can get away with that, why am I working … [Read more...]
Building Confidence as a Coach
Your role as a leader, new or otherwise, includes being a successful coach. And like anything else in life, when we are more confident at something, we are better at it. So in today's video, I am going to give you specific, practical and proactive strategies to help you be a better coach. https://youtu.be/tuH78sq4Dus?rel=0&showinfo=0 Tweet it out: Confidence helps … [Read more...]
Making Hard Decisions
Decision making is a perennial topic for leaders. It is one of those skills that we all use every day, yet we know it is sometimes hard, and we could probably be better at it. So how can you more confident when you have to make a hard decision? Science to the rescue! Today I am using science (yes, real science!) to help you make decisions more easily and more … [Read more...]
Making Feedback Timely
We were recently asking the question, How do I make feedback timely? And it's a great question, but before I can answer it, we need to define the word timely... Check that out and the answer to the question in the video below. https://youtu.be/DYu3S1wevdA?rel=0&showinfo=0 Make feedback more timely and it will be easier to accept and apply. @KevinEikenberry … [Read more...]
3 Times You Should Change Your Perception
Have you ever left a movie and talked with someone about it, and it seemed like the two of you saw two completely different movies? You each noticed different things, cared about different aspects and were moved in different ways by different parts of the film? Since we each have our own powerful perceptions, that is easy to understand. Each person sees what his/her brain … [Read more...]
Turn Lazy Employees into High Performers
Slackers can ruin the dynamic of any team—without doing a thing. When workers get lazy, their colleagues have to do more than their fair share. That results in overworked, stressed-out employees and mediocre projects. When they waste time on Twitter, make personal phone calls and take long breaks, lazy workers reduce productivity and, when their laziness goes unchecked, … [Read more...]
Making Feedback Meaningful
In our workshops and training, we always advise leaders to give "meaningful" feedback. And this often leads to the question of... What do you mean by meaningful feedback? In today's video, I'll give you four tips on what meaningful feedback is (or isn't). https://youtu.be/h5YBl3bammw?rel=0&showinfo=0 Feedback that is seen as meaningful is more likely to be … [Read more...]
1 Case Where Quantity is as Important as Quality
Every day can present an opportunity to improve employees' performance, and many of you are missing it. Not enough leaders, and especially new leaders, are discussing performance on a regular basis and, instead, are relying only on the annual performance review. That's just not enough. In fact, 65% of employees want more feedback from their managers. Study after study shows … [Read more...]