By Guy Harris One fairly common question I get from Bud to Boss workshop participants is: How do you deal with a persistently or aggressively negative team member?” While the full answer in a given situation depends on many situation-specific details, there is a thread of common themes that applies to almost all of my experiences with the issue and the conversations I … [Read more...]
Stop, Drop, and Role: Putting Out Fires
By Kevin Eikenberry I’ve worked with well-meaning, highly-principled leaders for years. When I talked to these leaders about coaching and developing their team, I kept hearing that, although they know that coaching and developing their team is important, there are too many things that get in the way. They want to coach more, but they don’t have time because they are too busy … [Read more...]
5 Ways You Can Recharge: Mind, Spirit, and Productivity
By Kevin Eikenberry Experts say that people are truly complex bundles of energy. Therefore, it makes sense to think about how we can manage, use, and increase the amount of energy in our bodies and minds. Why? Because when we are better energy managers, we can create better results in all areas of our lives. The topic of personal energy is much larger than can be covered … [Read more...]
Putting People and Culture First: The Importance of Developing Relational Intelligence on the Frontlines
By Dr. Adam C. Bandelli, Managing Director of Bandelli & Associates and author of RELATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: THE FIVE ESSENTIAL SKILLS YOU NEED TO BUILD LIFE-CHANGING RELATIONSHIPS Making the transition from individual contributor to a new manager or supervisor can be an exciting and challenging time. There are several things that a frontline leader needs to … [Read more...]
Three Things to Share with Your Team
By Kevin Eikenberry When we were kids, our parents and teachers taught us that sharing is an important life skill. Today, I am going to talk about things we can (and should) share as a leader. There are three important things that we should be sharing. Encouragement Your Ear Enthusiasm How about sharing encouragement? I have written that when you … [Read more...]
The Difference Between a Good Manager and a Great Manager
Guest post by Ryan Gottfredson As a leadership researcher and consultant, I commonly have employees evaluate the effectiveness of their managers. Then, on the back-end of these, I occasionally have interviews or coaching calls with these managers. Through this experience, I have been able to identify the difference between good and great managers. But before I share that … [Read more...]
Engaging Employees for the Right Reasons
by Kevin Eikenberry Ok, you've all heard about the importance of engaging your employees. In fact, you've probably heard it directly from me or Guy if you've been hanging around here very long. Here’s some data to “prove” it though. Here's what a survey from Maclean and Company recently found: A disengaged employee costs an organization approximately $3,400 for every … [Read more...]
Getting Clear on Your Relationship Building Expectations
by Guy Harris In 20 years of working to help leaders grow their skills, I have yet to meet a leader who did not understand the need to be clear about their expectations with their team. I am not saying that I have never met a leader who had challenges in this area. I am saying that all of the leaders I have worked with were at least aware of the need to set clear … [Read more...]
Avoiding Cliques on Your Hybrid Team
If you’ve become a leader in the last year or two, you’ve begun your career in the weirdest, most complex circumstances imaginable. There are a lot of reasons for this, but one of the main challenges is the increase in hybrid teams. It’s enough of a challenge when all your people are in one location. When everyone is remote, there are similar but unique challenges. But when … [Read more...]
The Culture Responsibility of a New Leader
by Kevin Eikenberry When thinking about team or organizational culture, often new and frontline leaders think the way they did as individuals – that culture is something for the C-Suite or senior management to think about. Culture, they often think, is above their pay grade. Yes, culture can be driven from the top-down, but it can be reinforced, and even more powerfully … [Read more...]