When you have explained something a number of times to the same person or group of people, it is really easy to allow your frustration with the communication process to build. It's a small step from frustration to anger and another small step from anger to an escalating conflict. Other people's failure to understand you generally indicates these possible scenarios: You … [Read more...]
4 Really Great Reasons to Write Positive Feedback Down
Every leader has been told that offering positive feedback is one of the most valuable things you can do. You've heard of all the benefits. You may have heard that you don’t do it enough. If you’ve been reading this blog, you've likely learned the basics of giving positive feedback successfully, such as: Make it timely Make it meaningful. Make it about the behavior, … [Read more...]
Train Employees to Do More Than Just Offer Ideas
I love hearing people’s ideas. I love outside-of-the-box thinking, and I regularly—my teammates might think too regularly—ask for people’s input. So just to be clear, I want people to offer ideas. That said, I’m less than excited when people send ideas—and nothing more. They don’t offer any insight into how an idea will be executed. They don’t consider obstacles. In some … [Read more...]
8 Questions Every Leader Should Ask Before Letting Someone Go
This is a guest post by Piyush Patel, author of Lead Your Tribe, Love Your Work. There are plenty of studies to put numbers behind the costs of letting someone go. The Society for Human Resource Management, for example, indicates those costs to be as high as 50% to 60% of the employee's annual salary. What you won’t find as easily are stats for how it affects the … [Read more...]
The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More and Change The Way You Lead Forever
Back in 2016 on the Kevin Eikenberry Blog, I was incredibly excited to share news about Michael Bungay Stanier's brand-new book "The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More and Change The Way You Lead Forever." March 1, 2018 marked the two-anniversary, and the book is now a best seller. The leadership guidance presented in the book and my thoughts on it are as pertinent as ever, … [Read more...]
Disengagement is a Huge Problem, But YOU Can Fix It
The most recent Gallup "State of the Global Workforce" report tells us that 85% of employees are not engaged or actively disengaged at work, and it's costing $7 trillion in lost productivity. Is it possible that only 15% percent of your employees are engaged at work? If that's the case, how much is it costing you? As a manager, you have so much control over employee … [Read more...]
7 Ways to Help Employees Reach Their Creative Potential
Would you like your team to be more creative? Let me clue you in on something. It isn’t about techniques or strategies. It isn’t about hiring more creatively gifted people either. The most important first step to helping your employees become more creative is to believe that they have creative potential. So, once you believe it is possible for people to be more creative, … [Read more...]
Focus Half of Your Coaching Time on These Employees
I have the good fortune of working with lots of leaders, and often have the chance to talk with, teach or consult with them on a variety of issues including their role as a coach. The vast majority of those I work with truly want to be more effective and make a difference for their people and their organizations. When the subject of coaching comes up, invariably the … [Read more...]
Coaching Success … In 10 Sentences
Coaching is one of your most important roles. When you do it well, it can also be one of the most gratifying parts of being a leader. While I have long shared insights and helped others learn to be better coaches, I wanted to see if I could summarize the essence of coaching success into seven sentences. I didn’t succeed. Instead, below you will find ten "rules," that if you … [Read more...]
Don’t Forget the Big Picture When You Delegate Work
"Just tell me what to do." "What is the task list?" "Can you give me a checklist?" "What exactly do you need from me?" Those are all smart questions that you hear from employees from time to time. For the sake of avoiding confusion and misunderstandings, we recommend that you provide employees with specific details whenever you delegate work to them. However, … [Read more...]