I want you to pause for a minute and imagine this scenario: You ask an employee, coworker, friend or family member for an honest opinion. The person offers it, but it's not exactly what you wanted to hear. Perhaps your spouse commented that she didn't like the new dish you prepared. Or your coworker disagreed with your plan of attack on a project. Or your BFF admitted that … [Read more...]
The Wrong Thing to Do When Faced With a Problem (and What to Do Instead)
As I watch what is going on politically across the nation, attend various business meetings and even participate in family discussions, I can't help but notice how the rhetoric and emotion often increase, while the civility and human connection decrease. People become obstinate or angry. Some even resort to insults, and productive conversation flies out the window. The … [Read more...]
Bridge the Generation Gap on Your New Team
Managing across the generations is challenging for many leaders, especially new ones. That's why we love the insightful, tip-filled infographic below created by MidAmerica Nazarene University. First, it offers a look at different research-backed perceptions of Baby Boomers, Gen X and Millennials, and then it goes a step further and provides action-oriented tips you can use to … [Read more...]
5 Signs That You Are a Bad Listener
By Marlene Chism, consultant, executive educator, professional speaker and the author of Stop Workplace Drama, and No-Drama Leadership. One of the most important communication skills you will ever learn is the art of effective listening. This skill alone has the power to transform any relationship. In your professional life, listening is at the heart of effective leadership, … [Read more...]
[Infographic]: Follow the 5 W’s of Delivering Bad News
As a leader, at some point, you are going to have to tell employees or coworkers something they don't want to hear. Sharing bad news is hard on you, but it's much harder on the people who have to hear it. So stifle your discomfort and follow this advice from the good folks at GetVoip.com when you have to break bad news. You can also find more infographics at Visualistan … [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...]
Negative Vs. Positive Leadership (and Why You Should Choose the Latter)
If you're a leader, best-selling author Jon Gordon wants you to take this message to heart: Spreading negative energy solves nothing. In fact, it causes people to shut down. Morale suffers, employees disengage, productivity takes a hit, and profits fall. "It's easy to get upset and derailed by anger when things go wrong, but then the issue gets lost because you mismanaged … [Read more...]
Your Power of Choice in Conflict Resolution
In many cases, the path from conflict to resolution is like traveling down a dirt road in the country. It’s a little rough. Dirt might get in your eyes so that you don’t see clearly what lies ahead. You have to go more slowly than you do in other situations. Once you are on the road, you have to keep going. It is too narrow to turn around and go back the other way. At … [Read more...]
10 Ways Meetings Drain the Life from Your Team
We've all attended meetings that were a big waste of time. There are many ways meetings can go wrong, but as a manager, you can prevent many of those problems. Check your meeting behaviors against the following list, and make changes if you’re guilty of any of these sins: Meeting for the sake of meeting. Don’t fall into the rut of scheduling a marketing meeting for Tuesday … [Read more...]
3 Leadership Tips for Creating a Customer-First Workplace
Even if your team doesn't directly serve customers (think customer service and sales), you should still adopt a customer-first attitude. More important, however, is that you should remove the obstacles that allow your employees to truly serve your customers, says customer strategist and executive coach Robin Lawton, author of Mastering Excellence: A Leader’s Guide to Aligning, … [Read more...]