You've got questions, and we've got answers. Hi, I'm Kevin. I am very answering the questions that new leaders ask us. Actually, it's our goal to help all leaders be more effective, productive, successful, and confident. And to do that, I'm going to answer the questions I get asked, including, how do I lead people older than I am? Are you ready? Let's get started. It's a … [Read more...]
Communication Tools To Inspire Others And Build High-Performing Teams
Guest post by Carolyn Stern, President and CEO of EI Experience and author of The Emotionally Strong Leader: An Inside-Out Journey to Transformational Leadership If you want to be an “Emotionally Strong Leader,” a person who can create trust bonds and deeper connections, motivate others and build high-performing teams, then you need to develop your Emotional … [Read more...]
How to Deal with a Persistently Negative Team Member
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...]
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...]
How to Determine Engagement When Your Team is Remote
by Kevin Eikenberry Of all the things a new or frontline leader must think about and attend to, employee engagement might not be at the top of this list. We could talk about why it is important, but suffice it to say, it needs to be on our radar. While getting a handle on that might have seemed hard in the past, now that you may not be able to even see your people at work, … [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...]
Your Hybrid Team Might Have Multiple Cultures
by Guy Harris Team cultures develop for many reasons. Some factors affecting team culture include: Recent team history The style makeup of team members The type of work the team does The physical location the team is in How the leader interacts with the team as a whole How the leader interacts with individual team members How team members interact … [Read more...]
Ensuring a Well-Run Meeting Starts With One Critical Step
We’ve all walked out of a meeting and thought “Wow, that was a waste of time.” Perhaps the meeting had no clear purpose, the participants strayed off topic or the issues weren’t adequately resolved. Regardless, you left the meeting feeling frustrated. This time-wasting experience could have been avoided if the person preparing for the meeting knew how to write an agenda that … [Read more...]