This is a guest post by Andi Simon, author of On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights. As a team leader, you are the first defense against a toxic culture. If you sense that conflict is becoming the norm, that employees are no longer working well together, that employees are overwhelmed and burned out, or that performance is slipping, act … [Read more...]
6 Steps to Spur Your Team to Work Together
On your team, you want everyone working together, striving to hit the same goals. It seems like it ought to be easy. After all, everyone is on the same team. However, the more people who are involved on your team and in your organization, the harder all that becomes. People create their own goals and purposes for work. They become more self-focused and seem to have less of a … [Read more...]
Move Past Resistance and Make Positive Change Happen
Change is a major part of life—and so is resistance to it. So when you inherit a team that is resistant to your new role and the changes that come with it, be prepared. Engage your resistant team with the following techniques: Acknowledge the change Don't sugarcoat it. Your employees will appreciate your candidness if you openly discuss your plans for change, and how … [Read more...]
When You Should and Shouldn’t Reprimand Employees
Reprimanding employees in front of other employees is never a good idea. Embarrassing staff members in that way damages morale and can put people on the defensive, making it less likely that they will fix their bad behaviors. Scolding employees in front of customers is worse. Even if employee has done something that deserves a good talking to, and even if you think the … [Read more...]
4 Myths That Are Killing Your Chances of Hiring Top Talent
"Good help is hard to find" or is it? Scott Wintrip, staffing expert and author of High Velocity Hiring: How to Hire Top Talent in an Instant says that help is available, but your beliefs about hiring are preventing you from filling jobs quickly and keeping them filled. If you are struggling to fill positions, Wintrip urges you to examine your beliefs about hiring to ensure … [Read more...]
Generalist vs. Specialist: Which Should You Hire?
By Brian Cristiano, founder of BOLD Worldwide. One of your most important roles as a new leader will be recruiting the right employees . These folks will not only partake in daily tasks to help your team run smoothly, they will also act as the face of your organization, which is why it’s important to take time to find and employ the “right” employees. They should be eager to … [Read more...]
Unproductive Team? Ask Yourself These 7 Questions
This is a guest post by Scott MacDonald, CEO and author of Saving Investa: How An Ex-Factory Worker Helped Save One of Australia’s Iconic Companies. If your team does not seem to be reaching its potential or achieving its goals, here are some hard questions to ask. Do you have the right talent? Some employees are more talented than others, and you may need to upgrade … [Read more...]
Training Can Be Fun and Games: 7 Gamification Tactics for Effective Employee Training
This is a guest post by John Findlay is co-founder of Launchfire. You just took over a team, and you are frustrated with the level of training your employees received under your predecessor. Perhaps the previous leader didn't invest in training at all or maybe he or she just wasted everyone's time with ineffective training. And now you need to make big changes. Developing … [Read more...]
Breaking Through the Comfort Zone: Extreme Tactics That Produce Outrageous Results
This is a guest post by Frank Granara and Lorraine Grubbs, co-authors of Beyond the Executive Comfort Zone: Outrageous Tactics to Ignite Individual Performance. Wake them up … shake them up … make them a team. As a new leader, bring a fresh perspective to your people by applying outrageous tactics to employee development. Step outside the “training as usual” box and bypass … [Read more...]
Switch Off Your Autopilot Mentality
By Jaimy Ford, business writer and editor As a new leader, it's easy to slip into a routine and stick to it. After all, why should you change what appears to be working? However, if you simply adapt a previous leader's style or you rely on trusted approaches that come easy to you, you run the risk of slipping into autopilot. When that happens, creativity and innovation … [Read more...]