If we aren’t paying attention (and sometimes even if we are), there are three things that happen naturally in all companies: friction, confusion, and underperformance. Friction is a naturally occurring state that happens when you have more than one person working in a company. Hire two or more people, and at some point, you’re going to experience some friction. Friction …
Running the Leadership Marathon
If you want to run a marathon, life will not hand you the trophy. It will hand you a pair of running shoes. I read this quote on one of my social media channels recently, and it got my attention because it’s so applicable in business and in life. If you’ve taken on the role of leader in your business …
Tasks vs Results
We’ve probably all had at least one of these handed to us in our professional careers: a job description. It lists the duties we were hired to complete. A good one lists the tasks in detail and aids us in assuring we meet expectations. However, even a well-written job description is only half the information we need to understand what …
Complaining or Coaching?
“Nobody wants to work hard anymore.” “There’s no more team loyalty.” “I can’t seem to get anyone to go the extra mile.” “Why can’t my team be more self-motivated?” These statements and many more like them are ones we hear from leaders and managers all the time. They are all important. They are critical to solve. They are all true …
Moving from Pressure to Belief
Someone recently said to me, “I hate the word accountability because it seems so punitive.” They preferred terms such as responsibility and commitment because, to them, they seemed more positive. I found this sentiment interesting because it reveals an underlying belief that I encounter frequently as a leadership communication coach: the assumption that to obtain accountability from our people, we …
Tip of the Spear
You’re waiting. You just wish it was different. You wish your teammate helped out more. You wish the meetings accomplished more and were more fun. You wish you’d get a raise. You wish your office manager would let go of the one mistake that you made months ago. You wish your spouse was more romantic and spontaneous. You wish your …
A Jar Full of Love
Pet peeves. We’ve all got ’em. I hate it when guys leave the toilet seat up and I fall right into it in the middle of the night. I hate it when someone takes the last of anything and doesn’t restock it or add it to the grocery list. I hate it when the express checkout lane of 15 items …
Becoming Our Best Selves
Recently, I was faced with a moment of choice. I was with a group of friends, and the topic of a colleague we all know came up. In the past, I have joined the group in what was essentially a gossip session about this person with whom we all have a challenging relationship. But I have made a commitment to …
The Myth about Emotions
Myth: All emotions will fall into a category of either “good” or “bad.” A lot of professionals I’ve met believe that feelings like excitement, love, and joy are “good” emotions, but emotions like anger, sadness, and jealousy are categorized as “bad.” Truth: Emotions are neutral. They are signals from our body or mind. They are an internal, personal response to …
The Connected Team
Teambuilding. Team Bonding. Team Spirit. You’ve heard these terms before. You may have invested money on events for your team to create these things. It may or may not have been worth the money. So, should you be paying attention to and investing money in these things? That depends. I’m seeing a lot of uncertainty in the workplace right now, …
