If you have an employee who takes up more than their fair share of time, a recent Society of Human Resource Management article says you first need to understand why before you can take appropriate steps. The employee may be insecure or lack the necessary experience to complete the assigned task. Insecurity can come from low […]
Read More →Are you a leader who struggles to see the value of building relationships with your team? Do you see the personal stuff as a distraction? Harvard Business Review says this is a recipe for high turnover and lower productivity. They offer five ways to adjust your management style. Get Feedback. Ask key stakeholders to rate your focus on […]
Read More →Intense business demands can lead to highly task-focused leaders whose myopic approach to getting things done can be productive and it can be harmful, especially if they view people-focused activities as inefficient and a waste of time. Because, nothing could be further from the truth. The Harvard Business Review says it’s just as important to focus on […]
Read More →When you communicate with others, do you use a one-size fits all approach? Do you write or speak from your perspective or from that of the person with whom you’re communicating? Effective communication requires attention to the ways your receiver processes information. To better understand others, try using the DiSC system. DiSC is an acronym for the behavior […]
Read More →In an HR Magazine Q&A with Edward Hess, co-author of “Humility is the New Smart, Rethinking Human Excellence in the Smart Machine Age,” says, how well employees learn continuously and relate to others will become the great differentiator. He points to increasing automation and cheap — or often free — access to information. He says that the traditional […]
Read More →Now that winter has us firmly in its grip, chances are there will be days when snow prevents you or your team from making it to the office. But as flexjobs.com points out, with the right preparation, the work can still flow from home. If your job can be done from home, scout out and […]
Read More →The kind of environment we work in plays a big role in job satisfaction. Yet, that environment is largely controlled by another person: your manager, or someone at or near the top of the org chart. If they’re supportive, job satisfaction soars. Forbes.com says this is especially true for millennials. If you’re one of the people at or […]
Read More →According to Gallup, today’ employees treat their job search like they treat their shopping. They have lots of information and options, and they don’t see the need to settle for a job that’s not right for them. Central to today’s job search: company culture, lifestyle compatibility, the ability to make a difference and transparency. If your culture is […]
Read More →Companies make a lot of promises to lure the best candidates. They tout flexibility and personal development policies that, in practice, are only as good as the company’s managers. Here are three questions Gallup says leaders should be asking themselves to determine if their new employee could experience buyer’s remorse. Does flexibility depend on the team manager? You […]
Read More →As the job market tightens, employers are being forced to work harder to keep good employees. According to Bloomberg, job turnover has reached a 17-year high. This means companies are at greater risk of losing people, especially if they have lazy managers. Harvard Business Review says lazy managers do two things: One: they blame low performance and […]
Read More → While some people are great delegators, many struggle with trusting others to do as good a job as they do. Try looking at delegation as a teaching opportunity. According to the Harvard Business Review, here are some steps you can take in that direction. Don’t wait until you’re overwhelmed or going on vacation to […]
Read More →Addressing performance issues is one of the most challenging aspects of managing people. The conversations are difficult, potentially explosive. Corrective action plans add another layer to your responsibilities and if performance doesn’t improve, a job is lost and moral is threatened. The situation is not only complicated on the surface, but there are hidden forces […]
Read More →Although it doesn’t always feel like it, honesty is usually the best policy. Three studies conducted by researchers at University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Carnegie Mellon suggests that we overestimate the negative consequences of speaking honestly. Subjects were asked to speak in accordance with their own beliefs, thoughts and feelings to people […]
Read More →In the words of Colin Powell, “Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.” If you’re in a leadership role, this is an important point to take in. Leaders are visionaries who are responsible for communicating and inspiring others to make […]
Read More →Results recently released from a Binghamton University study prove that kindness and compassion are the key to better employee performance. The University’s researchers surveyed one-thousand members of the Taiwanees Army and 200 fulltime US workers. They looked at three types of leadership: Authoritarian-dominant leaders Benevolence-dominant leaders Classic paternalistic leaders The latter style combines the first […]
Read More →The impact email has had on productivity is arguably positive. It has sped up communication and disrupted limitations on when and where we can do business. But consider these two unintended consequences. First, email inboxes have become to-do lists and communication of record for some. But often, different subjects are discussed in a string, while […]
Read More →Managing by fear is widely recognized as an outdated concept that does more harm than good. According to Organizational Anthropologist Judith Glazer, recent advances in neuroscience show it to be quite damaging. Glazer says in order to be a manager who inspires their team, one needs to understand how the brain reacts to fear verses […]
Read More →In a recent New York Times interview, Mary Abbajay, the author of “Managing Up, How to Move Up, Win at Work and Succeed With Any Type of Boss,” gave these examples of three types of bad bosses. There’s the “ghost boss” who rarely communicates with you and never seems to be around. The “seagull boss” […]
Read More →In one of author Alan Zimmerman’s blogs called “Tuesday Tips,” he quotes Psychologist Jack Berg, who said, “the human mind reaches for understanding like a flower for the sun.” Zimmerman believes people yearn to be understood, and without understanding, we drive a wedge between others and us. Take that idea of people yearning to be […]
Read More →First there was IQ. Then came EQ or Emotional Intelligence. Now Judith Glazer of “The Harvard Coaching Institute” has introduced the concept of CQ or Conversational Intelligence. CQ taps into our need for self-expression and validation. Glazer says that in environments where people can share their aspirations, intentions and fears freely, the door opens for […]
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