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As part of my management training, I took a course named Crucial Conversations. The concept is that there are particular interactions you need to have which contain high emotional impact, and therefore warrant careful planning.
Workplace examples are where you might have to give tough feedback to an employee, or communicate a difficult decision. Typically what holds you back is the emotional response you expect from the other person, which generates some internal resistance on your part.
It’s not so much what needs to be said, as how to communicate to preserve the relationship. So it’s good to do some thoughtful planning. Here is the process I tend to use:
Read the rest of this entry »What would happen if everybody in your organization was a leader?
I know what you’re thinking: sheer chaos. Everybody would be doing what they want to, all random and disorganized.
But in fact, it would be healthy thing to think about your people that way. Let me explain.
Read the rest of this entry »Tomorrow is election day in our area, which got me thinking about why having a choice is so valuable in being motivated.
No doubt you’ve heard that you can steer children towards a good decision by giving them the choice of two alternatives, both of which are acceptable to you as the parent. It works well, and with adults too.
Because having a voice in decisions matters. That’s important in our society and in the workplace.
Read the rest of this entry »We’ve spent the last five years staring at peoples’ Zoom backgrounds.
It’s interesting to see how this has changed. At first, it was just the view of someone’s kitchen. Then generic green-screened pictures, and now lots of blurring.
But it does bring to mind how much we pay attention to the larger context of every conversation.
Read the rest of this entry »When I was working for Corporate, yearly evaluations were the norm. I noticed that every employee would skip over the ten pages of recognitions for job well done, and immediately look at the “Areas for improvement” on the last page.
It frustrated me as a manager, because it completely imbalanced the focus of our conversation.
The truth is that people get a lot more traction from focusing on what they’re good at rather than what they’re not.
Read the rest of this entry »Are you looking forward to the next person you’ll need to bring on board?
I’d like you to think about what their key attributes will need to be, because it’s likely they’ll need to be different from your current people.
It’s easy to talk about job skills, but often those skills will be quite similar to others in the team. More challenging are the other attributes and characteristics, because you’ll want to fill in what’s missing.
Read the rest of this entry »If you started your company, or are the owner, you know what I’m talking about.
You’ve put your heart and soul into this venture, and it’s consumed every waking moment. For years. That passion and commitment has driven you to whatever success you’ve had. And hope to have.
But your team? Well, it seems like it’s just a job to them. You feel like they could walk away at any moment.
Read the rest of this entry »Do you have periodic one-on-one meetings with each of your employees?
I would imagine we all INTEND to do that, but … things get busy. It’s not critical. So these powerful conversations get delayed.
I’d say you don’t realize just how amazing these kinds of meetings can be. What’s the point?
Well, primarily you’re:
Read the rest of this entry »Everybody wants to be loved, to be recognized, to be appreciated. We don’t often use the word “love” in business, but it’s still in our nature.
It’s especially crucial for a place where you spend about a quarter of every week.
If you’re an effective leader, you know this. But it’s difficult to figure out what your team needs, both as a group and individually.
Read the rest of this entry »Along with exercise and sensible eating, you know that the advice to keep healthy includes staying hydrated.
The idea is that your body performs better when it’s not worrying about running dry. Sensible enough.
But this concept applies to your team as well! How so?
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The Values-Based Business 