From the category archives:

Team Effectiveness

The Perfect Corporate Culture Doesn’t Exist

July 14, 2010

Have you ever noticed how pervasive “perfection” is in our language? The phrase “perfect storm” is used to describe a “rare combination of circumstances will aggravate a situation drastically”. Last month, ump Jim Joyce ruined a “perfect” game for Detroit Tiger pitcher Armando Galarraga. Recently, corporate success coach Ann Farrell ruminated on striving for the [...]

Read the full article →

4 Ways to Gain Team Input

April 30, 2010

So I’m sitting at a large round table, talking with a team of eight senior-level leaders who work for a large corporation.  These are smart, sophisticated people, who have both street cred as field operatives and many years’ experience leading various types and sizes of work groups.  We’re discussing how to ensure that our communications [...]

Read the full article →

Coaching the Reluctant Retail Associate

April 7, 2010

I was out early this morning snapping up some bargains at one of my favorite mass-merchandise retailers. In what appears to be a developing theme with me, I overheard another conversation with Human Resources implications. (See my other HR eavesdropping observation here.)  Overheard:  Employee: “Do I really need to take two breaks and a lunch [...]

Read the full article →

Beyond Diversity Training

March 21, 2010

Ways to encourage diversity on your team beyond race, religion or sexual orientation.  Several weeks ago, I got an unexpected Skype call.  It was from my long-time client Pete. He was calling from Germany to say “hi” and let me know he’d just landed a new job as Director of Operational Excellence for a large [...]

Read the full article →

Employees Can’t Get No Satisfaction

January 14, 2010

With a clumsy nod to the Rolling Stones’ classic tune, it appears to be true: since 1987, workers have become steadily less satisfied with their work.  This is according to research results released last week by The Conference Board.  What’s more, it’s not a generational thing: satisfaction is decreasing amongst all ages groups.  While the [...]

Read the full article →

Praising Mastery

November 6, 2009

I’m reading the book The Power of Respect by Deborah Norville.  She cites a very interesting study from the journal Motivation and Emotion. In this study, a group of researchers from Reed College in Oregon studied whether one form of praise was more effective than another.  The researchers used two different types of praise: “mastery”, [...]

Read the full article →

The TMI of Leadership

September 29, 2009

The other day, I was having a discussion with a training manager named Sally.  Her staff designs training for her company’s field sales force. Sally works for a large organization that has a reputation for promoting from within. Here’s what we were discussing: Leaders higher up in her organization have noticed that when the sales people [...]

Read the full article →

The Sweet Spot for Mentoring

September 24, 2009

Note: this blog post is a collaborative effort between Jennifer V. Miller and Lisa Rosendahl.  We’ve each taken a different perspective on the topic of mentoring. Lisa’s post explores what attributes Human Resource/Talent Managers look for in potential mentors. This blog post explores mentor readiness from a personal perspective, asking: “How do you know you’re ready [...]

Read the full article →

Boo or Yay Manager?

September 20, 2009

One of my favorite experiential activities for management training is an oldie but goodie called the “Boo/Yay” exercise.  In it, two volunteers separately try to guess a per-determined task such as walking to the front of the room and picking up a marker. The audience is instructed to give the volunteers feedback to help them [...]

Read the full article →

Bully on the Track Field

September 18, 2009

So I’m reading Bret Simmons’ post When the Bully Boss is Female . . . There’s a slight whooshing sound in my brain and all of a sudden time sort of shifts.  It’s the 1970’s and I’m in 8th grade.  A new family has moved from Chicago to our tiny farming community in Michigan.  They [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries