Lately my musings on the people equation have turned to the human tendency to compare ourselves to one another. It must strike a chord with people because the blog posts have generated some lively discussion. See my posts on the effects of praise and how to “run your own race” to see the thread of…
Whose Race are You Running?
The other day I had lunch with a colleague. Sally is a mentor to me and it’s always a treat when we get together to talk shop. At one point in the conversation Sally said, “Do you ever look at someone else and wonder, “They’re so successful [running their business]. How do they do it?…
Praising Mastery
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”,…
In the Family Way
Years ago, I attended a company-wide meeting in which the company’s President Pete addressed the employees. During his presentation, he declared, “It’s great to work here at XYZ Company. It’s like family here.” At the time I thought, “Well that’s a nice thing to say” and didn’t really give it another thought. So imagine my…