We humans love a good label and right now, the word “toxic” is having a moment. Ever since it was highlighted as Oxford Dictionary’s international word of the year, quite a few of us have been noticing – and rightly so – that certain behaviors, policies and organizational systems in the workplace aren’t healthy. Love…
Why Employees Hate Development Plans and How to Fix It
I once had a coaching client confide to me that professional development just “wasn’t his thing.” His point: some people don’t see the value in the extra effort required for formalized self-improvement activities at work. This individual was a highly educated, hard-working and effective professional; I wouldn’t characterize him as a slacker. What is an…
7 Ways for Leaders to Improve Employee Morale and Engagement
There are hundreds of articles written each week about creating workplace morale through improved employee engagement, yet how many of those articles describe the specifics of what leaders must do to achieve this important, yet elusive objective? Meet Bob Richards, CEO of North American operations for a global logistics company. Bob has extensive experience in…
4 Low-Cost Ways to Develop Your Team’s Soft Skills
Leaders are often reminded “what’s inspected gets done.” While this adage is typically applied to measurable task-related behaviors such as production goals, it’s also relevant for human elements of the workplace like interpersonal skills. As artificial intelligence makes further inroads into your daily work as a leader, you need to pay attention to soft-skill development…
How Leaders Can Create a Pocket of Excellence in a Toxic Workplace
Being a leader is tough enough, but downright demoralizing if you feel like you’re swimming upstream against the currents of a toxic workplace. If you want to stand apart and make a positive difference at work it might seem like you’re living in this weird, misshapen house where some of the doorways don’t lead anywhere,…