Leadership

Are Leaders Who Coach Lazy?

May 22, 2019

As the parent of two teens, I’ve become quite accustomed to The Eye Roll. This ocular straining happens most often when I request a previously agreed upon task be completed by said teen. Me: “Hey, it’s time to empty the trash. Trash pick up is tomorrow.” Teen:  “Ugh,” with a healthy helping of Eye Roll. […]

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Lessons from the Farm Book Review

May 8, 2019

I grew up in a farming community along the shores of Lake Michigan in the American Midwest. My grandparents were farmers. And although my folks didn’t farm, I spent a fair amount of time on my Grandpa V’s farm. Especially the summer of my 13th year when my Uncle Myron planted a full ACRE of […]

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How to Avoid Getting Sucked Into Needless Activity

April 15, 2019

There’s no shortage of important work to do – both at home and in your job. So, the last thing you want tossed your way is unnecessary work. Nobody likes needless activity, right? But this is easier said than done. I’m sure you can easily recall getting pulled into something that did not add value […]

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9 Questions to Help Your Team Create Vision

April 9, 2019

Think back to the last project you led. How did you begin? Were you successful getting people on board, or was it more like herding cats challenging than you’d planned? No matter what you’re leading, getting people to line up behind a vision is the first order of business when you take on a new […]

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How To Gain Buy-In From Your Team

April 8, 2019

When my daughter was in elementary school I chaperoned a group of second-graders on a field trip to the ArtPrize exhibition in downtown Grand Rapids. Picture this: ten 8-year-olds, excitedly dashing around parks and gardens, in and out of exhibition buildings. They were so excited to experience the art displayed throughout our city. Naturally, their […]

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How to Encourage Your Team’s Bold Ideas

March 26, 2019

Are you looking to help your team launch innovative ideas? Then listen up. Your efforts to help them might actually be diminishing their creative brilliance, one “helpful” suggestion at a time. Branding expert Sally Hogshead wrote about this phenomenon when describing how well-meaning people pose the biggest threat to a team’s boldest ideas. Innovative ideas […]

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Autonomous Employees Still Need Leaders

March 21, 2019

Humans crave autonomy. When a baby savors that first taste of independence as she crawls away from Mom and Dad, the die is cast: the desire chart one’s destiny is strong. When it comes to autonomy in the workplace, companies have come a long way from the highly regimented scheduling and oversight of industrial-era offices. […]

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Last call for #WorkHuman 2019 in Nashville

March 2, 2019

What are you doing March 18 – 21, 2019? For all you procrastinators out there, it’s not too late to attend WorkHuman 2019 in Nashville. I just got an email from my contact at Globoforce, the company that organizes the event. There are still a few spaces left. To register, go here and use my […]

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Praise and Feedback Aren’t the Same Thing

February 28, 2019

As a foodie, I love all kinds of mash-ups. From bacon apple pie to mac and cheese quesadillas it’s stimulating to creatively pair ingredients in unexpected ways. But when it comes to leadership communication, combining certain types of information within the same conversation is a recipe for disaster. To illustrate, let’s use a fictitious member […]

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Are You Having Career Conversations?

January 15, 2019

Are you having career conversations? My friend Julie Winkle Giulioni is launching an expanded and revised version of her bestselling book, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Organizations Need and Employees Want. It’s a perfect resource for managers who want to develop their employees. This is what I love about the second […]

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