This week is Be Nice Week at my kids’ school. It’s part of an anti-bullying program designed to “promote the old-fashioned value of being nice”. Today the students and teachers will wear “Be Nice” t-shirts offered by the The Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan. I bought a t-shirt too and will be wearing it today…
Workplace Dynamics
Leadership and Positive Social Contagion
Are there any positive leadership stories out there anymore? Anyone? Anyone? Sometimes, I feel like Ben Stein’s economics teacher in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, casting about for any story that sheds a positive light on the ability to lead with character. In the last week alone, I’ve personally heard three stories of leadership failure: …
Influencing Across Organizational Boundaries
Earlier this week I presented a session on Influencing Across Organizational Boundaries to the Western Michigan chapter of the Project Management Institute. The session was so well-received that many people asked for copies of the Power Point presentation. Well, you know how that goes—a Power Point without the corresponding speaker commentary is a bit flat….
Tag-Team Workplace Coaching
Sometimes, a person’s boss just isn’t the right person to do the coaching. Consider this story, as told to me by my client Pete: Pete was part of a new product ideation team tasked with creating a proposal for the company president. On the day of Big Presentation to the president Liz, the team gathered…
Creativity is a Vital Skill for Leaders
The following post is written by Erin Palmer, a recent college graduate. When she contacted me to ask if she could write a guest post on creativity and leadership, I was thrilled because of her point of view: that of the follower, not the formal leader. Please read on to find out what this young,…