Great leaders understand that performance and outcomes are based on much more than accomplishing tasks and maintaining status quo. Real change within an organization CAN happen, if team members produce quality work, driven intrinsically to thrive personally and professionally. In his response to an article in the Harvard Business Review, Alfie Kohn states, "I find it useful to think in terms of three C’s: choice, collaboration, and content. Choice means that employees should

A girlfriend of mine and I were enjoying coffee and a typical conversation when she said something that truly struck me. "It's ok for you life to look the way you want it to look." While she was saying this in the context of a conversation she had with someone else, and not directly as advice to me, it struck me as such a simple concept that so many people don't even consider. As I think about the culture we live in, I realize how many people say things like, "I'm too busy,"

Positive energy is always attractive. One of the greatest qualities of leaders who have been given permission to lead is a positive attitude which inspires positive action in others. But before being able to inspire action in others, a great leader must have an inherent, internal positive source from which to draw her own inspiration. So, how do great positive leaders cultivate and nurture their own positive source of inspiration and innovation? There are three basic compo

In our contemporary world, information now literally travels at the speed of light. Not only do we have the ability to tap into news and social happenings instantly, we are also able to, with the push of a button, learn basically anything about anyone at any time. While on a personal level, privacy is important, in the world of business having access to information about competitors, suppliers, and potential human resources is a good thing. The problem is they also have ac

Staying positive can sometimes be hard work. We all face difficult days, stressful situations, deadlines and demanding workloads, and negative experiences. In the face of everyay situations where everyone around you is stressed out, uptight, and negative, how in the world can YOU stay positive? Here is a simple acronym that can be used to help you remember some simple key points that can be enacted to help you maintian and project a positive attitude: ELIRN (I pronounce it

Did you know that the rate of depression and anxiety is increasing, but the rate of happiness is stagnant? This is tragic! Why in the world is this happening? According to Pascal, "Man wishes to be happy, only wishes to be happy, and CANNOT wish not to do so." How good are you at actually PURSUING happiness? Happiness CAN be learned, as we have discussed in other blogs, and because of the elastiticity of the amazing human brain, thought patterns can be established which p

In a recent article by Dr. Sherrie Bourg Carter, Psy.D., in Psychology Today, researchers published findings that "each additional happy friend increases your probability of being happy by about 9 percent." Wow! Compare that to the statistics showing that an increase in pay of $5,000 annually is likely to increase happiness by only about 2 percent. Not only does this illustrate that money can't buy happiness, but it demonstrates the infectious nature of emotion. Leading l

Your leadership style plays a big role in how you communicate. Authoritative, commanding and pace-setting leadership styles, as defined by Daniel Goleman, are much less likely to communicate as much information with their team as democratic, affiliative or pace-setting leaders. But regardless of your leadership style, many of the members of the team you lead may NEED more communication from you in order to truly buy in to your vision and embrace the goals you've established.

What are the personalities and priorities of your team members? Is it important to a majority of your people to have freedome to be spontaneous, creative, and whimsical, or is your team comprised primarily of ordered, structured, regimented personalities who appreciate systems? Perhaps you have a mix of both. Depending on your mission and the goals of the organization you may employ primarily creative and spontaneous personalities, or have chiefly highly-structured people o

Even the most inexperienced leader understands the power of praise and the impact that it can have on individuals and the team as a whole. Praise is one of the most powerful training and motiviational tools leaders have! When a team makes great gains or accomplishes a desired outcome, praise from their leader is often one of the most important and desired rewards. But have you ever considered offering reward in the form of praise when a project has failed? Praise in it's t