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

Workplace culture is hard to define, but we all know a good one when we experience it. The qualities of a positive and energetic work environment are typically seen in staff retention rates and overall productivity. Overall culture can be learned from interaction. However, investing in the development of communication and interpersonal relationship skills of your team could very likely positively affect your bottom line. Research has shown that in addition to the expected b

There's a great article that I came across recently by Michael Hartsfield about the power of community in the workplace. He brought up many interesting points, and it's well worth the read, but what I really liked about it was the perspective of realizing that as leaders, we are stronger when we recognize our own weaknesses. In other words, we are better leaders, more inspiring leaders, when we realize that we need the skills and personalities of others to shore up our own

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

It's easy to dismiss the power of positive thinking as something that motivational speakers have simply conjured up in an effort to bolster attendance at their seminars. But, believe it or not, there is SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH which actually backs up the fact that both positive and negative thinking have very real chemical effects on the brain, either enabling or limiting, our ability to make rational decisions and think clearly under pressure and immediate stress. According to

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

A leadership style that is controlling creates a toxic, minimally productive workplace. The danger of controlling leadership is that an enviroment of diminished trust, hindered communication, stifled initiative, divisiveness, and a climate of apprehension and ambiguity are created from the top down. Employees will quicky adapt to this by either conforming to it, creating a whole host of personnel and personality issues within the workplace, or worse, by simply leaving the o

Leadership assignments, though highly sought after, often result in failure. In fact, according to recent data from @DDIWorld, 33% of leadership hires don't work out. Regardless of whether the disconnect is in the hiring process or in the actualized abilities of the new hire, any new leader is destined to fail if critical areas of leadership skill are not in place and in the process of development. New leaders fail in part beause leadership is a role that is almost opposite

Any boss can say yes or no. Leaders say, "Yes!" Great leaders say "yes" more often. Does that mean that to be a great leader you should say "yes" to everything? NO! To minimize the risk of sounding like I'm talking in circles, let me get right to the point here. If you find yourself saying "no" to your team more often than "yes," the problem is not your team (ouch). Great leaders understand that planting seeds is the real power behind the ability to say, "Yes!" Like a