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

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

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

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

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.

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