Blog
What to Do When Your “Open Door” Becomes the Gateway to Drama
A well-intentioned “Open Door” policy can become its most problematic policy. The purpose of these policies is to foster communication between rank and file employees and management in order to share ideas and to address issues of concern such as safety,...
Daily Communication Habits Boost Leadership Presence and Impact
The fact of the matter is that most leaders spend a tiny fraction of their time giving huge public speeches. Instead, leadership happens moment by moment, person by person, both through words and deeds. There are hundreds of moments like these every day. Each moment...
How to Be a Credible Leader
Previously, I wrote about four areas for leadership focus. In this post, I'm focusing on establishing your credibility. Over the past century or two, the expectations of what a leader is and does has shifted and that applies to how leaders established credibility....
4 Leadership Focal Points to Guide the Way
I haven’t met a leader yet whose day is not full of information, fast-paced action and distractions. At any given moment, you are bombarded with input from multiple directions. To appear “in control” and competent, you feel you have no other choice than to react to...
A Simple 2-Step Assessment to Manage Your Team
It’s easy to simply react to the day-to-day grind. Before most managers know it, they can find themselves in a situation where key talent has left their teams. Additionally, managers may realize they have the wrong people in the wrong positions for the wrong...
Are You Leading or Bullying?
“I feel like you’re intimidating and bullying me.” These are the words of a female employee during a meeting with her male supervisor, who intended to set expectations with her. The supervisor was taken aback and started to question his behavior. With stories of...
Does Your Back Ache From Bending Over Backwards for Your Employees?
Being the boss is tough. With all the information available on how to motivate and engage employees, without being a micro-manager or a bully, it can be a bit confusing trying to determine what exactly an effective boss is like today. A big part of becoming a good...
Enabling Versus Empowering in the Workplace
Do you have employees who are poor performers or who don’t get along with others and who have been in your company for too long? Why? There is no reason why you should tolerate employees who continually produce substandard work, exhibit unsatisfactory attendance, or...
Delivering Performance Feedback without Performance Evaluation Forms
I often rail against the typical, formulaic performance evaluation. So, if typical performance evaluation forms aren’t effective for communicating a manager’s desired performance from employees, then what is? Simple . . . a little something I like to call,...