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5 Ways to Hone Your Executive Thinking Skills

by Beth Strathman | Sep 11, 2016 | executive, leadership, leadership skills, leadership training, strategic planning, strategy, success, tactics

We are educated. We are modern human beings. We make decisions every day. How inaccurate and incomplete can our thinking be? I always thought I was a good at logical thinking. Then I went to law school. Law school taught me how to think through an issue more...

“Just Kidding”: Handling Passive Aggressive Employees

by Beth Strathman | Sep 3, 2016 | communication, corporate culture, leadership, leadership skills, leadership training, management skills, management training

We laugh at passive aggressive behavior on sitcoms, tune in for more on reality TV, and read the snarkiness on social media. Nonetheless, it’s no laughing matter in the workplace. Passive aggressive behavior includes actions, inactions, and comments intended to do...

Transform Workplace Drama from Spectacle to Productivity

by Beth Strathman | Aug 21, 2016 | communication, corporate culture, leadership, leadership skills, leadership training, management skills, management training

We love our drama. Ancient Romans loved the tension and spectacle of the Colosseum with its combat to the death involving gladiators and beasts, nail-biting chariot races, and extravagant displays of sea warfare. Today, we have the tension and spectacle of reality TV,...

Ironically, Collaboration Makes Your Company More Competitive

by Beth Strathman | Aug 13, 2016 | collaboration, corporate culture, leadership, leadership skills, leadership training, management skills, management training

It used to be that leading a successful company was all about withholding knowledge, hording power, and smashing the competition. More and more, however, leaders today are called upon to be more collaborative – sometimes even with their competition. Typical Corporate...

Be the Bigger Person When Receiving Feedback

by Beth Strathman | Aug 7, 2016 | awareness, behavior, beliefs, change, commitment, credibility, ego, executive, fallibility, feedback, humility, identity, leadership, leadership skills, leadership training, learning, listening, management skills, management training, performance, performance reviews, resilience, self-awareness, vulnerability

Giving quality feedback in a respectful way can be hard. Receiving feedback in a respectful way is even harder. (Even receiving positive feedback for some is difficult.) During and after receiving negative feedback in particular, do you notice you have heightened...

How to Balance Accountability and Relationships

by Beth Strathman | Jul 31, 2016 | corporate culture, executive, leadership, leadership skills, leadership training, management skills, management training

How do you ensure a balance in your company between maintaining good relationships with employees AND holding them accountable when they fall short in their conduct or performance. In other words, how do we avoid allowing our compassion for an individual’s...

8 Traits That Make You Untrustworthy

by Beth Strathman | Jul 22, 2016 | credibility, ego, evolve, executive, leadership, leadership skills, leadership training, management skills, management training, self-awareness, trust

You would think that because people spend roughly 1/3 of their time at work, the workplace would be a critical venue for establishing trust. Yet, the 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer reported that only 49% of employees think CEOs are very or extremely credible. Along the...

Employee Engagement: Ready to Call Off the Wedding?

by Beth Strathman | Jul 16, 2016 | corporate culture, employee engagement, leadership, leadership skills, leadership training, management skills, management training, productivity, team

Tired of hearing about employee engagement or ready to give up? For some companies, it is an elusive concept that’s been around for decades. So, it’s telling that companies are still struggling to figure out the magic formula for attaining employee engagement nirvana....

Stop Walking on Eggshells Around a Bad Employee

by Beth Strathman | Jul 8, 2016 | confrontation, leadership, leadership skills, leadership training, management skills, management training, performance

You know that you ought to address various issues with a badly behaved or poorly performing employee, but you haven’t. Because he is still around, you know customers aren’t getting served the way you expect, and you get complaints from other employees about this...

How You Might Be Undermining Your Team’s Drive for Results

by Beth Strathman | Jul 1, 2016 | awareness, behavior, beliefs, business, corporate culture, executive, leadership, team

I was recently asked, “How do I get my team to run with the ball instead of relying on me so much to tell them what to do? They should know how to and when to move things forward!” Every leader wants a highly competent and motivated team who, with some planning and...

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