“We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve” – Bill Gates By: Gary Cohen Secret Formula to Receiving Feedback It has often been thought that the feedback loop hinges on the giver of feedback, you know, the leader, manager, supervisor. Most leaders believe this (spoiler
If you want a glimpse into how well an organization is run, take a look at how they run their meetings. The value they get out of their meetings usually reflects how well the organization is run as a whole. Meetings are designed to accomplish a particular objective. There are
The quality of an organization’s meetings is often tied to the quality of the organization’s overall work. Like effective organizations, effective meetings have clearly defined roles and objectives. There are four different types of meetings: decision-making, informational, creative, and motivational. While every meeting type is important, decision-making meetings are perhaps
Who is your greatest role model for your career? No matter who you look up to, the one characteristic they’re sure to possess is the ability to influence others. Influencers have the unique ability to combine their skills with the charming charisma it takes to win people over. As out
As leaders work on their own career development, they sometimes lose sight of their need to serve as a mentor and coach for others. If you have experience in a role that someone else would like to learn more about, the benefits of mentoring and coaching are often worth the
Business Succession Planning: When to Start? Harry Levinson, who ran the well-respected Menager Clinic for Senior Executives, once asked the new president of Brandeis Univesity, “Whom have you chosen as your successor?” Another member of the faculty became quite agitated by Harry’s question, considering it was the first day of the
Influence: Improving Morale in the Workplace Influence is the amount of effect you have on someone’s character, development, or behavior. Every action–even small ones–can carry a great deal of positive influence in the workplace. Let’s say an employee shows up late for a meeting and no one says anything about
A word is dead when it is said some say, I say it just begins to live that day. – Emily Dickinson Words can uplift or cause lasting harm to others, but can words uplift or cause lasting harm to nearby substances like water and rice? Can those substances absorb
“The human mind gets creased into a way of seeing things.” -Antoine Lavoisier, Reflections on Phlogiston Kripkean Dogmatist If you are showing up as a Kripkean Dogmatist then you treat any new information that disagrees with your position as irrelevant. The moment you know that what you are hearing, reading
Significant others are, in effect, Secret Business Partners. They can act as sounding boards. They can ask questions others may be too afraid to ask–ones that often begin with “Why?” They can also use their knowledge of their partner’s strengths, failings, and personal history to add context and make judgments.
When I learned I had ADHD at age 40, I was grateful to have a label for my way of being. I read all I could on the subject. In the process, I discovered compensatory strategies for leading myself and others. One of the most effective strategies I employed was
As a business leader who built a company from 2 to 2,200 employees with a business partner, and as a business coach who has work with many business partnerships for over a decade, I know what gets said between business partners and what is often left unsaid. Today’s post is
When reviewing values, we ask employees to provide a narrative of each of the values they’ve seen in action. Some companies have taken the best of these stories and published them for all the employees; they give a copy to new employees, too, so that they know what it looks
Your emotional IQ is determined by the level of your emotional intelligence. It’s a major factor in your personal and professional perceptions and interactions. Find out just how important it really is!
Your emotional IQ is determined by the level of your emotional intelligence. It’s a major factor in your personal and professional perceptions and interactions. Find out just how important it really is!
Success is never a solo act, except in the imaginations of narcissists. Recognize those that came before you and those who are with you now.
Chances are you won’t have to wring that neck either, since that person will know it is his responsibility to ensure the action is completed on time and well. If he encounters problems along the way, he will be more likely to address them immediately than wait until the reporting
Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Laureate and founder of behavioral economics, says that we have two selves: our experiencing self and our memory self. Our experiencing self likes to be happy in the moment—with people we like, in a comfortable environment, and engaging in fun activities. Our memory self is more interested
Pecking Order The term “pecking order” was introduced by Thorleif Schjelderup-Ebbe in 1921 under the German terms Hackordnung or Hackliste, and brought into English in 1927. Schjelderup-Ebbe studied chickens and how they express dominance via pecking. He found that chickens typically have a pecking order that runs 15 deep. This pecking order allows for a more
Positive to Negative Ratio of affirmation to criticisms is call the Losada Ratio. Changing your positive to negative ratio can have a dramatic outcome for your business and your marriage.
Suit-able Leadership Your wife says your wardrobe is handicapping you professionally. You respond by finding a wardrobe consultant. He eyes your wide-lapel suit and room-for-two pleated pants and says, “Listen, Italian would be perfect!” What does that mean? It means he loves Italian. But do you–or could you? If
The right word may be effective, but no word is ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.– Mark Twain Pausing is undervalued and underutilized by leaders. There’s a tendency when someone asks us a question to enter a “me” mindset. “Now it’s my turn,” our brains tend to
“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.”–Jonathan Swift As leaders, we can feel too visible–both when things go wrong (and people seek someone to blame) and when things go well (and people want to give us too much credit). More often, though, we don’t feel visible
Is there a team member you work around? If so, take a minute to list your reasons. Did he betray your trust? What is it that you don’t like about her? Cite specific incidences that caused you to write this person off. Now take a minute to consider the consequences
“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” – Theodore Roosevelt Going into business is a high-risk game. It is not for the faint of heart. The success rate of surviving more than five years is remarkably low, and
“My fascination with letting images repeat and repeat–or in film’s case ‘run on’–manifests my belief that we spend much of our lives seeing without observing.” – Andy Warhol Say it 7 times to make it so. There is a reason this became an adage. It works.
Blind Spots One of my early Electrical Engineering professors (this was in the early 1980’s) always talked about the knowns, unknowns, known unknowns, and the unknown unknowns (blind spots). This can also be written as follows: I know I don’t know I know that I don’t know I don’t know
“Like Achilles, the hero who forgot his heel, or like Icarus who, flying close to the sun, forgot that his wings were made of wax, we should be wary when triumphant ideas seem unassailable, for then there is all the more reason to predict their downfall.” ― Dwight Longenecker, The
If you can live by “Don’t Yuck My Yum” you are likely removing one of your biggest obstacles.
As an Executive Coach, I work with leaders who are already very successful. They come to me because they want to further succeed and sometimes because they feel overwhelmed. They feel like they’re working too much. Even when they’re not working, they feel like they should be–which takes some of
Cognitive Reflection Test Explained The Cognitive Reflection Test was developed by Shane Frederick, Professor of Marketing at Yale School of Management. Dr. Fredrick makes a strong case for the predictive capacity of this three-question test as it relates to decision making. In particular he suggests that it can be a
How to conduct a meeting is accomplished by a small amount of deliberate practice and training and will save significant costs to the business. Businesses are spending billions on meetings and do little to improve them. In this post you will begin your exploration of effective meeting strategies.
Educational Rubrics Educational institutions have long struggled with performance evaluation of employees. They have succeeded, however, with developing some useful rubrics to evaluate the performance of students. Rubrics provide a vertical set of performance criteria against horizontal measures of effectiveness. They tend to work best when the evaluation is complex
Educational Rubrics Educational institutions have long struggled with performance evaluation of employees. They have succeeded, however, with developing some useful rubrics to evaluate the performance of students. Rubrics provide a vertical set of performance criteria against horizontal measures of effectiveness. They tend to work best when the evaluation is complex
Types of Meetings breakdown into four major categories: Decision Making meetings; Creative meetings; Informational meetingsand; Planning meetings.
Previously Undetected Recruiting Error (PURE) “PURE hire” was a term Anderson Accounting leaders used when they realized that they had made a “Previously Undetected Recruiting Error.” Anderson made a number of mistakes during its peak, not the least of which was its handling of Enron. The term “PURE hire” was
“Human live in two worlds–the world of events and things (the territory) and the world of words about events and things (the map).” –Karl Weick As a leader, you use words (mission statement, vision, strategic plans, and models) to help members of your organization negotiate the territory in front of
“A man is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks, he becomes.” – Gandhi Social context affects the way you behave, think, and interpret the world. It affects whether you feel comfortable or uncomfortable. It can affect whether, in a particular environment, you succeed or fail. Relative Deprivation
There’s a thread that you follow. It goes among Things that change. But it doesn’t change. People wonder about what you are pursuing. You have to explain about the thread. But it is hard for others to see. While you hold it you can’t get lost. Tragedies happen; people get
50% of leaders believe that they had to ignore life balance to achieve success. In the 19th and early 20th century, the sun never set on the British Empire. Today, the same could be said for many companies. Clients of mine wake up for a call with their boss who
Leaders value loyalty highly because they want people they can trust, and they don’t want to be stabbed in the back. But do leaders overvalue loyalty? Loyalty Straight Up Loyalty alone can leave a bitter taste. You can trust loyal workers to support you and stand by you during tough
Repetition Penetrates the Dullest of Minds “Nothing is pleasant that is not spiced with variety.”–Francis Bacon On my trip to New Zealand, I was reintroduced to the best snack ever, Ginger Crunch–a pastry that has never made it stateside. That is a spicy and sweet sort of variety I can
You need a hierarchy to get things done efficiently. But hierarchies don’t always produce optimal solutions to complex and challenging problems. To be both efficient and effective, sometimes you need to flatten a hierarchy for a short period of time. You need to speak freely across and around prescribed channels,
Focus on the Goal, Not the Problem When I first meet with clients, they tend to want to focus on their current state (or the organization’s) and specific challenges. They want to vent. Sometimes venting helps them decompress, but too much venting can result in defeatism and paradigm paralysis. They
Focus on the Goal, Not the Problem When I first meet with clients, they tend to want to focus on their current state (or the organization’s) and specific challenges. They want to vent. Sometimes venting helps them decompress, but too much venting can result in defeatism and paradigm paralysis. They
Difficult Conversations How do you approach difficult conversations? Do you avoid them for as long as you can? Do you have an intermediary broach the topic for you? Do you use questions to gain entry? Do you come right out and say what you’re thinking? If you’re uncertain how to
Effective leaders care about employee engagement because they know that engaged employees give more effort–not just the required effort to do their jobs, but the discretionary effort needed to excel. Engaged sales people sell more, engaged service reps provide better service, assembly line workers have fewer accidents and the discretionary
Effective leaders care about employee engagement because they know that engaged employees give more effort–not just the required effort to do their jobs, but the discretionary effort needed to excel. Engaged sales people sell more, engaged service reps provide better service, assembly line workers have fewer accidents and the discretionary
A Business Book Bonanza of Minnesota Based Authors In January, the Business Book Breakfast began— and groups of 25-50 exciting, high energy, curious and fun people have gathered at 6:45 AM the 4th Wednesday of every month, to share thoughts and ideas about five very amazing books. It was decided
Being smart helps leaders, but it helps a lot less than it used to. The expansion of knowledge and the availability of knowledge is growing at a rate that is outside the capabilities of even the highest IQs in the world. The biggest differentiators for leaders these days are not
Breaking Mental Barriers is a great challenge for you as a leader. Discover two amazing questions that will make it simple.
Assumption Bias restricts the possibility of change for both the leader and followers. It acts like a steel safe, locking in a static belief system and locking out the possible alternatives. The greater the power leaders have, the more vulnerable they are to assumption bias because their coworkers are unlikely
Betrayal at Work Betrayal is a violation of trust, which is why it feels so gut-wrenchingly awful and can come as such a shock. We often don’t or can’t see it coming. And we’re often left flatfooted in terms of how to deal with it. Our anger or resentment may
Rethinking Leadership Infographic was developed by Sammi Cohen. To develop your own infographic, reach out to Sammi Cohen. Rethinking Leadership In working with leaders, I have found asking questions is a sorely undervalued technique. Many equate asking questions with losing power, looking like a fool, or admitting defeat. Some believe that
Rethinking Leadership Infographic was developed by Sammi Cohen. To develop your own infographic, reach out to Sammi Cohen. Rethinking Leadership In working with leaders, I have found asking questions is a sorely undervalued technique. Many equate asking questions with losing power, looking like a fool, or admitting defeat. Some believe that
Animation has given us more than great entertainment; it has given us remarkable leadership lessons. In Toy Story we are given a surprising leadership lesson by Slinky Dog. Slinky Dog is the head, feet, and tail end of a dog with the body made of Slinky. Imagine for a moment
Being a rescuer can feed one’s ego. Eliminating drama triangles, though, leads to increased accountability—far better for leaders than a brief ego boost.
How often do you allow a junior member of your team to lead and experience the lessons of a decision that isn’t optimal? I expressly didn’t use the word “wrong” here. “Wrong” carries too many negative connotations.
How often do you allow a junior member of your team to lead and experience the lessons of a decision that isn’t optimal? I expressly didn’t use the word “wrong” here. “Wrong” carries too many negative connotations.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer made a deliberate power move to change the work environment of employees. It was wrong and alternative ways may have better effect for you when you consider changing your culture.
Teams that don’t trust each other also tend to have the most worthless, unproductive meetings.
In Driven, two eminent Harvard professors, Paul R. Lawrence and Nitin Nohria, identify four core human drives
To be an exceptional leader or follower you must be self-aware and to be self-aware it is essential to understand what are your needs? Discover your needs..
To be an exceptional leader or follower you must be self-aware and to be self-aware it is essential to understand what are your needs? Discover your needs..
This video will provide a clear overview of the executive coaching Process
Pope Resigns – As a leader, did he make the right decision?
When you are following your values, you will be happier, have better work/life balance, and really enjoy what you do. As an executive coach, my job is to make sure your values and work are in alignment. Sometimes, though, clients and prospects confuse what I do as a coach with
When you are following your values, you will be happier, have better work/life balance, and really enjoy what you do. As an executive coach, my job is to make sure your values and work are in alignment. Sometimes, though, clients and prospects confuse what I do as a coach with
Stop it: A message from Bob Newhart We so often hear about all of the things that we must start doing and rarely hear about the things that we need to stop doing to become better leaders. Here is a clip of Bob Newhart playing the part of a psychologist.
Optimism vs. Pessimism: Know where you and your team members sit along the optimism/pessimism spectrum. Use that information to be accurate and to win.
As a leader, do you lead a purposeful life? What do you believe is your highest purpose? And what habits or qualities (i.e. virtues) allow you to succeed?
Job satisfaction can be increased by adapting the Motivation-Hygiene Theory both personally and organizationally. This explains how you can love and hate your job at the same time.
One of the most used habits of successful leaders is asking questions. And the exceptional leaders know what questions to ask and when to ask them.
Building an organization or team often has massive gaps in capability between team member’s performance. Equalizing Team Performance is critical to success
Employee motivation is directly related to the expectations set by their manager. Discover the steps to keep expectations high to deliver great results.
Employee Engagement + Leadership = Business Results Employee Engagement, Leadership, and Business Results are highly correlated–according to Gallup research done by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, authors of First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently. In our last post on this topic (you can read it
Meeting Minutes can have a great deal of power in the organization. Learn how to take effective meeting minutes and enhance your position in your company
Leadership Teams to be exceptional must move implicit to the explicit. As leader, you are the Chief Conversation Officier making the unspeakable speakable.
In this series of posts, we will examine how Latin maxims can provide today’s leaders with new insights. A maxim is defined by the Free Dictionary as “a succinct formulation of a fundamental principle, general truth, or rule of conduct.” The first of the Latin Maxims Bis dat qui cito
When you ask questions you must go from JUDGER to LEARNER in order to effectively get the outcomes you are looking for from yourself and others.
Kurt Hahn was the founder of Outward Bound. I and many 100,000s of past participants of the Outward Bound program owe a great deal to a man that we have never met. I went when I was 16 years old to Hurricane Island in Maine. It changed my life forever.
Accountability Busters If you want employees to get things done, instead of complaining and blaming others, here are three steps to take: 1. Encourage action-taking, not permission-giving. The more people who have to sign off on a decision, the longer that decision will take. And the more likely people up
4 Ways to Improve Your References People often list references as quickly and thoughtlessly as if they’re filling in their birth date or contact numbers. They don’t, however, bother to find out what their references will say about them. You might be surprised what some references say about their former
Leaders often decry meetings–the number, the quality, the length, the size, you name it. It’s easy and fun to bash meetings. It’s also largely safe, since the meeting or meetings are the focus of the criticism, not an individual. But is that the full truth…
Leaders often decry meetings–the number, the quality, the length, the size, you name it. It’s easy and fun to bash meetings. It’s also largely safe, since the meeting or meetings are the focus of the criticism, not an individual. But is that the full truth…
Leaders often decry meetings–the number, the quality, the length, the size, you name it. It’s easy and fun to bash meetings. It’s also largely safe, since the meeting or meetings are the focus of the criticism, not an individual. But is that the full truth…
This question is at the heart of Jacqueline Novogratz’s inspirational book, The Blue Sweater. Her fascinating story of travel, work, and adventure is always driven by the goal of empowering people to lift themselves out of poverty. Her story weaves together many people and places from around the world, examining
This question is at the heart of Jacqueline Novogratz’s inspirational book, The Blue Sweater. Her fascinating story of travel, work, and adventure is always driven by the goal of empowering people to lift themselves out of poverty. Her story weaves together many people and places from around the world, examining
We like people like ourselves–people who do and think about and value similar things. I remember reading a long time ago that a dentist in India often has more in common with a dentist in the United States than they do with either of their neighbors. At first I wondered
Criticism and blame can quickly destroy a culture. In this post discover how this behavior leads to a vicious cycle that kills productivity and employee engagement.
As a leader, you’re accustomed to stretching and stretch assignments, since leaders handle a wide array of responsibilities and have to respond to unexpected challenges. You may not, however, stretch your team members the way you yourself were tested on your rise to your current leadership position. Think of the
In coaching leaders I find one of the most difficult areas for them to overcome is firing one of their direct reports. Over the years I have come to see six clear barriers for them to overcome to move forward on a decision that they have been avoiding. This post
Leaders don’t enjoy firing people. They may feel relief after they’ve done so, but rarely joy. Even Donald Trump seems to feel a measure of regret when he says, “you’re fired!” Leaders want to inspire their team members to improve and become success stories. They want to find a way—perhaps
30 Meeting Management Rules That Work We operate under the assumption that everyone’s participation and presence in meetings is important. We want to create a culture and community where time is not wasted, opinions are shared freely and honestly, individuals are treated with respect, risk taking and open-mindedness are valued,
30 Meeting Management Rules That Work We operate under the assumption that everyone’s participation and presence in meetings is important. We want to create a culture and community where time is not wasted, opinions are shared freely and honestly, individuals are treated with respect, risk taking and open-mindedness are valued,
Creating a strategic plan is quite an undertaking for a business. Not only are you often hiring outside firms for facilitating the process but you are using an enormous amount of internal resources for gathering data converting it to meaningful information and sorting that data over 3 to 5 days
Leaders need to know not only how to run a good meeting, but also when NOT to hold one. In this article you will learn the ten reasons why a meeting should be canceled or rescheduled.
