Effective listening is a key leadership skill. My experience is that we can all improve in this area. A recent article in Harvard Business Review gives us some suggested techniques for improving how well we listen: #1 – Listen Until the End. Our minds so often race along with reactions to what we are hearing that we can’t wait to jump in to say something. This dimini … [Read more...] about Improve Your Listening Skills
Teamwork
Keep Your Team “Trust Loop” Strong
The importance of building trust on a team has been well documented. The integrity of the leader is vitally important to the trust-building process. Leaders need to be honest with their team members and treat them with respect at all times. Once the leader has established and role modeled a positive, trustworthy relationship with the team, then many experts suggest … [Read more...] about Keep Your Team “Trust Loop” Strong
Use Productive Failure for Team Growth
Every leader loves it when their team performance is humming along nicely. But, if this is always the case, you may be losing out on a great learning opportunity through “productive failure.” There are many goals that you really do not want a person or team to fail at – such as processing payroll on time or submitting a required report to a government agency. And many o … [Read more...] about Use Productive Failure for Team Growth
5 Questions Before You Decide
Life is fast paced and leaders make lots of decisions. In this hectic environment we live in, sometimes we can move a little too fast. Following is a quick checklist to give yourself – based on a recent Harvard Business Review article – as you go through the decision-making process: 1. Are There Any Alternatives We Have Overlooked? My rule of thumb is to always consid … [Read more...] about 5 Questions Before You Decide
Escape from Meeting Hangover
We have all survived terrible meetings. You know that feeling you have after a bad meeting where you are exhausted and unmotivated? It turns out that there is a term for it: Meeting Hangover. A recent article in Harvard Business Review reports a survey that shows 90% of workers have experienced this at least occasionally. Research also finds these root causes of bad m … [Read more...] about Escape from Meeting Hangover