“We’re Lost, But We’re Making Good Time.” This is one of my favorite Mario Morino quotes. It exemplifies one of the bad things that can happen when an organization confuses “activity” with “achievement.” Our culture is partly to blame. Busyness has become a status symbol. In fact, recent research suggests that people who exert high effort are considered “morally … [Read more...] about Your Addiction to Busyness
leadership
Improve Your Coaching
“I’m Stuck.” These are words a leader will often hear from a direct report. You don’t want to micromanage, and you certainly don’t want to do the job for them. What do you do? Here are some questions you can ask to coach people through a challenge, while allowing them to maintain ownership of the issue. Not all of these questions are appropriate for every situation. … [Read more...] about Improve Your Coaching
Build Your Team’s Fearlessness
At the University of Maryland, we talk about Leading Fearlessly and moving Fearlessly Forward. Many people embrace the idea of being fearless, but what is it all about and how can you develop it in your team? For Amy Edmondson, the Harvard professor who wrote the book The Fearless Organization, it is all about creating “team psychological safety.” Here are some examples … [Read more...] about Build Your Team’s Fearlessness
You Can Make Meetings Better
You can make your meetings a SAFE space – and that will make your meetings more effective. As a leader, you help to influence the power dynamics in any meeting. Following are some suggestions on how to use your influence productively, based on a recent article in Harvard Business Review: Ask someone else to facilitate the meeting. You don’t need to be the center of … [Read more...] about You Can Make Meetings Better
The Leading Change Triad
Leading a change is one of the most important senior leader responsibilities. Leading change can include adjusting the organization’s direction due to changes in the environment, looming problems ahead, new great opportunities, and more. Regardless of the purpose for the effort, Leading Change expert John Kotter says that 75% of change efforts fail. Why? Much has been … [Read more...] about The Leading Change Triad