Before delegating any task, ask yourself: "Am I the best and cheapest person to get this done?". If the answer is no, hand it off. Your role as a leader is primarily context-setting—explaining why the work needs to be done, the expected outcomes, the deadline, and the behavioral guardrails. The team should own the activity-based work, making the decisions about how to … [Read more...] about Improve Your Delegation
teamwork
Build Your Team’s Trust
As a leader, one of the most important things you can do is to build trust with your team and among your team members. Teams without trust have interpersonal tension and frustration, are less motivated, play politics, and cannot get important decisions made. Trust is the foundation of effective teamwork. This all starts with you as a leader. Are you honest and … [Read more...] about Build Your Team’s Trust
Dialogue in the Workplace
In the public square, we don’t see much dialogue these days. It seems like it is mostly people yelling at one another. In the business-organization world, we can’t waste time yelling at one another. The collective needs to forge a path forward. But how do you do that when sides are taken and the differences are significant? The answer is: Dialogue. Let’s consider this … [Read more...] about Dialogue in the Workplace
Master the Little Things
Sometimes the difference between very good and excellent are the little things. As a baseball junkie, I’ll often hear a commentator share the cliché: “That won’t show up in the box score, but what that player just did saved a run.” Inside Baseball Explanation: the “box score” is the official record that is reported after every game (once in newspapers, now online). It … [Read more...] about Master the Little Things
Improve Your Team Emotional Intelligence
The importance of improving our individual Emotional Intelligence has gained a lot of momentum in recent years. However, it is also important to improve the Emotional Intelligence of our teams! Most leaders try to build a first-rate team by bringing together a group of first-rate people. But as a recent Harvard Business Review article points out, a collection of … [Read more...] about Improve Your Team Emotional Intelligence