Effective Accountability Requires 200%
When each party takes responsibility for clarifying expectations, fulfilling agreements and ensuring outcomes, high performance is the natural by product.
Tag: communication
4 Questions to Ask BEFORE Initiating a Difficult Conversation
Something happened at work that set off your alarm bells. Maybe you’re a nurse and the physician ordered a drug you believe may trigger an allergic reaction from the patient. Maybe your employee showed up late for the third time this month – and this time it caused you to…
The Cost of Unclear Expectations
I’m told that one quote preachers try to live by is, “If it’s foggy in the pulpit, it’s cloudy in the pew.” In other words, as the leader and communicator, if you’re unclear about any part of your message, it’s a sure bet everyone else is as well. You don’t…
5 Ways to Take the Pain Out of Giving Feedback
One of the most distasteful activities leaders face is giving negative feedback. The reason? When done well, it can still ruffle feathers. When done poorly, it’s a disaster. No one likes engaging in activities that often aren’t appreciated. Giving great feedback isn’t easy. It’s tricky, it’s not much fun and…
5 Phrases Successful Leaders Use
There’s incredible power in language. Words don’t merely convey ideas, they can change the course of history. The words you use as a leader matter too. Here are some simple but powerful phrases that set great leaders apart from the rest.
Don’t Sabotage Your Own Success
When you’re new to the workforce, enjoying leadership success can be a far off goal. The main focus is finding the right role and doing quality work. I know that was the case for me. But with time and experience (and a lot of hard work) come new opportunities to lead…
Get More Initiative From Your People
“I don’t know that I’ve ever had someone come to me with that level of initiative. If they did, I think I’d be blown away.” I heard these words from an executive at a leadership event a couple weeks ago. His frustrations weren’t anything new. Why can’t employees take more…
The Best Leadership Education You Can Get for Free
Just about all of us are Monday morning quarterbacks when it comes to leadership. Everyone has an opinion. But how informed are those opinions, especially if we’ve never been there before? Here’s the thing: if you wait until you receive a leadership role to get a leadership education, you may be…
Is Your Organization Playing Chess or Checkers?
Is complexity leaving your organization behind? That’s a question we considered at a workshop I attended recently. Author Mark Miller and a team of facilitators walked a large group through the content of his new book Chess Not Checkers. The boardgame imagery? It’s symbolic for what happens as organizations grow.…
How to Get Great Feedback
Feedback is everywhere. We get feedback from our bosses in our performance reviews. We ask our customers for their feedback on our service. We collect engagement feedback from our employees. We send a work project around the team for peer feedback before submitting our deliverables. In all of these cases, the…
Where Credibility Comes From
When was the last time your face was the unfamiliar one? You may have gotten a new job or joined a new team. Maybe you moved to a new area, joined a new network or gave a presentation to a new group. How did it go? If you had anything…
Dramatize Your Ideas!
I don’t think I’ll ever forget one particular college history class. As a business major, I wasn’t extremely invested and the class took place right after lunch. I remember one student team was scheduled to give a presentation on Ancient Roman civilization. Just as I was about to zone out, the…