Take a guess: What portion of the American workforce said they were “most productive” at the office during normal work hours? According to a recent FlexJobs survey, the number could be as low as 7 percent. Many more said they get some things done at the office “because it’s not an option to leave.” Whatever […]
Archive for Team-Building
One Simple Trick to Bring Out the Best in People
How Leading with Positive Expectations Can Work for You
Winston Lord is a former ambassador to China who once wrote speeches for Henry Kissinger. Looking back, he said he couldn’t “recommend that to anybody.” Why? “You’d have to go through about 20 drafts and many insults before you got to the final speech.” In one outrageous but true example, Lord took Kissinger a draft […]
How to Fire a Monster Client: The Steps
4 Ways to Let Go and Move on to Greener Pastures
When I wrote recently about firing monster clients who eat up disproportionate time and resources, one reader replied, “Great idea. Do you have a guide for how exactly we should do that?” It was a good question. A guide like that would have been useful to me earlier in my career. I have had to […]
The Secret to Hiring Great People
5 Steps to Give Your Organization a Personnel Push
Leaders frequently tell me they have a hard time recruiting great people to join their organizations. When I ask about their hiring process, I often find one missing element: sales. Recruiting great people is similar to any kind of sales process. Your company is the product. Prospective employees are your customers. The recruiting process is […]
4 Ways to Boost Your Team Engagement
It All Comes Down to the Right Kind of Connection
Recently, I was talking to the leader of a nonprofit organization who was complaining that volunteerism was at an all time low. “Even when people volunteer, most of them don’t show up or follow through,” he said. “They just don’t seem to be engaged.” This is a common problem in the for-profit world as well. […]
6 Ways Leaders Can Build Trust
One of the most important parts of being an effective leader is building trust. In this guest post, Dr. Jeremy Statton provides 6 ways leaders can do this with their teams.