Listening can feel harder to do than ever. There’s always going to be outside distractions. Emails, texts, meetings, presentations, it can seem to go on and on. It can be easy to get lost in a sea of noise. How do we become better listeners? One tool to do so is called the backbrief. The … Read more
There’s a reason why “micromanage” is often considered a dirty word. The idea that a single leader can handle every aspect of a task, down to the smallest detail, is truly a myth. Even if someone could handle it all themselves, it would result in the crowding out of other team members. Micromanagement will only create … Read more
How do we know how we measure up? We need a point of reference. To benchmark is to compare yourself against the highest standards. How do we benchmark our organization’s culture to see how it is performing? I describe how in “Benchmarking Your Culture,” Part 6 of my video blog series, the Leadership Journey of … Read more
I don’t think I’ve ever been involved with an organization where some, if not all, of the leaders felt the meetings they held or attended could be much more productive. Most surveys indicate unnecessary and poorly conducted meetings are one of the biggest irritants in the workplace. Even worse, we typically don’t hold the most … Read more
One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned as a leader is embodied in The Big Six® principle, “Trust and Empower.” It wasn’t that I didn’t want to empower others; yet, I always seemed to drift back into being more controlling. And, throughout my career, I had to continuously step back and try to see myself … Read more
Having trouble finding time? In early 2016, a new weekends-off initiative was unveiled at J.P. Morgan called “Pencils Down.” The media was quick to highlight the move by the financial giant as a radical step: “The initiative…is unusual in a high-powered corner of Wall Street where 100-hour weeks are considered by some as a badge … Read more
