People lie to leaders. Usually it’s not malicious, but it’s always unhelpful. Team members who aspire to get along or get ahead… Soften criticism. Deflect tough answers. Over-state compliments. Authority corrupts interactions. If your team treated you like a subordinate, you might receive useful...
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4 Ways Managers Screw Up One-On-Ones
A simple thing that’s made complex disappoints and drains. 4 ways to screw up one-on-ones: #1. Leave them to the last minute. People feel valued when you prioritize time with them. Rushing around at the last minute to spend a few minutes with a person leaves a bad taste in their mouth. #2. Focus...
6 Ways to Recognize a Team Member with Leadership Potential
For a leader who develops leaders, there is something scarcer and much more important than ability. It is the ability to recognize ability. One of the primary responsibilities of any successful leader is to identify potential leaders. So, how do you do it? How do you identify good potential...
Rethinking New-Manager Development: An Operating System to Support Success
Imagine you are tapped on the shoulder to lead an upcoming training program for a cohort of soon-to-be first-time managers in your organization. You're probably flattered, excited and just a bit nervous. While you've been successful as a manager, it's daunting to think about how you will translate...
4 Building Blocks for a Successful Remote Employee Onboarding Process
An effective onboarding process is crucial to developing a productive and engaged workforce. After the catastrophic pandemic in 2020, this year is giving hope to professionals and organizations across the world. Companies are implementing new trends and practices to ensure that their business...
Working with a Difficult Direct Report
Dear Brittney, I have a direct report. He is very volatile, not at all a team player. Everyone gets along great in the department except him. He always tries to point out everyone’s faults but not his own. He is very difficult to talk to. How can I overcome this? Signed,Leader of Difficult Direct...
10 Key Questions to Ask Before Making Any Major Business Decision
Every decision you make in business will have its consequences. While you always want to make decisions that will result in positive outcomes, things don't always go as well as you hoped they would. In this way, it's important for a leader to take the time to think through a potential decision...
Understanding How to Fix Things When They Go Wrong
Each of us has faced at least one event in our lives when things didn’t just go our way. When circumstances end up going “wrong,” it simply means that events unfolded in a way that we weren’t expecting to happen. However, when things don’t go our way, it can cause us to rapidly go into “crisis”...
The 3 Stay Conversations: The Best Way to Improve Employee Retention
Improve employee retention by having these three one-on-one meetings with your staff once a month. We all want to improve employee retention. The question is how? Our knee-jerk answers to this question can feel opaque. Pay, perks, and promotion opportunities could matter… but to what degree?...
How to Recognize a Toxic Employee and the 3-Step Process for Addressing Them
The tips in this article will help you determine whether terminating or retaining a toxic employee is the right choice. As a business owner, you want to mold your workers into a dream team. Ideally, they will work together enthusiastically and give a rock star performance. But sometimes you may...
4 Strategies to Help Gen-Z and Millennials (and Other Generations) Work Better Together
5 generations of employees will be working together under one roof. Are you prepared for the unexpected? As Gen-Z enters the workforce, for the first time in history, five generations of employees will be working together under one roof, at least for a short period of time. In this...
Confronting the Ransomware Crisis: Advanced Common Sense Advice
We are facing a ransomware crisis that has already impacted our society and continues to cause havoc and devastation. Ransom attacks, banking on stolen information, are also on the rise and will soon surpass ransomware attacks due to the simplicity of the crimes. In the recent ISACA Ransomware...