Teams don’t just magically feel inspired, or suddenly develop a poor culture where people are not motivated. I am always amazed at managers who blame their teams for their poor mood, poor output and lack of initiative. It starts at the top. Strategies to inspire your people 1. Do a big SWOT of new technology Make this an […]
When you listen well you build trust and respect. Most people think they are good listeners, yet most people say others are not good listeners. When managers get feedback on their communication skills it is often about needing to be better listeners. The problem is that good listening is not always a skill offered in […]
The “walk of shame” that teens like to snigger about has a whole new meaning these days, especially when applied to companies and organisations recovering from reputation damage. Acknowledgement and admissions I recently described an email United Airlines sent to me (and many others) apologising for its brutal bumping of a customer from a Chicago flight. As […]
Adam Grant has a terrific TED Talk about “givers”, “takers” and “matchers” in the workplace. The descriptions are self-evident to some degree: we all know those who really do go out of their way to help others versus those who are much more interested in what others can do for them. The matcher The “matcher”, according to […]
I often travel to the US, and was interested to receive an email from the chief executive of United Airlines, Oscar Munoz. His email profusely apologised for the way armed officers forcibly dragged a passenger off one of his company’s planes in Chicago recently. The share price of United Airlines reportedly dropped by $1.4 billion after the […]
Corporate and government appetite for collaboration is definitely growing, albeit unevenly. How many times have you come up with an idea only for someone higher than you to either shoot it down or claim the credit? There’s an excellent New Yorker cartoon with an executive telling the employee, “I know it was your idea but it was my […]
Problems are life’s ingenious habit of tossing a curly one in our path, just when things are going smoothly or when they couldn’t be worse. In business, people often adopt a very black and white approach to solving problems; too often, business rewards those who appear to “get things done” and fail to recognise that […]
What do you do if you hate the leader appointed to lead you? A lot of people have been asking themselves this very question during the last week, both inside USA and worldwide. Surprisingly, there are plenty of people happy about the outcome of the US election, but a significant number aren’t and are making […]
The key to less staff turnover and a higher incidence of employee engagement boils down to recruiting well, giving employees ample reason to enjoy what they do and with whom, and above all, presenting them with incentives, challenges and a positive culture that act as “carrots” to stay. Loyalty However, does retention equate to company […]
