<658 words> I have a sideways pear tree in my backyard. It fell over some years ago before I moved here, so I don’t know what happened. But, by the time I moved in, it had developed a very different stance from what one normally expects of a pear tree. The… Read More »TENACITY AND RESILIENCE
<1211 words> Ambition Many years ago, when I was working with my first ever coaching client, I saw in real life the power of sensible vs. audacious goal setting. The client was the plant manager in a manufacturing concern, part of a global conglomerate. He was thrilled at his recent promotion… Read More »CUTTING BACK ON BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOALS
<1281 words> I have a great deal of respect for wild elephants and am careful to show that respect by backing out of their way when they come walking down the road towards my car. I believe I’ve learned a thing or two about elephant culture in my multiple trips to… Read More »RESPECT & CURIOSITY: On Elephants and Others
<932 words> I read Kathy Jourdain’s new blog this morning on her blog page and ended up writing such a long response that it turned into the blog below. She starts out with: “Be afraid. Be very afraid. But not for the reasons you might think. We are living in precipitous… Read More »Response to Fear: Fascism or Openness?
<292 words> Stop. Think. Choose. Do. You’ve come through Christmas ok, haven’t you? Kept your mouth shut when you wanted to speak out? Went home before the same old quarrel kicked into gear? Dreading going back to work to face the bully again? Are you always going… Read More »Four New Things for the New Year
< 904 words> This question was sent to me by someone who read yesterday’s blog about new year’s resolutions and plans and prompted me to think about it. I have in fact been thinking about it over the years, but so here, at this point in time, is my take on… Read More »Do you ever feel that you’re running out of time?
A business guru’s best-selling book told me some time ago that I have the wrong friends. The advice was that, if you want to be a winner, you have to associate with winners. It was clear from the text that by ‘winner’ was meant someone who had a track record of being a success in their chosen field, and by implication, someone who had/is making money and establishing a name for themselves. Winners are people who are leaders, innovators, visionaries, and above all, who are financially secure beyond most folks’ wildest dreams…..I have come to disagree totally with the notion that you need to cultivate friends who can help you get ahead. Those aren’t friends: they’re tour guides, agents, mentors, coaches, and even well wishers, but they move on. Friends are the ones who know what makes your heart ache and what music makes you leap up from your chair.
I wonder about the way in which great medical mysteries have been brought into common parlance, and think about the risks those curious surgeons of old took in digging up graves in order to explore human anatomy. I can’t help but wonder what these folk would think of someone upturning some of the gravestones in one of the little cemeteries on this road, taking a crowbar to the coffin, and carefully collecting the bones to be re-assembled in some dark cellar some place, studying the system of levers and pulleys that make up the human skeleton.
“Research has shown” – yes, it HAS! That unresolved conflict is bad for your bottom line. There are direct (visible) costs and there are indirect (hidden costs. Negative consequences follow failure to act; positive consequences await the business owner/manager who steps in and manages conflict.
GOOD WORKPLACE DYNAMICS IS THE SWING VOTE THAT TAKES YOUR BUSINESS TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
It has become a fundamental principle (a principle from which other truths can be derived) that engaged employees do take care of your customers, bring in hard cash, and uphold the highest quality standards you can afford. There is a great deal of overlap in what are deemed to be the best questions to get the best answers, but it has not made much of a difference: the number of ‘engaged employees’ seems to stick at 30% according to various studies spanning at least a decade.
We are overthinking the issues of leadership and employee engagement.