Tag: improving work culture

Stop Wasting Your Time on Skills, Look to Beliefs for Success.

Before you decide that they don’t know what to do, it may be helpful to inquire into what they think they need to be successful. It could be that they are stuck with a new challenge with a customer. Or they are having personal issues that are distracting, or perhaps they have heard rumors about themselves or the company that are distracting them.  By taking the time to understand where they are coming from, and then addressing the issue, they may get better results.

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Are you threatening the lives of your team: Why disrespect is seen as a threat to life.

I recently reconnected with an old friend and colleague who I worked with early in my career. Jack Hoban is an author, a combat instructor
and a corporate transformation executive. His new book The Warrior Ethic presents an interesting premise:

When you disrespect someone, (in their mind back in the reptilian brain) you are threatening their life. Is it any wonder that practice isn’t working so well?

In an environment where over half of us are not engaged in our jobs and …

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Creating an Environement for Success

I am reading the book, the Social Animal by David Brooks. His
character Erica is a lower middle class girl, who is raised by a single mom in essence who appeared to suffer from manic depression. When she is ready for eighth grade she reaches a decision;
she wants to change the trajectory of her life.

“She somehow …

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What Do You Know?

We are trained to eliminate the phrase. “I don’t know from a very early age.” In school when they called on you, you needed to know the answer. When you are
working through your career, the boss doesn’t like hearing I don’t know. And yet, when we eliminate that phrase from our vocabulary and hence our thinking we can no longer know. It is a bit of
a paradox.

Think about this, If …

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Esprit de Corps and Culture

I am reading the book, War Fighting, published by the United States Marine Corp, in 1989. I was struck by the following phrase, “Leaders should develop unit
cohesion and esprit and the self-confidence of individuals within the unit. In this environment, a Marine’s unwillingness to violate the respect and trust of peers can overcome personal
fear.”

This speaks to the value of Culture in an organization. When there is a strong culture, …

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