Posted: December 10, 2015 | Categories: Leadership, Self-Improvement, Team Building

When I was in my late 30’s, I was attending a 6-week leadership seminar and learned a valuable lesson:  Be careful when you tease.  The subject was teamwork, and the instructor brought up the topic of teasing.  He said, “Teasing can be one of the most subtle forms of cruelty.”  He went on to say, “Have any of you ever been in situation where someone said something to you in jest, you chuckled, and then later had second thoughts?”  “You may have thought to yourself, “I wonder what he meant by that”.Read More…

Posted: November 25, 2015 | Categories: Management, Team Building

Have you ever worked in a culture where there was constant whining, finger-pointing, and excuse making?  If you have, you know how such behavior affects team performance.

A few years ago I had someone in my management class who was struggling with a negative team environment.  People would continually come up to him and complain about other people not doing their job.  They often had a complaint, but seldom proposed a solution.

As we discussed this challenge, I introduced him to the 4 problem solving questions I have spoken of before.  These were developed by Leon Shimkin nearly 100 years ago, and have stood the test of time:Read More…

Posted: September 8, 2015 | Categories: Leadership, Team Building

I want to share with you one of my favorite examples from all my years of facilitating leadership and management classes:  Several years ago, one of my class members was relating a childhood incident that they believed to be a defining moment in their lives.  It was when they were a toddler, and they accidentally knocked over a glass of milk.  It spilled all over the floor, and was quite a mess.  Mom was nearby, of course.  Read More…

Posted: September 2, 2015 | Categories: Leadership, Team Building

Do you like it when people whine?  I didn’t think so.  Aside from Oscar the Grouch, I don’t know of anyone who enjoys a whiner.  But what if they are just sharing a concern?  What is the difference?Read More…

Posted: July 17, 2015 | Categories: Leadership, Team Building

There is an old saying about keeping a secret:  “Secrets are either too good to keep or not worth keeping”.  I am finding the same is true when it comes to getting and keeping good employees.  There are either too good to keep or not worth keeping.Read More…