When managers want to accomplish goals through their employees, they usually think in terms of accountability. It’s common to hear questions like “Who’s accountable for that project?” “Whose idea was that?” and “Whose fault is it?”
How do the answers to these questions accomplish goals? I don’t think they do. In my experience, questions that focus on accountability lead to discussions about blame, which often divide work groups into gossip camps and passive aggressive reactions. That wastes a lot of time.
A different approach is to focus on self-responsibility. Instead of the above questions, an employee with self-responsibility might say, “How can I help?” “I like / don’t like that idea because ______ and here’s what I suggest _____.” “How did our process (not a person) cause that problem?&r
Communication is easy. All you need to do is say what you mean and mean what you say. Right! How many of us are able to truly do that? And, when we finally do say what we intend to say, why is it that the people we say it to are not always happy to hear our words?
Whether we want to believe it or not, there definitely is an art to communicating effectively. First, of course, we need to really know what we think, feel, believe, and want to communicate to others. Right here, many of us run into problems. We may have some idea about what needs to be said, but we may not be clear about how we feel and we may have no idea how the other person or persons might respond. So, first, we have to gain clarity about our own thoughts, ideas, needs, desires, beliefs and intentions.
Next, it is important for us to know who we are communicating with. How does this person tend to receive and interpret information? Do they often&n
People join a group for many different reasons. Motivation, excitement, appropriate skill level, cooperative attitude, and desire to participate, may be lacking. Some people join a group to "look good," to add it to their resume, because someone coerced them and they just could not say no, or because they're curious but don't intend to contribute much. Others join a group with the intention of being a star, the boss, leading others to their own self-serving goals, or just controlling others to boost their own morale. Some people join a group because they want to receive what that group has to offer - education, advice, money, prestige, or a sense of belonging. Then there are the rare few who join a group to discover what they can contribute, how they can help the group to improve and expand.
Not only do people join groups for diverse and completely different reasons, they also arrive with completely different personalit
Recession anxiety is at the top of the news every day. It's inevitable that your team and staff will be affected.
Symptoms of recession anxiety include: chronic worry about job security and financial issues. Is your business going to survive? Will you have to lay people off? Arguments, gossip, stress-related ailments, and loss of productivity due to managers and employees taking sick days can reduce your company's effectiveness at the time you need it most.
Here are some guidelines for proactive management:
. Keep information flowing. Employees who sense that management is holding out on them by witholding information tend to lose motivation. Even if the future of your business is uncertain, keep your team informed and make sure the flow of information reaches everyone in the company.
James Mulvaney is a frequent contributor to Huffington Post, specializing in issues relating to national security, terrorism and global economy and politics.
Full texts available at www.huffingtonpost.com/james-mulvaney/
Last weekend I spoke for a Career Builder group on one of my favorite presentations entitled, "I Hate My Job But I Love the Money." The idea behind this topic is that many folks stay at their jobs not because of their passion for their profession but solely based on the income they make; thus leaving them feeling depleted and defeated.
I had this presentation scheduled with Career Builder for about three months and was really excited to meet my audience as well as present on this topic. While things went great at the workshop they didn't go quite as planned; what I consider to be every speaker's nightmare happened to me! I did not get through all of my material, yikes!
I was given an hour to present and I had 10 principles to cover. Sadly, I only made it through three. The reason: the audience was so excited over the material, they just could not stop asking questions! While I feel this is a great sign, I do believe it is imperative that a good speaker
I have often wondered how you create charisma in your life. Since charisma is a form of energy, the question is how do you go about creating energy. And then there’s the question of what type of energy.
If you look at charisma as magnetism then charisma can be used in a good or bad way depending on the intention of the person. There are some people that are just plain charismatic no matter what
You may or may not know this about me, but I was a federal officer for several years serving the U.S. Courts and its judges. While I am happy I have left this career behind, I still keep in contact with some of my former colleagues and judges who tell me, sadly, that many of the management techniques and administrative operations remain the same.
I say "sadly" because it is many of those same order of operations that catapulted me into finding a new career as well as a new lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, I have no regrets about leaving the government-world behind and starting anew but had things been a bit different, I may have stayed until retirement. Afterall, I felt I had developed a good reputation; I was working in a career that matched my credentials; I felt cerebrally challenged; and I had created some incredibly strong friendships. However, when I noticed that I and many others were being continuously ignored when attempting to communicate what I felt woul
The other day I was asked to help out in a kindergarten class because their teacher had called in sick. While I am used to being at the front of the room leading seminars and trainings, I took immense pleasure in sitting in the back while watching the teacher's aid take the lead and instruct the class. It was such a joy to watch him engage with these children, entertain them, and truly listen and lead. Suddenly, it dawned on me that today's leaders, administrators, and managers could gain some pretty valuable knowledge from this T.A. With all that said, all I know about leadership I learned in a kindergarten class.
Here are the 10 leadership principles that the T. A. embodied and taught me:
1. L-Learn. A leader never stops learning and that includes from his/her own employees and subordinates. While a leader teaches, the best teachers know they are forever students. In today's day and age, something has happened where we are programmed to always
It was interesting last night when we arrived at the party. Everyone was engaged with someone else and no one greeted us. I felt awkward and went into my judgments about the hostess.
So Annie and I grabbed a chair and talked to each other. We could have stayed home I thought to myself. This went on for about ten or fifteen minutes and finally someone broke off their conversation and the subject of mountain biking came up…I felt like a made a connection and then it was time for the food. We all got up and stood around the table lighting candles and blessing the food. That felt good and we ate. I hadn’t done that for a while.
In the chair next to me, Art, who I had played music with six months before at this same house sat down. After a while our conversation extended to playing music.
As we were winding down our playing music, Janis one of the people of the party came over and began talking to us about perhaps having us play at a party she w
