Yesterday was Memorial Day in the USA. A day to remember those who fought for our ideals. A day to bring stories back. A day to remember heroes and heroines, the ones who have been recognized, and the unsung and forgotten. It makes me think: Do we know what a hero is? Do we still need heroes? Do we even believe in heroes and heroines anymore? Continue reading »
In the context of Memorial Weekend, I want to share the memory of one of the great moments in USA history, when a leader had the courage to lead on. In difficult times, we need leaders that can dare to lead on! Are you that type of leader? Continue reading »
Every night at bedtime, when the lights are turned off, the monsters come out...scary two headed dragons, orange and red caterpillars, silvery snakes, bats and ghosts. That’s what happens to Angie in the delightful children’s book Monsters in Your Bed...Monsters in Your Head (Jazz the DreamDog T)
The book resonates with children and adults alike because we all seem to wrestle with monsters. Continue reading »
A coupe of weeks ago I was working with a company that is going through a comprehensive software change. Almost everybody was very frustrated with the implementation of the process. The stress level was very high. As a result, people were having a harder time learning the new skills.
In our interaction with different groups over the week, we encouraged a different kind of conversation. At the start there was a lot of negativity, the mood was: “this is too hard; it will take us forever to master this program.” As we moved the focus to sharing the small gains that everybody was experiencing, the mood changed to cautious optimism: “We already know a lot more today than we did one month ago; maybe this will be a good thing after all.”
It's easy to become discouraged and abandon change efforts when you look at the steep learning curve ahead. It looks daunting and never ending. Continue reading »
Effective business communication costs very little and the results can transform both you and your business. Communication and interpersonal skills are at the top of the list of what matters most today in leadership. As I mentioned before, investing in developing effective business communication can produce breakthrough results! Continue reading »
In my post on 3 obstacles to change, I said that confusion is a killer. A confused mind does nothing. Most change process are unsatisfactory. The primary cause of failure is lack of clarity about the reasons for change and the overall objectives. Continue reading »
In my last post we established that inclusion makes change easier and helps accelerate it. Many times leaders don’t include enough people in the planning and design of the process of change because they think it’s too messy and time consuming.
In reality, you will lose a lot more time, and risk failure if you don’t include enough people in the process. Today I’m sharing 7 specific behaviors you can easily learn and apply to defeat exclusion and make change easier. Continue reading »
