By their very nature, unionized workplaces and industries often promote a culture of distrust between stakeholders. Each party is suspicious of the other and is afraid of being taken advantage of, so they hold their cards close to their vest and try to cut the best deal possible for their stakeholders. It’s us on one…
Trust is often one of those things we don’t think about until we don’t have it. Much like oxygen, we take it for granted, but once it’s gone…YIKES! We suddenly realize how critically important it is and we’ll do just about anything to get it back. The good news about broken trust, if there is…
In several parts of the world, particularly the United States, restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic are beginning to ease. Some organizations have already announced plans to return employees back to the office full-time. Many have hesitantly announced their intent to move to a hybrid arrangement, while most are still trying to gain clarity on…
If you’ve seen the movie Meet the Parents, you probably remember “the circle of trust.” Robert De Niro’s character, Jack, a former CIA agent and overly protective father, is obsessed with making sure his future son-in-law Greg is a trustworthy and honorable husband for Pam, his only daughter. From his point of view, a person is…
Virtually every organization I work with wants their leaders to be good coaches. Gone are the days where self-oriented, command and control leaders rule the roost. The most effective leaders today understand that their success, and that of the organization, is inextricably tied to the success of their people. Leadership is an others-oriented approach, where…
If you’re like millions of other people, you’ve been working remotely either part or full-time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Literally overnight, teams were challenged with finding new ways to communicate and collaborate, and the bonds of trust those teams had established were put to the test. High performing teams thrive on trust…
I recently spent time at Alcatraz…as a tourist, of course. The old federal penitentiary hasn’t housed prisoners since 1963. As a history nerd it was fascinating to walk the same halls as some of the world’s most famous criminals like Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, and Robert Stroud, the “birdman” of Alcatraz. Some of the…
Building trust in the workplace is much like growing plants in a garden; you have to sow the seeds. If you don’t sow it, you can’t grow it. It doesn’t matter how rich the soil is in your garden, how much sunlight it receives, or how often you water, if you don’t sow the seeds, you…
If you’re a leader, particularly in a large organization, the chances are your people don’t see you as a real person. They have a mental image of what they perceive you to be like, not who you actually are, says research by Nathan T. Washburn and Benjamin Galvin. This mental image is formed through random…
A lack of self awareness is one of the biggest challenges leaders face as they step into increasingly higher management roles. “As a leader, you need to be on your best behavior all of the time,” says coaching expert Madeleine Blanchard. “What’s unfortunate is that just when a leader needs increased self awareness, the quality…