I recently watched a UK talk show where Tom Hanks and Ron Howard were guests. Howard, director of many of Hanks’s most successful films, was asked what he liked about working with Hanks. His response was that he appreciated two qualities in Hanks—confidence and creativity. This got me thinking. What makes us want to work…
The more that virtual teams become our normal way of working, the more we realize how difficult it is to build the positive relationships so critical for team success. A face-to-face meeting for team building is best, yet most teams can’t afford that luxury. So how do you build team spirit when you can’t have…
Trying to keep your internal (employees) and external customers coming back? Maybe it’s time to engage diversity, embrace new and innovative ideas from all of your customers, and be a learner with everyone you meet. Last week I was with a client teaching a session on the topic of Legendary Service. There were people in…
Innovation requires passion. It takes a lot of energy to develop an idea and implement it successfully in an organization. Fortunately, innovators have passion in abundance. Innovation also requires collaboration. Very few ideas can be successfully implemented without the cooperation and buy-in of others. Unfortunately, innovators often struggle in this area–especially if they fall in…
Here’s an exercise from a team building class I attended that I wanted to share with you. It uses questions from a Mensa quiz to illustrate the point that a team’s collective wisdom is always greater than any individual team member’s. To get started, see how many of these questions you can answer individually. According…
One of the hardest things for brilliant, technically proficient folks to realize is that as they assume more and more leadership responsibility they must depend on the help of others. And each of these “others” is an individual who needs to be seen, heard and understood. One of the strategies you can use to map…
If you are like me, every time I am in an airport and see a military man or woman in uniform, I am compelled to go up to them and thank them for their service. And many times, I actually do thank them. In my mind, that is the ultimate service one can give—dedicating one’s…
In his book, Good to Great, author Jim Collins found that leaders at the most successful companies shared two traits—a fierce resolve toward achieving organizational goals and a deep sense of personal humility. At the best companies, leaders worked tirelessly to keep the goals of the organization ahead of thoughts of personal accomplishment. The result…
Work used to be a lot more fun. Companies were looking up and looking out. There was a lot more growth and a lot more opportunities inside and outside of organizations. But today’s economic situation has created a long-term change in the work environment and some resulting resentment and control issues among employees that will…
What’s one of the biggest barriers to people working together effectively? “The human ego,” according to Dr. Ken Blanchard, best-selling business author and co-founder of The Ken Blanchard Companies. As Blanchard explains, “When people get caught up in their ego, it erodes their effectiveness. That’s because the combination of false pride and self-doubt created by…