Who’s Got Your Back? 5 ways to find out

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…

Got room on your team? Not if this person already has a seat

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…

The Challenge of Working in Teams—Dealing with Conflict

Differences are inevitable when passionate people work together. Eventually, after a team gets through an initial orientation with a new task, members usually come to the realization that working together to accomplish a common goal is tough work. This occurs in the “dissatisfaction” stage of team development when the team recognizes the discrepancy between what…

Don’t Leave Collaboration to Chance: 3 Strategies for Leaders

Collaboration is a hit-or-miss proposition (and mostly a miss) in today’s organizations, according to Dr. Eunice Parisi-Carew, a teams expert with The Ken Blanchard Companies. The result is a huge loss in productivity and potential as “pseudo-teams” struggle with tasks that could have been accomplished more successfully if the team members worked together more effectively.…

Five Keys to Better Teams

One of the biggest challenges teams face is building trust and managing conflict. While you want differing opinions, it’s important that conflict stay focused on content and not become personal. How do you encourage healthy debate?  Here are five team attitudes and perspectives that can help you build trust and keep conflict productive in your…

Why Work Teams Fail

Most of us have worked on teams that, for whatever reason, never really achieved the results expected.  With all of the focus on the importance of teamwork, why do teams fail so often?  Research by The Ken Blanchard Companies has identified the top 10 reasons for a team failing to reach its potential.  Lack of…