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Robert Whipple Articles

Written by: Robert Whipple

Improve E-mail: Avoid the Quicksand - Click To Read Article
Would you like to be less frustrated by e-mail? There are numerous tips for improving online communication. In this article, I discuss five easy tips that can improve your experience with e-mail.

Motivation Mistakes - Click To Read Article
Listen carefully and you will hear managers at your place of work use the following phrase numerous times a week, "We have to motivate our people." This overused phrase actually shows a poor understanding of motivation on the part of the speaker. Reason: "Motivate" is not something you do to another person. Motivation is a prime benefit of a leader working to create a culture of high trust.

Fail More Often - Click To Read Article
I often like to take an extreme position on topics to stimulate helpful discussions where we share various points of view. The title of this article sounds ridiculous. We all would rather have success than failure in anything we do. My point in this article is whether we need to put a higher value on failures than we typically do.

Getting Outside Your Box - Click To Read Article
We are all familiar with the overused phrase, "thinking outside the box." This article discusses ways we can break out of our constraints in order to get more out of life.

Boost Your Emotional Intelligence - Click To Read Article
This article presents a new slant on how to increase your Emotional Intelligence. It focuses on how the brain works.

5 C's of Body Language - Click To Read Article
We often forget how powerful body language is in our communications. We are constantly sending and receiving numerous signals from each other as we interface. There are over 30,000 cataloged gestures and facial expressions that constitute a robust language. Most of the time we read body language cues automatically, but sometimes we do make a conscious effort to decode meaning from gestures.

Organizational Pooper Scooper - Click To Read Article
We are all familiar with the pooper scooper, and we know what it is used for. I was thinking that maybe we ought to have a figurative pooper scooper for use at work to clean up the messes people leave behind for others to step in.

What's Under Your Tree? - Click To Read Article
The fun part of this season is exchanging gifts. We think of presents at holiday time and on birthdays or anniversaries. Why not think more about giving gifts at work and at home every day? This article explains how to do it.

6 Tips to Avoid Being Micromanaged - Click To Read Article
Being micromanaged is something most of us have complained about at some point. We get a task to do, then the boss keeps badgering us with details of how we should do it. The result is a feeling of exasperation or even helplessness. Clearly, having a micromanager for a boss reduces our empowerment and energy to do the task well. Usually we blame the boss. This article turns the logic around and suggests that we can do things to prevent being micromanaged.

The 360 Degree Trap - Click To Read Article
Many organizations use a 360 Degree Assessment to measure the effectiveness of leaders. I have always been a proponent of this method as it provides vital information required to improve leadership and build trust. There is a potential trap in this method if the assessment is strongly linked to compensation.

That's Not Right - Click To Read Article
This article is a story about how a value that was planted in me at an early age ended up saving me from being taken advantage of by a pedophile later on. It is a good lesson for all parents.

Wimpy Boss - Click To Read Article
If you are reporting to a wimpy boss, it can be very frustrating because it seems there is little you can do short of leaving the organization. Here are some ideas that can help if applied with care. For this discussion, I would be interested in other ideas you have to contribute.

Playing Politics - Click To Read Article
When we hear about someone playing politics, it is almost always considered an evil thing, yet engaging in political thought is something each of us do every day. Whenever you are trying to influence the thinking of other people to be more aligned with your own opinions, you are engaging in politics. It is human nature.

Leadership Mentors - Click To Read Article
There is no shortage of individuals who aspire to be really good leaders. There is also an abundance of leadership development programs, yet we still see a habitual shortfall in the number of really good leaders. I believe a major reason is a shortage of really great leadership mentors. This article shares the impact of this problem and gives the antidote.

One Letter Can Make a Huge Difference - Click To Read Article
It is hard to believe that just a single letter in a word can change the entire meaning of a note. It shows how electronic communication can leave us vulnerable to miscommunication.

Quality Check for Meetings - Click To Read Article
This article contains a very simple method for improving the effectiveness of meetings. The idea is so simple, it is amazing it is not used more often.

Olympic Story of Trust - Click To Read Article
This brief story of product development demonstrates the power of trust. When people are trusted, they can do incredible things.

Addition by Subtraction - Click To Read Article
We have all been on a team that is stopped in its tracks because of one individual who habitually brings up tangent issues or takes a contrarian stand on nearly every topic. It can be exasperating for a group, because all members, except the offender, can witness the amount of time and energy that is consumed by this one misfit.

New Eyeballs - Click To Read Article
What if you could order a new set of eyeballs with a magic power to see new opportunities to improve your performance on a daily basis? We all have a system at the base of our brain called the Reticular Activating System (RAS) that can be used to give us this insight, if we understand how to use it.

Fewer, Shorter Meetings - Click To Read Article
Wouldn\'t you love to have fewer, shorter meetings? For most of us, meetings are the most frustrating parts of our working life. How come we don\\\'t take the initiative and manage them better? The ideas are simple.

The Scar Never Really Goes Away - Click To Read Article
As a human being, you tend to let other people down from time to time. Sometimes it is an innocent misunderstanding, and sometimes the cause is more complex. Regardless, we normally try to patch things up and move on. The dilemma is that damaged relationships are like scars that never fully go away. The skin is intact, but the prior damage is always evident.

Trust Avoids Miscommunication - Especially Online - Click To Read Article
The potential for miscommunication is greatly enhanced in online communication (all forms of it) because we cannot see the body language. In person, if the words do not match the body language, the disconnect is easier to see, so it can often be corrected on the spot.

Tyrant or Bully? - Click To Read Article
What single adjective would you use to describe your boss? Hopefully it is a positive one, but at some point, you have probably worked for a tyrant or a bully. In this article, I compare these two negative descriptors and give some insight as to how to manage them.

The Sandwich: I Won\'t Bite - Click To Read Article
In \"Management 101,\" you were probably taught to tell a person something difficult by using the \"sandwich\" approach where you say nice things to the person before and after the difficult part. The theory behind the sandwich approach is that if you couch your negative implication between two happy thoughts, it will lessen the blow and make the input better tolerated by the person being coached. The problem is that this method usually does not work, and it often undermines the credibility of the person using it.

Wag More, Bark Less - Click To Read Article
I confess, this title was not made up by me. My wife saw a bumper sticker with this sentiment and shared it with me. I think the basic wisdom in the phrase is great and wish there was a way to get more managers to understand the simple logic here. Why is it that some bosses feel compelled to bark when wagging is a much more expedient way to bring out the best in people?

Monsters Under the Bed - Click To Read Article
Do you remember laying awake at night worrying about monsters under your bed? The same paranoia can exist in organizations as well. Some groups become paralyzed by fear of the unknown. It can stifle creativity and strangle progress.

Downsizing Mistakes - Click To Read Article
When organizations need to downsize, it is not a fun time for anyone. There are so many ways to do it poorly, and they detract from critical objectives. While there is no magic wand to make downsizing activities happy times, I believe the behavior of higher transparency is one best practice that should be used more often.

The Hidden Cost of Outsourcing - Click To Read Article
Outsourcing of functions and products has become so prevalent that many people take it for granted these days. Usually, costs can be significantly reduced using this technique; however, sometimes the hidden costs that come up dwarf the savings due to outsourcing. This article discusses this phenomenon.

M&A Courses - What's Missing - Click To Read Article
Some famous courses on Mergers and Acquisitions are seriously flawed because they cover only the mechanical parts of the process: such as due diligence, negotiation, legal aspects, asset disposition, etc. They fail to include the cultural aspects and the people issues in the course. I was astonished today to review the guts of a high-priced multi-day course that did not contain any references to the very things that cause many M&A efforts to fail. This article explains the details.

Don't be Opaque - Click To Read Article
I often speak on trust and transparency. One client said he knew some managers who are expert at being "opaque." That word caught my imagination, and I wanted to send along some comments on the concept of being opaque.

But I Sent an E-mail on That Last Week - Click To Read Article
I know many managers who believe if they send information out by e-mail they have communicated it. In many cases that assumption is not true. There are several reasons why information in an e-mail may not get the message across completely. This article explains some of them and offers suggestions.

When Lean Thinking Fails - Click To Read Article
Most of us are familiar with the term "Lean Thinking." The technique for making continuous improvement has been around for nearly 30 years, and it produces remarkable progress in any organization when it is applied correctly. There are numerous examples of how a well-engineered Kaizen event can yield a more than 50% improvement in productivity in a single week. My observation is that there are nearly as many failures of lean programs as successes. This article outlines some reasons why.

Changing Attitudes - Click To Read Article
This paper will focus on something we often take for granted - our attitude. Yet numerous philosophers and authors down through the ages have proven that our attitude, more than any other single factor (money, beauty, health, possessions, relationships), determines the quality of our life. The miracle is that we are actually able to manage our attitude rather easily.

What Your Boss Tells His Dog About You - Click To Read Article
Your boss may be an excellent leader and be totally transparent about his or her moments of frustration with you. Chances are you are not getting the entire set of information at all times. I have been fascinated with how you can tell if your boss is holding back information about you for some reason. This article will provide some ideas on how you can tell.

The Role of HR in Mergers - Click To Read Article
One of the benefits of any merger is the ability to reduce headcount in redundant staff functions. I believe it is a mistake to reduce HR staff during the process. In addition to their traditional functions in the steady state organization, there are numerous critical functions that must be handled well for the merged organization to survive.

8 Be-Attitudes of Holding People Accountable - Click To Read Article
The phrase "We've got to hold our people accountable" is uttered in every organization every day. The sad thing is that, in most cases, it carries a negative connotation. It means, "We need to catch our people doing wrong things and tell them those behaviors are not acceptable." I believe we can change the meaning of holding people accountable to one that is more balanced and not nearly as punitive. It is not just a matter of spin, it is a matter of attitude. I have a set of eight "Be-Attitudes" that can make a big difference if they are consistently applied.

Getting Millennials to Drink the Kool-Aid - Click To Read Article
Much has been written about the four (soon to be five) generations in the workforce. Stress between these groups is often the source of significant productivity loss due to annoyance. For this discussion, I wanted to focus on the Millennials (Generation Y) who are now 16-30 years old. The communication patterns of these young people are causing ruffled feathers as they are becoming a larger force within most organizations.

7 Reasons Bully Managers Last - Click To Read Article
A leadership student asked me why bully managers are able to remain in power. Their destructive impact is well known, yet many of them are allowed to abuse people for years. It seems logical there should be some force to either change the behaviors or remove them from power. Often this is not the case. This article describes 7 reasons why bully managers last and gives some antidotes to the problem.

Leaders. Read Your Hat! - Click To Read Article
Some leaders profess one philosophy verbally but behave in ways inconsistent with that concept. It would be like wearing a "no nukes" baseball cap to a ground breaking ceremony for a nuclear power plant. That sounds like a stupid example because no executive would be shallow enough to do that. Well, many leaders come painfully close to that kind of hypocrisy. This article describes the problem and offers a solution.

Rumors and Gossip - 7 Tips - Click To Read Article
Gossip and rumors exist in any organization. The damage done by these distractions is often underestimated. They defocus effort from the critical work and cause a need for frequent damage control. Also, morale and motivation take a hit when there are rumors lurking, so productivity suffers.

Load Rage - Click To Read Article
If you are like most people, you are feeling a greater load of things to do and less time to do them. If this does not describe you, check your pulse, you may be dead! Although we are all incredibly busy, the fact is that we are still using less of our total capacity than we think. Nobody can sustain working at full capacity for long, but in truth we can manufacture time to help us deal with the load in more productive ways.

Hold Up a Quarter - Click To Read Article
Differences in perception often cause conflict between people. If I hold a quarter out in front of me, I will see heads and you will see tails. It is the same object, but we have very different views of it. Our perceptions lead to logical conclusions about how to react to any issue. If you see a different problem, you are going to suggest a different remedy. This creates conflict because you and I will not always agree on actions to be taken. This article shares several antidotes.

Motivational Mousetraps - Click To Read Article
Sometimes when Leaders attempt to motivate people, they go about it in ways that are not very effective. This article explains the mousetrap when leaders attempt to motivate others.

Degrees of Trust - Click To Read Article
Trust is an interesting word. We tend to think of it as a singular concept, like how much do I trust my boss at the moment. I believe there are numerous different types of trust in our lives, and in any trust situation, there are infinite levels of trust. That complexity is one of the reasons why high trust is hard to find in many organizations.

Anti-Stupid Pill for Leaders - Click To Read Article
Sometimes leaders make decisions that have consequences at cross purposes to what they are really trying to achieve. They need an "anti-stupid" pill to prevent them from making these mistakes. This articles shares just the right medicine to prevent costly blunders.

Changing the Path of a Life - Click To Read Article
This is the story of a friend of mine who had a change of life because of something I said to him a half century ago, and I never realized it till last year.

Blind CEOs - Click To Read Article
It is amazing how many toxic environments exist in organizations. One would think with all the leadership training it would be harder to find oppressive cultures. A larger conundrum is why so many top leaders simply cannot see their contribution to the malaise. In this article I explore the problem of blind CEOs and offer some antidotes.

Three Tricky Questions On Trust - Click To Read Article
Trust is a very interesting subject. It is central to good leadership and a critical component of any good culture. Yet, trust is an enigma. This article asks three probling questions about trust that will get you thinking.

Negativity is Like a Cancer - Click To Read Article
Negativity is evident in many workplaces, and it really saps the energy of an organization. I believe negativity is like a disease that will spread if not managed well. The analogy is developed in this article along with several antidotes to negativity.

Neon Hypocrisy - Click To Read Article
Many organizations have a value that states "employees are our most important asset." The value hangs in the lobby on a plaque, but it is not reflected in the actions of leaders, so it shines like a neon sign that lowers trust. This article suggests some things that can change the pattern.

Contrasting Management and Leadership - Click To Read Article
This article provides some insights on the differences between managing and leading. It can be helpful regardless of your role.

What If You Are a Jerk But Don't Know It? - Click To Read Article
Each of us is guilty of acting like a jerk from time to time. Some people we know have it down to a fine art! The thing I want to explore in this discussion is a kind of blind spot where people who are acting like jerks have no idea how they are coming across to others. This article discusses how you can tell if you are being a jerk too much of the time.

10 Tips to Improve Temporary Assignments - Click To Read Article
Temporary assignments are often good for a professional's career advancement. They usually mean the person is highly thought of and is being groomed for future advancement. But temporary assignments can be difficult, tedious, or even deadly if they are not managed properly. This article lists 10 typical problems with temporary assignments and gives antidotes.

Opening Our Eyes - Click To Read Article
This article is about "sacred cows," "groupthink," "The Abilene Paradox," and "Tunnel Vision." These descriptors are used to identify how we tend to perpetuate things at work or at home that no longer serve us. The article presents some antidotes for these common problems.

The Leadership Management Scale - Click To Read Article
I often get into conversations with students about the difference between leaders and managers. I have written another article on this topic. This article suggests a visual sliding scale that can help you understand your natural tendencies on this topic.

Tip for Managing Conflict - Click To Read Article
Conflict exists in the workplace on a daily basis in nearly every organization. This article shares some insight about how using Abraham Maslow's famous "Hierarchy of Needs" can help resolve some habitual conflicts.

Reinforce People More Consistently - Click To Read Article
Reinforcing people for performing in a certain way will cause them do do more of that activity. The problem most managers have is that they only think of reinforcement when something special happens. This article describes how reinforcement should be a continual process.

Paradise is a State of Mind - Click To Read Article
We have all heard the phrase, "Mind over Matter." We understand what it means, and we may even agree with the philosophy. The interesting thing is that most of us fail to use that knowledge to help us live happier lives on a daily basis. This article is not very profound, but it may remind you of the power that exists between your ears.

Use Creativity when Generating a SWOT - Click To Read Article
A part of the Strategic Process is a SWOT analysis ( It stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). Many groups do a perfunctory job of this analysis, and this is a big mistake. This article shines a light on some best practices in doing a SWOT.

Business Integrity - Click To Read Article
Most of my professional work is on the topic of trust. I had a recent experience with two different contractors bidding on a chimney-cleaning job in my home that taught me some useful lessons on the link between good customer service and trust. This article is the story of an amazing contrast on the subject of customer service.

Few Employee Surveys Work - Click To Read Article
If you are tired of dealing with employee satisfaction surveys because they do not work, you need to read this article. In it you will find 10 tips to improve the effectiveness of any employee satisfaction survey.

Front Line Leaders in a Merger - Click To Read Article
During a merger or acquisition, the first line leaders in an organization are particularly vulnerable. This article highlights why that is and gives some antidotes to the problem.

8 Ways Leaders Build Culture - Click To Read Article
The culture of an organization is something that is highly impacted by the actions and words of leaders. This article describes what makes up the culture and 8 things leaders can do to improve it.

Leaders Teaching Leadership - Click To Read Article
I am an advocate of having top leaders do at least some of the leadership instruction for other leaders in their organizations. They may not have the capability, time, or desire to do all of the training, but the more involved they are in the process the better the result will be. This article deals with some advantages and also some important caveats of having leaders teach leadership.

Renewal - Click To Read Article
Every New Year's Eve, I go through a kind of renewal ritual. It is my gift to myself for having done my best for the past year, and it allows me to look forward to an even better year to come. I have recommended some form of this for all people who take my leadership classes. It does not need to be done on the New Year; some people like to do this on their birthday or some other specific day of the year. The point is to designate one day to reflect on what you have done, where you are, and what you intend to do in the coming year and beyond.

The Synapse of Trust - Click To Read Article
I have an interesting analogy about trust between people. I would like to read your thoughts on this way of expressing trust. Do you agree? What would you add? Please reas this article and let me know your opinion.

Recovering From a Mistake - Click To Read Article
Everyone makes mistakes. It is what happens after a mistake that tends to build or destroy trust. This brief article gives a case study and advocated that admitting a mistake is better than trying to finesse it.

Who is On The Bus After a Merger - Click To Read Article
If you have ever been through a merger, acquisition, or even just an internal restructuring, you know it is a tense time for most people. One topic that fills the airwaves is who is going to survive and who will be let go. This article gives three tips for how managers can keep the right talent in the organization.

Resolving E-mail Battles - Click To Read Article
E-mail battles are a common problem in most organizations. There is a cure for this problem. I outline it in this article.

E-mail Tricks to Save You Time and Reduce Notes - Click To Read Article
Most of us are overloaded by e-mail traffic. This article has three small but very effective ways to reduce both the time wasted and also the volume of notes. Take a look, and see if these ideas will work in your office.

The 30-second e-mail - Click To Read Article
If you are frustrated by e-mail, this article may help you be more skilled at getting your messages out in a way that people appreciate.

Leader First Impression - Click To Read Article
When you are transferred or assume command of a new unit, what happens in the first few hours, or first few minutes, will determine your success for at least the first year of your tenure. Reason: People form an opinion of you very quickly (first impression), and that vision stays with them until supplanted by ideas from events that play out over time.

Narcissist Mergers - Click To Read Article
In any merger or acquisition, the characteristics of the top leaders in both organizations heavily impact the resulting merged culture. The sad truth is that in many mergers, one or both of the top players are narcissists. What it means is that the entire process from twinkle-in-the-eye to a fully integrated steady state environment will require people to "work around" the problems created at the top. This article describes the problem and suggests some antidotes.

Leading Without Bullying - Click To Read Article
How often do you observe leaders and managers acting like bullies at work? The same people who would condemn a school for allowing bullying behavior on the part of some students toward their offspring are often guilty of doing the same thing in the adult world. People in power positions do not realize how easy it is to slip into bullying behavior because they can get away with it most of the time. That is how bullying works after all. We teach our kids to stand up to a bully, yet few people have the gumption to do it at work. This article highlights ten ideas to reduce bullying on the part of managers.

Merger Miseries 8 Scrambled Cultures - Click To Read Article
Blending organizational cultures after a merger or acquisition is often the most difficult part of the process. Many organizations fail because they did not anticipate the challenge of this step and institute processes that would have helped the integration. This article describes 12 ways to help make the process work better.

Stop Enabling Problem Employees - Click To Read Article
Supervisors often lose control of the situation by trying to be understanding and kind about following the rules. They make small exceptions that end up becoming habits, and soon the rules are not enforced at all. It is important to be sensitive to emergency or exception situations, but it is equally important to enforce the rules with an even hand. It is an area where many supervisors struggle. This article suggests an antidote.

Merger Miseries 7 What a Rip Off - Click To Read Article
This article addresses the timing issue of mergers and acquisitions. Many mergers are handled at a pace that would make glaciers melt. A better plan is to figure out what needs to be done and get it over with rather quickly. This article describes why that works better.

Initial Trust is Based on a Handfull of Cs - Click To Read Article
When we first meet someone, we decide rather quickly whether we are going to trust the person from the outset or wait for a lot of evidence before trusting him or her. The decision is based on five concepts that all begin with the letter C. This article gives tips on how to build trust rather quickly.

Merger Miseries 6 Bean Counters and Bubbleheads - Click To Read Article
This article focuses on the lead people who work early in the merger process. They are usually the financial types. I believe this is a mistake. In this article I describe why.

Building Trust When Your Boss Sucks At It - Click To Read Article
Building an environment of high trust is a lot of work. It can be even more difficult if the bosses above you in the organization have no clue as to how to build trust. This article deals with the common phenomenon of a clueless boss.

Merger Miseries 5 Mini Mergers - Click To Read Article
Every day we read and hear about the mergers or acquisitions going on between the behemoth companies. They show up on the international radar due to their size and impact. Less visible, but equally impactful in the aggregate, are the hundreds of thousands of small restructurings that go on within organizations every day. This article discusses the smaller mergers and their impact.

Merger Miseries Four Do Do Diligence - Click To Read Article
Due diligence is a process used in mergers and acquisitions to reduce the potential for surprises or miscalculations in purchase price. The process is more of an art than a science. One observation I have made is that there is heavy emphasis on the tangible assets like buildings and inventory. Less emphasis is typically placed on the critical human resources assets. I believe that is a mistake. This article explains why and suggests an alternative.

Merger Miseries Three - Clone Yourself - Click To Read Article
Part three of the Merger Miseries has to do with what happens to employees when they are asked to assume two jobs after one person is let go following a merger. It is not a pretty sight.

Team Excellence Fourth Ingredient - A Great Leader - Click To Read Article
Every team needs to have a good leader in order to be effective. Sometimes the true leader is an informal one rather than the formal leader. Having a leader that is too strong can lead to problems. This article deals with the function of a leader in creating great teamwork.

Team Excellence Fifth Ingredient - A Charter - Click To Read Article
A good team Charter is the best way to guarantee outstanding performance by all team members. The key to a good Charter is to identify the consequences for social loafing up front. This article explains why this is so powerful.

Team Excellence Third Ingredient - Trust - Click To Read Article
Teams need to develop high trust in order to be effective. This is a challenge for any group. There are all kinds of agendas going on with any group when it first gets started. This article takes you through the classic steps.

Use Meetings to Communicate Your Values - Click To Read Article
It is important to have a list of personal values, and it is just as important to share your values with others. This article focuses on the process of generating personal values and sharing them in a meeting format.

Team Excellence Second Ingredient - The Right People - Click To Read Article
Having the right people on a team is fundamental to top performance. Too often we take for granted the players we are given for a team regardless of whether they are right for it or not. That is a mistake. This article describes a process to remove the wrong players.

Team Excellence First Ingredient - A Common Goal - Click To Read Article
Teams need a common goal to perform consistently at peak levels. This article gives some examples and technology for measuring whether there is a common goal on your team.

Merger Miseries Two - Zombies in the Office - Click To Read Article
This second episode of Merger Miseries focuses on the people side of a merger. If the proper planning and advance work is not adequate, it creates havoc that shows in every segment of the business.

How To Use Social Networking to Build Trust - Click To Read Article
The use of Social Networking sites can increase one's circle of friends and increate the level of trust with existing friends if it is used properly. This article highlights my personal experience with Social Networking thus far.

Dreaming of Future Cell Phone Technology - Click To Read Article
I am fascinated by the potential for new technologies in communication. In this article I let down my hair and dream about the possibilities that will eventually become reality by the application of imaging technology and nano-technology.

Change your PowerPoint Habits - Click To Read Article
Refresh your thinking about using PowerPoint to present material. This article gives some great tips to be more contemporary with your presentations.

Build Your Own Strategic Plan - Click To Read Article
Creating a strategic plan for your life can literally change your whole experience in whatever you want to do. Wouldn't you like to be in better control of your destiny from year to year? You can, just read and follow the advice in this article.

Be a No Bully Manager - Click To Read Article
Bullying is a phrase we are hearing more often these days. The disastrous effects of bullying have actually caused people to kill themselves. But bullying is more pervasive than just in the school yard. Bullying is often practiced by managers who do not realize the process is actually producing results they do not want.

Your First Week as Leader of a New Group - Click To Read Article
When taking over a new leadership position, many people make mistakes at the very start of an assignment that makes the transition much more difficult. This article deals with some tips for a new leader to enable a much stronger start in a new assignment.

Why Supervisors Suffer - Click To Read Article
I always considered the job of the Shift Supervisor to be the most challenging position in my organization. This article describes why being a supervisor is no picnic and gives some advice on how upper management can lighten the load.

One Word that Determines Your Happiness and Success - Click To Read Article
I believe there is one single word that contains the key to both happiness and success in life. In this article I describe the word and why it is critically important to each of us.

Getting a Reluctant Boss to Agree - Click To Read Article
We have all been in situations where we want to propose something, but we know the boss is not going to be inclined to go along with it. This article outlines a method of helping you get a warmer response to a proposal.

An Antidote for Executive Stress - Click To Read Article
There is too much stress in the executive suite these days. I believe it is unhealthy. For sure it is not much fun. One antidote is to spend some time changing the culture. This article has a description of the problem and the benefits of an improved culture.

Why Rewards Cause Problems #6: Rewards Undermine Interest - Click To Read Article
We do things because we are interested in them, generally not to get some kind of tangible reward. Organizational reward systems often overlook the very powerful intrinsic motivators of their workers, and get only a tiny fraction of the discretionary effort that is available. The attached article gives some insight on this phenomenon.

Why Rewards Cause Problems #7: Rewards Allow the Tail to Wag the Dog - Click To Read Article
Sometimes well-intentioned reward systems take on a life of their own and become problems for the organization. They can suck up a huge amount of resources and create mountains of busy work if we do not keep them in check. This article recalls some stories from my personal experience of what happens when the tail begins to wag the dog.

Why Make Investments in Culture - Click To Read Article
Most CEOs are so busy solving critical problems they have no time to invest in improving the culture of their organization. This is a big mistake. The attached article explains the paradox and offers three key benefits to inventing in culture improvement activities.

Use Caution When Employing Style Indicators - Click To Read Article
Style indicators are helpful at providing insights about how a leader operates. The mistake often made is to assume you cannot change your style. This article discusses some aspects of style that may help you grow in dimensions you had not considered.

Tips for Optimizing Personal Wealth - Click To Read Article
Most people believe you need to have a high salary in order to amass great wealth. This is not the case. Many people who make huge salaries are paupers, and many people with modest salaries are multi-millionaires. This article gives 10 tips on how to build a personal fortune.

Improving Listening Skills - Click To Read Article
Reflective listening (also called Active listening) is the best method for people to improve communications. The technique works, but it requires skill and a lot of practice to do it well. This article focuses on this topic and gives a few pointers.

Get People Involved in Creating the Vision - Click To Read Article
When creating a vision, leaders are much better off if they include all levels in the organization in the brainstorming and shaping process. Many leaders do not fully understand the power of commitment to a vision. This article gives the rationale for why including shop floor people in the vision process improves the chances of its success

Why Rewards Cause Problems #1: Pay is Not a Motivator - Click To Read Article
Many managers try to motivate people by giving the reward of more money. This is not the best way to increase motivation. This article explains some of the logic behind the conundrum.

Why Rewards Cause Problems #2: Rewards Can Punish - Click To Read Article
It seems wrong to say it, but rewards actually sometimes feel like punishment. Managers need to be very careful how rewards are administered in order to avoid an entitlement mentality. Here is an article that explains the paradox.

Why Rewards Cause Problems #3: Rewards Rupture Relationships - Click To Read Article
It is not unusual to find a reward structure that undermines relationships between people. Often the symptoms are not recognized for a long time. Bad feelings are held under the surface until there is an eventual eruption. This article examines the relationship between rewards and relationships.

Why Rewards Cause Problems #4: Rewards Ignore Reasons - Click To Read Article
Rewards administered with a heavy hand can feel punitive because they do not take into account the reasons why performance is at a particular level. This often occurs in Performance Management circles where the remuneration is locked in to a particular level. The attached article looks into this aspect of giving rewards.

Why Rewards Cause Problems #5: Rewards Discourage Risk - Click To Read Article
Nothing can be accomplished in an organization without some level of risk. Yet often the reward structure of an organization discourages people from taking a reasonable risk, so the incentives actually impede performance. The attached article shines a light on this interesting aspect.

Merger Miseries One - Click To Read Article
Most companies I work with are going through or have recently gone through some sort of restructuring, merger, acquisition, or other major discontinuity. Also, units within organizations are frequently merging and changing structure. I observe incredible stress and anxiety when groups are trying to accomplish these changes. It is common knowledge that the process of assimilating a merger is much longer and more painful than most CEOs recognize going in. I have several observations and theories about why that is and ways to approach the merging of two cultures that might prevent some pain for many organizations. This article is the first in a series.

Trust Keeps Leaders off the Slippery Slope - Click To Read Article
There are numerous advantages when leaders can build an environment of high trust. One important one is that the employees in the organization become helpful watchdogs to help prevent ethical dilemmas, but that is only one advantage. Here are 10 key benefits of building a high trust organization: 1. Lower risk of ethical debacles 2. Higher productivity 3. Lower costs 4. Less conflict 5. Focus on the vision 6. Trust is evident to customers 7. Focus on development 8. Improved communications 9. Better reinforcement 10. More efficient problem solving

Keep Values Simple - Click To Read Article
I believe less is more when establishing the values of an organization. It is a mistake to have a long shopping list of values that cannot be easily be remembered by everyone in the organization. Reason: once the list becomes more than an handful of concepts, it loses power because people cannot internalize them easily.

Leaders: Get Off Your Butts - Click To Read Article
My favorite saying is "The highest calling for any leader is to grow other leaders." Observation: There are too few outstanding leaders in this world because of the lack of great mentors to bring them along. Top level leaders are so consumed with trying to optimize performance in a frantic and messy world, that often they do not take the time out to nurture the next generation of leaders. I believe that is a huge mistake.

Three Powerful Stories - Click To Read Article
Each of us have impact on other people we might not be aware of. This article contains a story in a story in a story showing how I was surprised to find myself impacting others without realizing it. The moral of all three stories is the same; You cannot fully know the impact you will have on other people.

Trust Insights - Click To Read Article
This article provides some in-depth insights about the nature of trust. The subject came up in a graduate level course on Transformational Leadership. In this article I answer four student questions.

A Dozen Ways Leaders Create Meaning - Click To Read Article
The reason that most workers are not engaged in the business is that they see no real meaning in their work. This article addresses how leaders can change all that.

Favoritism is a Huge Problem - Click To Read Article
John Wooden, the late famous basketball coach at UCLA once made the following statement: "Treating everyone the same is the most sure way to show favoritism." I puzzled over this statement for a while because I was taught it was important to treat everyone the same way in order to avoid playing favorites. John was indicating exactly the opposite is true. I believe his point is that individuals are all different, and each person has unique needs. If a leader treats everyone the same way, then he or she is really not being fair. Would you agree with that interpretation or is there something else I am missing in John's point. I believe there are seven antidotes to playing favorites in the workplace. They are listed in this article.

When Trust is Lost - Click To Read Article
This article is about the bertayal of trust using Obama's decision to fire General McCrystal as an example. It gives some counterpoints on how the alternate path might have been wiser.

Im OK Youre Not OK - Click To Read Article
When you vent about what other people do that drives you crazy, does it help you cope with them better? I am sure you know people who are world class at griping about what other people are doing that drives them crazy. In reality we all do this to some degree; it is human nature. This paper highlights a dozen tips for reducing the tendency to gripe about the shortcomings of other people at work or at home.

Become Your Problem - Click To Read Article
Mahatma Gandhi once said "You must become the change you seek in the world." I believe the same logic can be applied to solving problems. If you become your problem, you actually stand a better chance of solving it. As I watch the drama of the oil spill and clean up unfold, I am reminded that some problems are particularly nasty to resolve. One technique that often leads to helpful and creative insights is to personify the problem and try to analyze it as if you were the object. This is particularly helpful in team environments. This technique was useful in the remarkable rescue of the Apollo 13 Astronauts. Once you attempt to act and feel like a stuck valve or an overheated radiator, you can elicit some highly creative solutions to challenging problems. The attached story is a cute reminder of this principle.

Operate ahead of the Power Curve - Click To Read Article
Do you suffer from deadline panic? Many people struggle in a world where they seem to get important things done just at the last minute and often feel rushed and not able to do their best work. A wise mentor of mine taught me a simple trick that has profoundly changed the way I approach work and provided many benefits to me over the years. His advice was to "operate ahead of the Power curve." This means get the bulk of work on any project or assignment done immediately after it is known, then you can relax and finish the work having a high quality job done early. For some examples of how this theory works and descriptions of the benefits, see the attached article.

Your Reputation: A Dozen Ways to Protect It - Click To Read Article
Preserving our reputation ought to be a top priority for all professionals. We unwittingly do things on occasion that damage our precious reputation. The rules for enhancing reputation are all common sense, unfortunately they are not always common practice. I have developed a dozen things to remember about preserving your reputation, and I would be delighted to have suggestions of things to add to the list. What would you add? 1. Follow the Golden Rule 2. Be positive 3. Do more than your fair share 4. Admit mistakes 5. Be kind 6. Listen more than you talk 7. Be humble 8. Be reliable 9. Read Body language 10. Offer and ask for assistance 11. Operate from a sense of values 12. Keep your ear to the ground.

Leading Up by Example - Click To Read Article
In my work with leaders across the country, I frequently run into a perplexing question. When working with management layers in the middle, I will frequently hear, “Bob this is great stuff on building trust. I am anxious to build the kind of environment you describe. I have only one problem, my ogre boss does not go for the soft stuff, so I am stuck.” My advice is twofold. First, there is nothing soft about building trust. It is a hard-edged measure that has more power than any other business variable to impact performance. The skills needed to build trust are not “touchy feely,” they are pragmatic, concrete behavioral actions that can be taught and learned. Second, you are not “stuck” even if your boss is a dyed-in-the-wool curmudgeon with negative Emotional Intelligence; it does not prevent you from leading by example.

The First Law of Building Trust - Click To Read Article
All leaders want to build higher trust in their organization, but few are able to accomplish it consistently. I believe the ability to reinforce candor is a powerful skill that can help leaders improve trust, even in these draconian times. Reinforcing candor is the ability to make people feel glad when they bring up an inconsistency or error. Most leaders cannot do this. For some additional thoughts on this topic, you can call up the attached article.

Socratic Struggles - Click To Read Article
Using the Socratic Method to guide discussions is a well known tool. The method is frequently used in educational situations, but it can be a powerful tool at work if used well. The caveat is that it can be dangerous if used poorly. What has been your experience with using the Socratic Method? Are you alert to when other people are using the method with you? The attached article has some of my thoughts on this subject and gives a list and examples of the six types of socratic questions. 1. Questions of Clarification. 2. Questions that probe assumptions. 3. Questions that probe reasons and evidence. 4. Questions that probe perspective. 5. Questions that probe consequences. 6. Questioning the question

Accountability and Trust - Click To Read Article
Managers need to hold employees accountable for meeting commitments. This sounds simple, but in the messy world it can be a conundrum. Reason: People have a tendency to justify their actions based on their personal rationalization. To the manager it may seem a lame excuse, but to the employee, there was no way the commitment could have been made. The technology for holding people accountable begins with the notion that it is expected behavior. Still, the manager needs to do this in a way that follows the Golden Rule. There is a fine art to holding people accountable and still maintaining trust with not only the employees in question but also their peers. What techniques do you use to manage accountability without trashing trust? My opinions on this subject are contained in the attached article.

Dumb is Smart and Smart is Dumb - Click To Read Article
Leaders have a propensity to share their thoughts too early in conversations, especially when there is a decision to be made. Being forthright and decisive are qualities that are generally thought to be advantageous. I think speaking too soon is often a mistake. In many situations, it is better to act a little dumb and let others voice their opinions before weighing in and cutting off creative discussion. Many leaders have a tough time doing this. This article describes the problem and gives an antidote.

10 Keys for Reducing Turnover - Click To Read Article
One of the most daunting problems in any organization is turnover. It can cost a business millions of dollars a year and is incredibly disruptive. Reducing turnover should be a high priority activity for every organization, and it is not hard to figure out ways to do it. 1. Develop People 2. Recognize Good Performance 3. Build Trust 4. Reduce Boredom 5. Communicate More 6. Cross Train 7. Don't Overtax 8. Keep it Light 9. Feedback Performance 10. Train Leaders The following article describes some of the reasons why these steps can help cut down turnover significantly.

Leadership Assessment #14 – Emulate Level 5 Leaders - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the ability to act like a "Level 5 Leader."

Leadership Truth #5 - Great Leaders Have High Emotional Intelligence - Click To Read Article
Simply stated, Emotional Intelligence is the ability to work with people at all levels. The degree of success of an individual in this world is much more closely aligned with the level of Emotional Intelligence than IQ.

The four Stages of Change - Click To Read Article
Change is inevitable, and many people fear change. Not too many leaders view change as a specific process that can be managed. This article gives a four step model for making change in organizations.

12 Dimensions of Culture Rarely Seen in MBA Books - Click To Read Article
Most business textbooks define the culture of a company in terms of things like: 1.Physical structure 2.Language and symbols 3.Rituals, ceremonies, gossip, and jokes 4.Stories, legends, and heroes 5.Beliefs 6.Values and norms 7.Assumptions I believe all these things are important parts of the culture, but I believe there are several even more important things that are not on this list. What is your opinion? My view would include things like whether there is an environment of trust and several other key ingredients.

E-Mail Tip #18 - Stress in Remote Teams - Click To Read Article
In a global environment, many people work in remote teams. E-mail exchanges between team members can cause great stress if we are not careful. This article gives a classic example of the problem and suggests a remedy.

Leadership Truth #3 - Great Leaders are Passionate - Click To Read Article
Not only are great leaders passionate people, but they have an uncanny ability to infect others with their passion. That is how the gusto in their soul gets translated to the rank and file. Let's explore how this is done.

Leadership Truth #10 - Great Leaders Make Large Trust Deposits - Click To Read Article
The level of trust between any two individuals is like a bank account. There is a balance, and we make continual deposits and withdrawals. Great leaders look for the opportunities to make large deposits in the trust account with people.

Leadership Assessment #10 – Lead by Example - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the degree to which the leader leads by example.

Leadership Truth #1 - Great Leaders Operate from a Set of Values - Click To Read Article
Values are the underpinning of everything we do. Great leaders have a concrete set of values that they operate from on a daily basis. Where do these values come from?

Leadership Truth #11 - Great Leaders Do Better in a Crisis - Click To Read Article
A hallmark of great leadership is that these people do better when there is a crisis. They are more prepared going in and have a way of navigating during a crisis that instinctively finds the best path through chaos. How do they accomplish this?

E-Mail Tip #20 - Use Socratic Questions - Click To Read Article
The technique known as The Socratic Method is a powerful way to convince others of your point of view. It must be applied with skill to be effective. In e-mail, the socratic Method is often very helpful. This paper describes some examples and gives some rules for using this technique well.

Organizational Flexibility - Click To Read Article
Static organizations are not healthy ones. The flip side is that too much turmoil is hard on people. In deciding how much change to introduce, leaders must consider several factors. This article outlines some important ideas on flexibility.

The Power of Good Measures - Click To Read Article
Most organizations have a TQM (Total Quality Management) Program. It is the quality of the measures in this effort that will determine the success or failure of it. Here is a short paper I wrote on some interesting aspects of measures.

Improve Your E-Mail Openings - Click To Read Article
The very first 3-4 words set the tone for how the reader will feel as he or she wades into your e-mail note. How do you control your phrases at the start of a note to foster the kind of reaction you want in the reader?

Essential Steps to Making Successful Change - Click To Read Article
Since change is actually a process, it is important to break down the process into logical steps. This article considers several of the more important steps to successful change.

Culture and Motivation - Click To Read Article
You have probably asked yourself, ¡§How do people become motivated to perform at peak levels over a sustained period of time?¡¨ Perhaps you found yourself coming up with incentive programs that reward based on money, vacations, or perhaps merchandise in an effort to motivate your employees. The reality is, motivation comes from within each of us is not generated by picnics or T-shirts. As a leader, do not seek to motivate your employees; rather, focus on building a culture of trust where individuals make the choice to become motivated.

2 Ways to Avoid Being Micromanaged - Click To Read Article
Most of us have complained about this well-known situation at some point. What steps do you take to avoid the problem? My personal view is that if you can accomplish the following two things, the chances of being excessively micromanaged are significantly reduced. 1) Be credible. Do excellent work and anticipate questions that might come up. Do your homework well and take preventive actions before being asked. 2) Over Communicate. If you get to the boss before he or she gets to you, then the potential to be micromanaged goes down.

Leadership Assessment #22 – Leaders are Enablers - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the ability to be perceived as an enabler rather than a barrier.

How Much Eye Contact - Click To Read Article
Eye Contact is a fascinating thing. We know it is important for good communication, but too much of it can be very distracting. What are the techniques for establishing the right level of eye contact? This article focuses on this fascinating subject (no pun intended).

Understanding E-Body Language - Click To Read Article
Online communication is so much a part of everyday life that we normally take it for granted until the power goes out. Many of us view e-mail the same as face-to-face communication; we just type information as if we were chatting with someone in the lunchroom – potentially a big mistake. If you are like most leaders, you lived through the transition from a face to face world to a mostly online world with little training. That can lead to some problems that are unnecessary. In this article I describe some of the opportunities.

Ten Hallmarks of a High Trust Organization - Click To Read Article
We tend to think of trust in one dimension, but there are several different ways trust plays out in organizations. My favorite definition of trust is that when I trust someone, it means I believe he or she will always do what is thought to be in my best interest (even if I do not particularly appreciate it at the time). We can contrast some dimensions of trust by considering what it is like to work in an organization with high trust versus one with low trust on several dimensions

Leadership Assessment #16 – Build a Reinforcing Culture - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the ability to build a reinforcing culture.

E-Mail Tip #14 - Handling Over the Top People - Click To Read Article
Some e-mail exchanges go way overboard and spiral out of control. This paper contains a juicy example and the antidote to the problem.

Blind Spots - Click To Read Article
In my classes and consulting work on leadership, I often discuss the concept of a blind spot where the worst leaders are often blissfully unaware of their problems. My own observation in numerous organizations is that this is abundantly true. Hr Managers and subordinates are often frustrated at not being able to communicate how leaders undermine the very cause they wish to pursue due to this blindness. Daniel Goleman, who invented Emotional Intelligence, observed that leaders who are most deficient in EI are the ones who have the biggest blind spot. They simply cannot see themselves as others do, so they are deceived into thinking incorrect thoughts about how they are coming across. How can you remove the blind spot of a leader who has low Emotional Intelligence? My own ideas on this topic are contained in this article.

Leaders and Managers - Click To Read Article
My HRD students often get into discussions with me about the differences between leaders and managers. How do you like to describe the difference between these two entities?. Usually in books and articles, I see lists of side-by-side comparisons with things like: "Managers do things right" while "Leaders do the right things." There are a dozen or so comparisons like this on these typical lists. Personally, I like to describe the difference from a mind-set point of view. This article describes my thesis on this topic.

Life is a Mirror - Click To Read Article
Philosophers through the ages have taught us that individuals attract the same energy they put out to the universe. If you think negative thoughts, then negativity will come back to you. If your outlook is positive and upbeat, that is how the world will approach you. I am not a philosopher myself, but I subscribe to the simple wisdom that energy begets energy. I see applications for the theory especially helpful in the working environment. I have been having some discussions with students recently and would be interested in your comments in this forum. Some people are constantly feeling besieged with problems coming at them from other people, who they say have bad attitudes. My take is that if what you see coming at you is other people that are sour, it is really a good time to take a long hard look in the mirror.

Leading With Trust is Like Sailing Downwind - Click To Read Article
This leadership metaphor about the nature of trust comes from the sport of sailing. I am not a sailor myself, but it is easy to observe the difference between sailing into the wind and sailing downwind. In fact, you can do either, but the techniques, effort, and results are dramatically different. Here is a list of some distinctions.

Leading Change Initiatives - Click To Read Article
We are all aware that the pace of change continues to increase exponentially. Our frenetic world makes the need for effective change a matter of survival. Why is it that most change initiatives in organizations are impotent? My own favorite 9 prerequisites for successful change are outlined in this article.

Leadership Truth #9 - Great Leaders Foster Great Followership - Click To Read Article
For centuries, most of the focus has been on leaders and leadership. There is a new trend over the past decade to also focus on great followership. We are all leaders and followers for some portion of the time. This article compares and contrasts these two roles.

Leadership Truth #4 - Great Leaders Value Transparency - Click To Read Article
Transparency in an organization means not holding things back from people.In so many organizations people know there is information being denied them that they really ought to know. This is devastating to morale.

Leadership Truth #2 - Great Leaders Live Their Vision - Click To Read Article
Great leaders are congruent. They live their vision all the time. Consistency is a trait most great leaders have in abundance. Why is this trait so important?

Leadership Truth #12 - Great Leaders Develop Others - Click To Read Article
The highest calling for any leader is to develop other leaders. But great leaders do more than that, they focus on the development of everyone in the organization. This is the way they tap the true potential of the entire population. Great leaders continually invest in improving the capability of people.

Leadership Strength and Courage - Click To Read Article
Everyone knows that leaders need to be strong and courageous. But what do those buzz words mean for the real world? What are the dimensions of strength, and how does a leader develop them? This article discusses these questions.

Leadership Myth #3 - Great Leaders have a College Education - Click To Read Article
To be a great leader, does one need a college education? No, that is not a prerequisite for leadership, but the weight of evidence is that better educated people do make better leaders. This article explains the apparent paradox.

Leadership Myth #5 - Great Leaders Have Large Egos - Click To Read Article
We all know egotistical leaders. We run into them all the time. But is having a large ego a requirement for leadership. I think not. Here are some reasons.

Maximize Discretionary Effort - Click To Read Article
Each of us has a vast storehouse of “discretionary” effort that we either give or withhold on a daily basis. Let’s examine the factors that govern why some people freely choose to give a lot more of their discretionary effort to their organization while others, equally qualified, habitually hold back most of their potential.

Using Time Wisely - Click To Read Article
We all have the same amount of time each day. Some leaders seem to get a lot more done with less stress on themselves and everyone else. Others, seem to always be running around at Mach 7 with their hair on fire but getting less true work accomplished. What is the trick to getting more done?

Training People in an Empowered Organization - Click To Read Article
As organizations move to engage more employees in the business and empower them to take on more responsibility, there is a need for good training. This article outlines some key points to consider when training employees in an empowered organization.

Tips to Improve Team Culture - Click To Read Article
The culture of a team governs its effectiveness. Most teams have a culture that allows adequate performance despite many unfortunate outbreaks of tension and sometimes childish behavior. It is unfortunate that more teams do not experience the exhilaration of working in a supportive culture that produces excellent results. The methods of building teams into high performing units are well documented, but most teams do not go through the rigor required to get to that level. This paper blends well known processes with horse sense born of experience that will allow any team to perform better.

Three Little Words - Click To Read Article
There are three little words that have a lot to do with building trust in an organization. At first you will think these three words actually lead to the destruction of trust, but in the hands of a great leader, these words can become the most compelling force for growing trust. The words are: I am right.

E-Mail Tip #8 - Write Notes Only When You Are Yourself - Click To Read Article
We all know it is unwise to write an e-mail when we are angry, yet all of us are guilty of doing exactly that from time to time. This article contains a case study on what can happen and three different methods you can use to protect yourself.

E-Mail Tip # 28 - Being Flexible - Click To Read Article
Flexibility and good judgment are important in e-mail exchanges just as they are in face to face discussions. This article outlines some interesting aspects about being flexible and gives some examples.

Drawbacks of Leadership Evaluations - Click To Read Article
Leadership assessmants are ubiquitous, but there are several issues that need to be considered or the process will be flawed. This article highlights some of the problems with leadership assessments and offers antidotes and a refreshing new perspective on the qualities of leadership that are really important.

Creating a Brilliant Vision - Click To Read Article
If your organization does not have a compelling Vision, it is going nowhere. A solid vision of the future is the most important ingredient in any strategic process, yet often organizations just throw out a vision statement as a kind of placeholder to guide action. That is a crime. This article contains a solid process for creating an organizational vision that is brilliant.

Acting Like Adults - Click To Read Article
It is not uncommon to hear someone say, "People at work act like children most of the time." This is because in the pressure cooker of the working world, the behaviors of people get on each other's nerves, and they tend to regress back to the kind of playground rules that kept society in order when they were children. this does not wear well in an adult atmosphere, so what can we do about it?

9 Ideas to Reduce Cliques at Work - Click To Read Article
My thesis is that cliques at work have some helpful components, but they often do more harm than good by being exclusive elements in the culture. Top performance in any organization requires the best effort of the entire team, and when parts of the group are fragmented into insular cells, all kinds or gremlins creep into the structure. In the extreme, cliques can be hurtful to the mission of an orgnaization. But cliques are as natural as pancakes for breakfast. They form spontaneously and have their own unwritten bylaws that serve the members very well. How can leaders reduce the negative impact of cliques? Here are 9 ideas that can help reduce the problem.

Avoid Jack In The Box Meetings - Click To Read Article
This article is about some frustrations that occur in meetings and how to avoid them. It highlights one symptom where people get up to leave a meeting only to be called back into session for another issue. I call these Jack-In-The-Box Meetings.

Overuse of the Pronoun I - Click To Read Article
Have you noticed that the over use of the pronoun "I" can lead to all kinds of difficulties. Many people who have this habit do not even realize they are doing it, nor do they comprehend the damage that is done to relationships. This article shines a spotlight on this fascinating area and offers some guidelines to prevent problems.

Leaders Born or Made (One More Time) - Click To Read Article
The question of whether leaders are made or born is one of the more common issues in the literature on leadership. So much has been written on this one topic, it seems like there should be no need for a new article. However, I come at the subject from a different perspective and reach a conclusion about leaders and leadership that may surprise you.

Keeping People in the Loop - Click To Read Article
On the surface, it seems like a simple matter to keep people in an organization informed of things they need to know. Unfortunately it is a conundrum that is rarely mastered, even by the most talented leaders. This article explores the issue of keeping people informed.

Trust and Respect - Click To Read Article
Trust and respect appear to be so colsely linked that when you have one, the other is naturally always present. I do not think this is true. This article discusses these two concepts in enough depth to separate out the concepts into a hierarchy.

Yelling Telling and Selling - Click To Read Article
I saw an employee survey the other day where several employees referred to their supervisor’s style of giving instructions as “yelling.” It started me thinking about that word. This article compares the yelling style with telling and selling.

Develop a Tolerance for Risk - Click To Read Article
When trying to manage change, leaders often make a huge mistake by not telegraphing a tolerance for risk. This article digs into the issue of risk in making changes and suggests an antidote to this common problem.

Unions Complify Business - Click To Read Article
This article highlights some of the inefficiencies and costs that result from having a union operating between line workers and management. It represents a cost that we can no longer afford to bear.

Polysyllabic Fog - Click To Read Article
If your organization has problems with people not following instructions, you need to read this article. It points out a habitual problem that can be costly to organizations in terms of lost productivity, waste, and even employee accidents.

Please Please Listen to Us - Click To Read Article
Leaders need to tap into the ideas of the people closest to the work. Unfortunately, due to hubris and a number of other factors, the ideas of shop floor people are given less attention than the ideas of higher level managers. This is a crime, as is discussed in this article.

Stupid Advertisements - Click To Read Article
We all have been subjected to ridiculous advertising on Television over the years. It is amazing how gullible we must be as a population if these ploys actually work to sell products. There is one associated with the legal profession that simply astounds me as being the most stupid of them all.

Building Trust: The Ratchet Effect - Click To Read Article
I believe that building Trust works like winding up a ratchet. Trust is built by a series of actions or ratchet “clicks” that occur over time. But, like the ratchet used to pull in the sail on a large sailboat, when the pawl holding the ratchet from rotating backward becomes dislodged, the spool can spin back to zero quickly. If a leader has made a thousand deposits in the “Trust Account” with people, they can be wiped out by a single mega withdrawal that happens in a heartbeat. This article gives some more information on this analogy and suggests a method for inserting the pawl back in the teeth once a withdrawal has happened so the bulk of historical trust assets are retained.

Joke or No Joke - Click To Read Article
I was having an online conversation in a class I am teaching about teams at work. The discussion was relative to having online messages misinterpreted. Clearly we have all experienced this uncomfortable situation more than once. I got so fascinated about this topic that I wrote a book on it a few years ago. One student brought up a situation that is common in person as well as online, but the damage done online is usually much larger. This is when a person tries to rib another person with a joke, but the meaning on the part of the receiver is taken literally. The writer is astonished when the reader takes umbrage at the barb. The writer says, “but I was only joking.” This article deals with this common situation

E-mail Tip #3 - Less is More in E-mails - Click To Read Article
Most leaders communicate more through e-mail than face to face with their people. Many managers feel the use of e-mail is a license to dump out huge quantities of information expecting the workers to absorb and follow all instructions cleverly hidden in volumes of text. Too bad: it does not work that way.

Measures that Drive Wrong Behavior - Click To Read Article
It is a common problem that measures intended to halp an organization reach goals actually work to the disadvantage of the organization. That sounds illogical, but it happens all the time. This article describes three typical examples of this phenomenon.

Trust & Transparency The New Corporate Currency - Click To Read Article
Just last week, we received a startling display of how much the issue of trust and transparency in corporations has gained in terms of a company's reputation. The Edelman Trust Barometer for 2010 was just published, and it shows a remarkable leap such that trust and transparency are now mentioned twice as much as financial performance in terms of reputation. In 2010 Trust and Transparency each received 83% of responses versus only 45% for Financial Returns. Further adding to the shock of these data is that in 2006, trust and transparency did not even show up on the map of the top 10 ways to demonstrate reputation. Now, four short years later, they are number one and number two. This article gives some of the details and the ramifications for business in the USA.

A Framework for Making Tough Calls - Click To Read Article
All leaders have to make difficult judgment calls routinely. The best leaders operate from a specific framework, so their calls are fair and balanced. This article describes a typical framework for making those difficult calls.

Cross Training - The Miracle Cure? - Click To Read Article
When I watch those infomercials on TV that claim some new pill or tonic will cure most of our physical ailments, I don't bite. No matter how convincing the cliams are, I just believe there is nothing that can fix all or most ailments just by buying a bottle and popping the pills. Life does not work that way. Likewise in leadership there is no miracle cure, although building Trust comes pretty close in my mind. Another strong medicine for organizational ailments is cross training. This article describes some of the more important benefits of a great cross training process.

The MBTI Aspects of Communicating Online - Click To Read Article
We all have a personality style. Most of us know our MBTI Type. In communicating online it is helpful to remember the differences in Style as documented by the MBTI. This article gives specific information that will help.

Pay Attention to Retention - Click To Read Article
It is imperative to pay attention to retention because when there is turnover, it saps the organization in numerous ways. This article offers some ideas on how to improve employee retention.

E-Mail Tip #29 - Manage a Complainer's Need to Cavil - Click To Read Article
Some people just need to vent in e-mails. If you understand this and know how to manage it, you can avoid many of the battles that are so common in e-mail exchanges. This article offers some information on this aspect of online communication.

E-Mail Tip #30 - Avoiding Inappropriate Counterpoints - Click To Read Article
Online exchanges can become traps for rancor if we are not careful. It is easy to take something written the wrong way and fire back a snippy reply. Then, we are off to the races. If you watch the tone of your counterpoints, you can avoid many problems online. This article provides examples of the problem and suggests some antidotes.

E-Mail Tip #31 Make Your Point Clearly - Click To Read Article
A lot of the e-mail traffic cluttering up people's inboxes is a result of prior notes that gave the reader an incorrect understanding on what was meant. To avoid this, heed the ideas in this article.

E-Mail Tip #32 - Peer Pressure in E-Mail - Click To Read Article
Peer pressure and domination are evident in all forms of communication. In e-mail exchanges there are some particularly nasty things to avoid and some specific tips to prevent this type of thing. This article addresses this aspect of online communication.

E-Mail Tip #33 - Creating an Online Persona - Click To Read Article
There are all kinds of wierd things that go on in the cyber world. Many people create a kind of persona that is not really them. The game Second Life has this aspect as a central idea. Here is an article about what goes on when there is a second identitiy behind the actual person writing a note.

E-Mail Tip #34 - Use Neuro-Linguistic Programming - Click To Read Article
The study of how people take in information is fascinating. This article highlights how some people communicate on predictable channels. It really can help improve the accuracy of communication online.

E-mail Tip #35 - Don't Communicate Through a Third Party - Click To Read Article
Some people try to get messages to other people through a third party. This practice is dangerous at best. You need to be direct in online communications to avoid all kinds of problems. This article explains the dynamics.

10 Tips for your Stop Doing List - Click To Read Article
A frequently overlooked opportunity is to create a "Stop Doing" list. Leaders should be especially mindful of this method of shaping priorities. This article shares some technology on how to create and manage a "stop doing" list.

E-Mail Tip #22 Use the Vernacular with Caution - Click To Read Article
E-mail is considered by some to be an informal form of communication where we can relax and use the same street language we use face to face. This is dangerous. This aricle shines some light on reasons to avoid this behavior.

E-Mail Tip #23 - Avoid Using Off Color Remarks - Click To Read Article
Similar to using the vernacular, dirty jokes in e-mail can easily get out of control and peg you in a light that you would not appreciate. This article discusses the issue in depth and gives some antidotes.

E-Mail Tip #24 - Using Proper Etiquitte - Click To Read Article
Proper etiquitte in e-mails has been called "netiquette." This article contains a list of precautions that will be helpful to you. It was compiled by a friend of mine and used with her permission in one of my books.

E-mail Tip #25 - Watch for Changes in E-Body Language - Click To Read Article
There is a weath of information in between the lines in e-mails. This is a kind of body language. However, just as in physical body language, to be valid, one must look for changes in body language. This article explains why and how to interpret the changes.

E-mail Tip #26 - Keeping Things in Context - Click To Read Article
One of the real dangers of e-mail is how people can extract short snippits of information that, taken out of context, can distort your meaning. Here is an article that focuses on this aspect of e-mail and offers some suggestions.

E-Mail Tip #27 - Keep an Open Mind - Click To Read Article
If we prejudge the notes we read, it will reduce the effectiveness of communication. We need to approach all communication from a posture as neutral as possible. This is especially true with e-mail communication. This article gives some examples why this is the case.

8 Ways to Help Others Succeed - Click To Read Article
The highest calling for any leader is to grow other leaders. Great leaders seek to help other people regardless of their position. When you think about it, helping other people succeed is the shortest route to your personal success. This article gives eight tips to think about if you are really interested in helping others succeed.

E-mail Tip #13 - Don't Take Cheap Shots - Click To Read Article
Because people exchanging e-mails are usually not in the same room (we cannot say this about texting!) often it seems safer to take a "cheap shot" that we would not take if the person was facing us. This is usually a big mistake. Recoginze this and avoid it in your e-mail communications.

E-Mail Tip #12 - Avoid Posturing Preambles - Click To Read Article
Many e-mail writers start off with a phrase which is intended to protect them, but only really serves to annoy the reader. Be careful not to be guilty of this offense. This article offers some tips.

E-Mail Tip #15 - Avoiding E-Grenade Battles - Click To Read Article
Childish online fights are common in most organizations. There is a simple cure for these battles. This paper describes some of the psychology between people having e-grenade battles and how to stop them from different perspectives.

E-Mail Tip #16 - The Online Power Struggle - Click To Read Article
We need to get good at reading between the lines in e-mail to extract the maximum information. This article is a case example where a power struggle is going on between two individuals.

E-Mail Tip #17 - Matching Words with Body Language - Click To Read Article
E-mail has a kind of Body Language, and if the words do not match the body language there is going to be confusion at best and open warfare at worst. This article shares an example of a mismatch between Body Language and words and gives an antidote.

E-Mail Tip #19 - Tone within Questions - Click To Read Article
The use of questions in e-mail is a good way to get information or lobby for your cause. There are many different types of questions and their use gets very specific. This article goes into the issue of questions in e-mail and how to make them work well for you.

E-Mail Tip #21 - Write from a Positive Point of View - Click To Read Article
It is amazing how much negativity there is in the world. This paper will give you some great techniques to make sure you are coming across with a positive way of phrasing things. This will enhance your career by making you more attractive to people.

Why Are Meetings One Hour Long? - Click To Read Article
The vast majority of meetings in the business world are scheduled for one hour. I think this is a paradigm we should challenge for several reasons. 1. Like an old habit, we just fall into the pattern without even thinking about it. 2. We lose track of those extremely valuable minutes within the hour format. We can do better than that. 3. The meeting itself is often inefficient as there is time to schmooze for the first 20 minutes or so, and most of the decisions occur in the final 10 minutes of a meeting. There are many techniques for squeezing more usable time from our daily schedule – and we really need them. Next time you schedule a meeting, try making it 50 minutes rather than an hour. It will emphasize the importance of the minutes and save time in the bargain.

Working Between Layers - Click To Read Article
I view an organization as a stack of overlapping layers. Good leaders instinctively know how to work effectively in between the layers so they are credible in both directions. That takes a special skill. This article outlines some of the leadership dynamics between organizational layers.

Valuing Diversity - Click To Read Article
Much has been written about the topic of diversity. This article deals with my views on the topic in terms of why and how to achieve a culture that values diversity.

Solving Problems - Click To Read Article
Learning how to resolve problems efficiently is a skill some organizations need to study. We are surrounded by problems that wear different masks. How we react to these not only governs the quality of our working lives, but also determines how effective and profitable our organizations are. This paper deals with some tips on problem solving in the real world.

Removing Ineffective Leaders - Click To Read Article
One area where leaders struggle is removing ineffective underlings. This is a highly unpleasant aspect of the job, but it is vital to the health of the organiztion. This article shares some tips on how to accomplish the removal and reposition of leaders.

Reorganization People Placement - Click To Read Article
If you are going through a reorganization soon, pay special attention to the placement of people in the new order. It is critical for your success. This article gives some tips to remember when selecting people to fill slots in a reorganized entity.

Leadership Transitions - Click To Read Article
There are some interesting dynamics when leaders transition to new positions. These times are awkward, and often the organization suffers for a while until the new leader is fully up to speed. This article contains some things to think about when moving leaders to new slots.

Job Redesign - Click To Read Article
There are huge books devoted to the subject of job redesign. This short article deals with some aspects of redesigning jobs for a more empowered team structure.

Helping Supervisors - Click To Read Article
The first line manager, or so-called "Supervisor" has a particularly tough job. This level gets the brunt of worker unrest but also takes heavy flack from upper management. This article deals with some ideas to lighten their load and provide some more recognition for what they are doing.

Having Fun at Work - Click To Read Article
Where is it written that to be productive a work environment must be oppressive? Nowhere! In fact, the best organizations are ones where there is a lot of enjoyment and just plain fun. The top 100 companies to work for in the US have all figured it out. This article discusses some of the dynamics of fun in the workplace.

Growing Other Leaders - Click To Read Article
The best leaders understand and accept their mandate to grow other leaders. The reason there are not more excellent leaders in this world is that there are not enough good mentors. This article discusses growing leaders and the concept of mentorship.

Designing the Organization - Click To Read Article
Often how an organization is set up determines its effectiveness. When leaders do a reorganization, sometimes they are not thoughtful enough about what they are trying to accomplish. The result is a mess. This article discusses some aspects of organizational design.

Creating Winners - Click To Read Article
A key leadership function is to create an organization where people feel like winners. This is not really that difficult to do even in the most oppressive environments. This article outlines some techniques you might find helpful at creating a winning organization.

Challenges to Developing a Reinforcing Culture - Click To Read Article
A reinforcing culture is not only more fun for people, it is also much more productive for the organization. In other articles I have addressed the importance of a reinforcing culture and how to get it. Good reinforcement can be a minefield, yet it is extremely powerful. This article deals with the challenges of doing it correctly.

Adjusting to a New Leader - Click To Read Article
When a new leader takes over an organization, all kinds of things chaange immediately. There is a process going on, but sometimes it is hard to see it. This article discusses some of the dynamics going on in most leadership transitions.

Thinking Like an Owner - Click To Read Article
Many people fail to keep the mindset of an owner of the business. In doing so, they suffer political damage. This article gives some tips on how to improve your performance by thinking like an owner of the business.

Keeping a Positive Outlook - Click To Read Article
The best leaders are able to weather most storms and keep a positive outlook. This is a challenge as some of the pressures can be staggering. This article deals with the subject of outlook and how leaders can hone this trait.

Empowerment and Other "Programs" - Click To Read Article
Be careful when management wants to do another "program." Short term bursts of energy may be well intended, but they actually sap the energy of an organization. This paper describes the pitfalls and gives some antidotes.

Developing a Passion for Performance - Click To Read Article
In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins characterized two common denominators of Level 5 leaders. One was humility and the second was a passion for performance. This article deals with the passion aspect of leadership and gives some tips for how to generate more of it.

Put On Your Listening Hat - Click To Read Article
We have always had problems with people hearing but not listening. I believe with the electronic world, we are getting worse rather than better. This article focuses on a way to make sure the other party is focused on understanding your message.

What Puts Success in Succession? - Click To Read Article
Succession planning is vital to the long term survival of any organization. Unfortunately many companies do a poor job of succession at various levels. This paper outlines some of the key issues and gives several checklists that can help make these processes work better.

Read Between the Lines - Click To Read Article
The majority of feedback on your leadership performance, especially if it’s negative, will come between the lines, not explicitly or literally. You need to develop a sixth sense for sniffing out signals and decoding them. Reading body language well is a good way to accomplish this. This article highlights some tips for reading between the lines.

Manage the Rumors - Click To Read Article
Rumors are a daunting challenge for any organization. Wherever there are people, there is an issue of reality. One of the largest schisms between management and workers is the issue of accurate information. Rumors deflect energy from the vision and values. This paper discusses the origin of rumors and some antidotes to this common problem.

Communication Skill Areas - Click To Read Article
Effective communication is critical for building trust. This paper is about the skills required to interpret incoming communication without ambiguity. I address this from the point of view of the leader, but the concepts are applicable to all people in the organization.

Communicating on the Shop Floor - Click To Read Article
This paper is about some tips to enhance communication with people on the shop floor. These interfaces are critical for leaders as they define how the workers react to the leader.

Communicating with Large Groups of Employees - Click To Read Article
Some leaders have a knack for communicting with large groups of employees well and others stink at it. In this paper I outline some of the variables in this equation and offer many tips for improving your skills in this area.

Assume Best Intent - Click To Read Article
We can reduce conflict between individuals by establishing ground rules for behavior and holding people accountable for living up to their intended actions. One interesting and helpful rule is to always give the other person the benefit of the doubt when something does not seem right. I call it "assuming best intent." This paper describes how important this little rule can be in an organization.

E-Mail Tip #7 - Accomplish your Objective - Click To Read Article
It is amazing how many e-mails miss the mark and cause reactions in the reader that the writer did not intend. How can you prevent this from happening to you. Te secret lies in clarifying your objective before you compose your notes. It takes very little time and will improve the quality of your communication immensely.

E-Mail Tip #9 - Don't Hide Behind the Screen - Click To Read Article
Some people communicate things in e-mails that they would be reluctant to do in person. In effect, they hide behind the screen for protection. This strategy usually backfires for some percentage of notes written with this problem. This article contains an analysis of this problem and suggestions to prevent it.

Two Organizational States - Click To Read Article
In this article I contrast two extreme organizational states: one with very low trust, and one with very high trust. The contrast is stark. Most organizations operate somewhere between these two extremes.

Trust vs Walking on Eggs - Click To Read Article
The contrast between a high trust organization and a more typical group is so stark. I wanted to write an additional article on the topic. I call this one Trust vs Walking on Eggs because the comparison really works for me. See what you think.

The Transactional Nature of Trust - Click To Read Article
I have studied Trust for several decades, and I have come to believe that trust is transactional in nature. That is, trust is like a bank account where we have a balance and make deposits and withdrawals constantly. This article highlights some ideas about the transactional nature of trust.

Reinforce People Who Challenge - Click To Read Article
A key leadership skill is to be able to reinforce people who challenge you. This is prticularly hard to do if the challenge is made in public. This article will provide some interesting dimensions on this issue and offer some advice.

Identifying a Better State for Your Organization - Click To Read Article
In this article I identify the start of the strategic process. The first element is to realize there is a better existence for your organization. Ultimately this leads to a vision of the future, but I will save that process for another article.

Follow Up on Commitments - Click To Read Article
When I ask people how they define Trust, usually the first definition that comes forward is whether the person does as he says. It is the old "Walk the Talk" expression that is so overused, but so vital just the same. This article offers some thoughts and tips on effective follow up.

Don't Put People Off - Click To Read Article
Most meetings are intense affairs where it is important to stay on the topic at hand. When an individual comes up with an idea or concern that is not spot on the agend, often leaders will dismiss the input as a distraction. That can be a big mistake. This article looks at how to deal with distractions in a way that actually builds rather than destroys trust.

Do We Really Need a Mission Statement? - Click To Read Article
Many organizations confuse the concept of a vision statement with a mission statement. They might say, "Our mission is to become the world leader in windows." Well, that is reallly a vision statement, not a mission statement. A vision statement is always about the future, while a mission statement is all about what we are trying to do today. It is very important to know that. This article will clarify a process to obtain a good mission statement.

Documenting Expected Behaviors - Click To Read Article
In creating a Strategic Framework, many organizations forget to include a documented set of expected behaviors. This is actually a critical step to do well. This article walks through a porcess of documenting behaviors. It is not rocket science, but it must be done.

Developing a Strategic Plan - Click To Read Article
Developing a specific Strategic Plan is fundamental to organizational progress. Once an organization has a concrete set of values, a vision, a mission, and a set of behaviors, it is time to document the strategic plan with tactics. This article gives a brief outline of the process.

Clarifying Your Values - Click To Read Article
Every enterprise should be guided by a concrete set of values. These ahould be very visible and tangible. Unfortunately, mny organizations have not clarified their values. This leads to numerous problms in running the organization because there is no moral or ethical compass. Clarifying values takes time and energy, but it is time well spent. In this article I outline a specific process to do this critical work.

Bilateral Trust - Click To Read Article
Many leaders tend to forget that trust needs to be bilateral to really work. They need to trust people if people are going to trust them. This article puts some perspective on this idea and offers some concrete suggestions.

Be Open to New Ideas - Click To Read Article
It is easy to say "be open to new ideas" and most of us believe we have an open mind. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are all stuck with an enormous array of paradigms that limit our ability to see the possibiliies. To be really open minded is a skill that takes a lot of effort to develop. This article may help you see things from a different perspective.

E-mail Tip #1 - Use the Right Mode of Communication - Click To Read Article
Most leaders communicate more through e-mail than face to face with their people. It is a common practice to view e-mail as just a natural progression of communication not much different from conversation. This is a huge mistake. There are many ways e-mail communication needs to be handled differently to get the intended message across. This first tip may sound like common knowledge. Unfortunately it is not common practice. This will be the case for all of the tips I will give.

E-mail Tip #2 - E-mail is Not a Conversation - Click To Read Article
Most leaders communicate more through e-mail than face to face with their people. It is a common practice to view e-mail as just a natural progression of communication not much different from conversation. This is a huge mistake. There are many ways e-mail communication needs to be handled differently to get the intended message across. Even though writing or reading an e-mail feels very much like having a conversation, it really is not. Many people fail to understand the ramifications of this observation.

E-mail Tip #4 - Make the Subject Line Work for You - Click To Read Article
The subject line of an e-mail is a lot more important than most people realize. This article picks apart the topic and shows many examples of both good and bad subject lines. Given the subject line is one of two things a person considers (author is the other) when deciding when and if to open a note, we need to be very careful with wording.

E-mail Tip #5 - First Sentence Sets the Tone of a Note - Click To Read Article
The first few words of a note have more impact than meets the eye. It is important to start off a note on the right foot because otherwise your reader may have an incorrect frame of mind when reading the entire note.

E-mail Tip #6 - E-mails are Permanent Documents - Click To Read Article
In the hubub of everyday interfaces, we often forget how dangerous e-mails can be because of their permanance. If we write something, we better be prepared to defend it for all time. Here are some tips that can help protect you.

E-mail Tip #10 - Visualize the Person - Click To Read Article
You can really improve your online communication by visualizing the recipient of a note as you type. It will help you relate to the individual better in the words you choose. This article describes some techniques that can help the process of visualization.

E-Mail Tip #11 - Create a Set of Rules for Your Organization - Click To Read Article
It is amazing how some organizations live in a perpetual state of e-mail overload when there is a very simple way out? This article suggests each group create a set of rules to use. My experience is that doing this can cut the volume of notes from 30% to 50% very quickly. Wouldn't your group benefit from all that extra time?

To Socialize or Not - Click To Read Article
I am often asked by students if it is a good or bad idea for a leader to socialize with subordinates outside of work. There are a lot of tradeoffs, and this is a complex question. I break down the variables in this article.

The Systems View - Click To Read Article
Systems are all around us. We can view most common occurrences with a "systems" perspective. Here is a cute story to illustrate how systems operate.

Some Dangers of PERT Charts - Click To Read Article
Many companies use PERT charts to track the progress of projects. These charts show the major milestones in complex projects and develop a “critical path” through the ones that must not slip or the entire project suffers. Depending on your job, you may be exposed to these. They are used extensively in military projects and large construction projects. The more sweeping and complex a project is, the more useful a network representation can be. There are some precautions that I will describe here.

Organization Structure - Click To Read Article
Here is a lecture I wrote for a graduate class on Management. It discusses some interesting points about organization structure and how it can impact performance.

Padding Estimates - Click To Read Article
We all know there is a game of padding estimates in most parts of our society. It certainly exists in business. Here are a few helpful thoughts on how you can get more accurate numbers.

Project Planning and Risk Assessment - Click To Read Article
This article will describe two central issues in project management. Successful projects are built on good plans: unsuccessful ones are often caused by faulty plans. The ability to visualize risk factors and react appropriately is the basis for triumphant success, like the first manned lunar landing, or colossal failure like 9/11. This article looks under the hood of the planning and risk management processes.

Leadership Assessment #1 – In vs. Out Ratio - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of leadership assessments. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. I call it the "In Versus Out" Ratio.

Leadership Assessment #2 – Level of Trust - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the level of trust within the organization.

Leadership Assessment #3 – Growth & Development - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the level of growth and development of people.

Leadership Assessment #4 – Lack of Fear - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the absence of fear.

Leadership Assessment #5 – How People Treat Each Other - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is how people in the organization treat each other.

Leadership Assessment #6 – Builds an Inclusive Culture - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. The leader always works to build an inclusive culture.

Leadership Assessment #7 – Connects Well with People - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is how well the leader connects with people both upward and downward in the organization.

Leadership Assessment #8 – Firm but Fair - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is being firm but fair.

Leadership Assessment #9 – Admits Mistakes - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It how easily the leader admits mistakes.

Leadership Assessment #11 – Demonstrate Integrity - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is demonstrating integrity.

Leadership Assessment #12 – Listen Deeply - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the ability to listen deeply.

Leadership Assessment #13 – Negotiate Well - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the ability to negotiate well.

Leadership Assessment #15 – Make Good Decisions - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the ability to consistently make good decisions.

Leadership Assessment #17 – Optimize Communication - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the ability to communicate well.

Leadership Assessment #18 – Handle Crises Well - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the ability to handle crises well.

Leadership Assessment #19 – Generates Passion - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the ability to generate passion.

Leadership Assessment #20 – Lowers Credibility Gap - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the ability to lower the credibility gap between organizational levels.

Leadership Assessment #21 – Build a SAFE Environment - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the ability to build a safe environment.

Leadership Assessment #23 – Leaders Create Winners - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the ability to create winners.

Incredible Speed - Click To Read Article
Here are a couple true stories that illustrate how an organization can shrink months of effort into hours if the motivation is there. The interesting thing is that the people involved really loved the challenge and rose to the occasion.

Concepts of TQM and Lean - Click To Read Article
I have lived and worked through many of the phases of the Quality Revolution and have personally studied with many of the legendary Quality Gurus, like Deming, Juran, and Joiner. Often the articles and books on TQM (Total Quality Management) portray the world as an ideal place and describe theories in ways that are neat and tidy. The real world is a messier place, and the theories need to be integrated in that environment so they will actually work.

Write Colorful E-Mails - Click To Read Article
We can all improve the quality of our e-mails if we take a little time to think about how we word them. Painting "word pictures" can be a great way to improve this mode of communication, and it is not as hard as we might think.

Tips for Improving Motivation - Click To Read Article
The concept of motivation is one of the most misunderstood terms in the leadership lexicon. Reason: Most leaders either never learned or have forgotten the nature of motivation, so they try to achieve it using ineffective tools. This white paper focuses on the learning from Herzberg’s Two Factor theory and why those concepts can be translated into helpful guidelines that create the opportunity for higher levels of motivation.

The Power of Admitting Mistakes - Click To Read Article
One of the most powerful opportunities for any leader to build trust is to publicly admit mistakes. The source of that power is that it is so rare for leaders to stand up in front of a group and say something like this: “I called you here today to admit that I made a serious blunder yesterday. It was not intentional, as I will explain. Nevertheless, I failed to do the best thing for our group. I sincerely apologize for this and call on all of us to help mend the damage quickly. Without being defensive, let me just explain what happened…”

Punished by Rewards - Click To Read Article
The following review is taken from a pivotal article by Alfie Kohn in 1993. The paper can be ordered from Harvard Business Review (Sept. 1993). I will also provide my own comments on each point and offer some additional materials that amplify Mr. Kohn’s point of view.

Organization Development Techniques - Click To Read Article
OD is short for Organization Development. This is not a new term. Behavioral scientists have been writing about Organization Development for over 30 years. The science has evolved into many different approaches all aimed at the same objective: to enable massive improvements in organizational performance through specific and planned interventions. I have been involved with dozens of OD efforts over the past decades. Some of these have resulted in the desired improvement. Some have not. Let’s review four major types of OD interventions (there are others, but they are usually variations or combinations of these four):

Merger Downsizing - Click To Read Article
The following example shows how downsizing after a merger can become a huge morale problem for the surviving organization as well as the organization being taken over. Most mergers are done to improve economies of scale and reduce costs by combining similar functions in the two previously independent organizations. This is a tempting ploy when looking at how an organization can survive the increasingly competitive world market. Beware!

Ideas for Political Survival - Click To Read Article
There is an old saying “Too soon old – too late smart.” During my long career in a large organization, I somehow managed to do some pretty bonehead things politically. I will never be someone who is politically brilliant because I am far too outspoken. But I have learned some things and want to pass on an idea to others.

Good Peer Realtions Enable Leadership Transitions - Click To Read Article
Despite rigorous selection criteria and intense training, Michael, an employee reporting to you, is not working out. His attitude and personal habits are fine, but you have invested heavily in his development but have come to the realization he will be better off as an individual contributor rather than a leader.

5 Management Mistakes in Using Data - Click To Read Article
Deming taught us that many managers make things worse rather than better by the way they react to data. I would like to hear your opinions on whether you see this in your organization. Here are just 5 reasons why managers use data inappropriately.

4 Tips To Improve the Morning Meeting - Click To Read Article
Many organizations have a short morning meeting every day to accomplish multiple objectives. In some cases these meetings are highly successful: in others they actually make things worse.

Writing Challenging E-mails - Click To Read Article
We have all been there at some point. We need to communicate on a delicate issue, and e-mail is the only method possible because the other person is unavailable for any other type of communication. The situation can be a CTO (Career Threatening Opportunity). First of all you will be putting snesitive material in writing in a medium where there is no chance to fully erase it. Second, time is usually short in these circumstances, so there is not a lot of opportunity for detailed analysis. Finally, the subject matter gives you the feeling that you are walking on eggs.

Who is Your Worst Critic? - Click To Read Article
Most of us do not have to look far to find our own worst critic. We just need to look in the mirror. Even though it is not good for our physical or spiritual health, we all tend to dwell on what we need to do better. There is an antidote to the malaise, and it is easier that we think. All we need to do is re-train our minds to avoid dwelling on our deficiencies. Easier said than done? Not really. There are three simple steps you can take that will alter your self perception if you have the will to do them.

Reinforce Candor or Speak Truth to Power? - Click To Read Article
My Trust model highlights Reinforcing Candor as the most powerful tool to build trust in organizations. Some people might think this is the same as Speaking Truth to Power, but it is really very different.

Managing Your Style - Click To Read Article
Many of us have taken the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and also the DiSC Profile. We have sat in seminars or corporate training sessions designed to help us understand our "style" and how our "type" relates to the rest of the world. These insights are helpful at understanding ourselves and how we can improve relations with other people. I believe style needs to be considered more as a dynamic process - not static. For that we should think about the possibility of actively managing our style.

Little Known Leadership Tip - Click To Read Article
When leaders transition to a new position, they often make a critical error of being too outspoken about possible improvements based on the environment in their presious position. This can undermine relationships dramaticlly at the very time when it is critical to be building good will with the new team.

Deming on Leadership - Click To Read Article
Here is an interesting personal story of a run-in I had with Deming several years ago that had a profound impact on my understanding of leadership.

Defining Success - Click To Read Article
We all want to be successful in life. Success has meaning to us in a very personal way. Some people long for financial freedom to be able to live out their lives in relaxation with enough money to pay the bills. Other people define success in terms of power, they want to have a large span of control. Still others think being successful means having excellent personal relationships and love in their lives. there is another definition of success that is provided by two very learned men.

Avoid Garbage-Plate E-Mails - Click To Read Article
Less is more in e-mail communication. If a note cannot be read and internalized in 15-30 seconds, there is little chance it wil be effective at communicating the intended message. Granted, some messages do need to be longer, but it is a good idea to keep them as short as you can, and try to not have the text go "over the horizon" because the reader has no idea how long the note is if you do.

12 Rules for Success - Click To Read Article
Several years ago I generated a list of my own personal rules for success. It was originally 10 items which I called “Whipple’s 10 Commandments for success.” I later added a couple more to make it an even dozen.

10 Commandments to Reduce Gossip - Click To Read Article
Gossip and rumors about people are hurtful to relationships and organizational effectiveness. Here are 10 commandments that can reduce this problem in your environment.

Teams and Kindergarten - Click To Read Article
When we were in Kindergarten we learned some rules to be successful in class and on the playground. It is astounding that people in work groups often forget these basic rules in their activities. Let's get back to basics.

Reducing Conflict between Peers is an Art - Click To Read Article
Conflict within organizations is a constant problem. It deflects energy away from the vision and causes wasted energy. Conflict between peers is particularly hard to eliminate because the individuals see the world from different perspectives. This article offers several tips to reduce conflict between peers.

Leadership Myth #4 - Great Leaders are Expert at Playing Politics - Click To Read Article
The issue of when and how to play politics makes an interesting study. While we all want to avoid the Machiavellian type of behavior associated with manipulative politics, like it or not we are in a sea of political thought every day. We better get used to it and learn how to navigate well in it.

Leadership Myth #1 - Great Leaders Are More Intelligent - Click To Read Article
Many people believe great leaders are more intelligent than poor leaders. There are so many examples that debunk this theory that it is hard to pick just a few. Raw intelligence is not correlated with outstanding leadership characteristics. In fact, if you drew a correlation line showing IQ on one axis and success as a leader on the other, it would not be a straight line. There is a maximum point beyond which higher IQ is actually a predictor of lower success as a leader.

Leadership Myth #2 - Great Leaders Work Harder - Click To Read Article
Many people believe great leadership requires a person to be the hardest working person in the organization. That is simply not the case. In fact, Great leaders are often less work-a-holic type people than is commonly thought.

Leadership Truth #6 - Great Leaders Never Stop Learning - Click To Read Article
When we stop learning, it is time to call the undertaker. At birth, we are given one body and roughly 80 years - that is what we have. All of life is a series of learning opportunities. Great leaders are like sponges trying to absorb lessons in life, even in the most difficult of times.

Leadership Truth #7 - Great Leaders Believe Work is Play - Click To Read Article
Have you ever noticed that the best leaders actually have fun at work? It really is allowed to create an environment where the good times outnumber the bad times. There are some gifted leaders who have discovered this concept.

Leadership Truth #8 - Great Leaders Do Not Overly Worry about Popularity - Click To Read Article
While everybody likes to be popular, great leaders understand their primary goal is to balance the needs of all stakeholders at the same time. This inevitably leads to some stakeholders being unhappy with certain decisions. How do leaders deal with the fact that they are unpopular for some portion of the time?

Downsizing Dynamics - Click To Read Article
When companies are forced to downsize, it is an unpleasant time for everyone. Unfortunately many organizations make the process much worse than necessary. This article explores the problems and gives an antidote.

Ubiquitous Reinforcement - Click To Read Article
Great leaders know that reinforcement is the most powerful way to improve motivation. This article highlights four frequent errors in trying to reinforce people along with the antidotes. It also covers the need for reinforcement to be for the entire culture, not just for leaders to use.

Reinforce Candor to Build Trust: Transparency - Click To Read Article
Trust is the key ingredient missing in most organizations, particularly in these draconian times. The ability to build trust is most impacted by a leader’s habit of reinforcing candor – which means making people glad when they bring up inconsistencies in the leader’s actions. Most leaders punish people for surfacing difficult issues. In the process they extinguish trust and transparency, which further cripples worker motivation. Learn how to change your behaviors to allow consistent trust building interfaces with people.

Improve the Effectiveness of Your Meetings - Click To Read Article
Here are five tips to improve your meetings. 1. Reduce griping and venting. The leader of the meeting can allow people to vent, but not have it become a debilitating whirlpool. 2. Use the agenda wisely. Know when to follow the script and when to rip it up. 3. Summarize the discussion frequently. This prevents an endless cycle of people in violent agreement. 4. Agree to disagree. Use the rule of three to cut off acromony without hurting people’s feelings. 5. Manage the time efficiently. Make sure people feel the value in the meeting time.

Do You Play the Executive Whack-a-Mole Game? - Click To Read Article
Are you so busy solving problems and reacting to crises that you do not have time to develop the culture in your organization? If so, you are trapped in a whack-a-mole game. To get out, you need to carve out time to work with your group on improving the environment. Benefits - (1) reduce interpersonal conflicts - fewer problems for you to solve, (2) create more empowered employees - more willing hands to resolve issues, (3) lower stress and burn out.

Bonehead Advertising Ploys - Click To Read Article
If you really listen to the advertisements on TV, you can either get a lot of entertainment or get pretty sick. The material is full of claims that actually lower the trust in the product or service being sold. Sometimes I wonder who thinks up this garbage. If the objective is to get us to buy more, then why do the moguls of advertising put out this material?

Avoiding Playing Favorites - Click To Read Article
We all know the issue of playing favorites is one of the most deadly trust busters in an organization. The conundrum is that every leader really does have favorites and uses these people more than the not-so-favored people for certain tasks. If you are a leader and deny this, check your reality meter – you may be out of gas. Given this problem, how can a leader go about running the most efficient organization and still beat the debilitating stigma of playing favorites? The answer lies in doing 4 things that are outlined in this article.

Anti-Hubris Pixie Dust - Click To Read Article
We have all run into a narcissist leader somewhere along the way. This “Bull in a china shop” leader goes around all day creating damage – often with no congnition of it. There are two issues here. If you are a leader, how can you tell the extent to which your hubris is taking you in a direction at cross purposes to your intent? If you work in an environment where there is one or more narcissistic leaders, how can you improve conditions for yourself and your co-workers? These questions are so common that most people deal with some form of the dilemma every single day at work, yet despite years of effort and suffering, no relief is in sight. I believe there is a shaping process that can actually serve as a tranquilizer in the melee, but the application must be done with great skill to be effective.

4 Common Denominators of High Performing Teams - Click To Read Article
There are four common denominators of high performing teams. When these elements are present, teams are almost guaranteed to be efficient and rewarding for the members. The elements are: Common goals, Trust, Good Leadership, and a Good Charter. If your team has these four elements, chances are you are enjoying the benefits of working on a high performance team.

12 Do's and Don't for Effective Online Communication - Click To Read Article
We communicate more online now than verbally. In many situations, people send signals that are not consistent with their intentions. Unfortunately, while the rules of excellent e-mail communication are common sense, they are not common practice. These simple 12 rules will allow you to prevent most problems when communicating online.

9 Tips to Improve Trust in Virtual Teams - Click To Read Article
We work in virtual teams more now than ever before. Many people spend most of the career working with people in high pressure situations, yet they have not ever physically met. Here are 9 tips that can improve the effectiveness of virtual teams.

5 Caveats to the "Open Door" Policy - Click To Read Article
Most organizations have an "Open Door" policy to protect employees from bully supervisors. The idea is to make it safe to bring a problem to a higher level of management. The method can be helpful, but I have found it to be fraught with problems. This paper describes five of the most significant problems with the "Open Door" Policy and suggests a simple antidote.





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