Another habit that healthy leaders adopt to demonstrate respect is one that is harder than it seems: listening effectively. Leaders who listen well make it a priority to listen first. They listen to understand rather than to respond. This allows them to truly discover what is important to the other person, which should in turn…
It is important to be human with your team, but it is just as important to see the human behind the employee. The late Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was once asked by TV journalist Charlie Rose in an interview: “How many kids do you think are out there who in 30 years you’ve…
In our increasingly fast, tech-driven world, it is especially important to establish respectful norms related to both the virtual workplace and our phone use. Screens exert a magnetic force on our attention, leading us to disengage from others in ways we never did before smartphones and constant notifications. How many times have you seen someone…
Enjoy this excerpt from our new book, Healthy Leadership. We often hear leaders say that they will appreciate their teams once a certain goal is achieved. These leaders do not understand the power of appreciating progress. Healthy leaders appreciate results and progress. They understand that employees want to feel connected to their leader, their organization, and…
Enjoy this excerpt from our new book, Healthy Leadership. Research from Gallup revealed that the most effective teams have at least a 3:1 ratio of positive to negative interactions. Demonstrating appreciation for contributions is a powerful way to create a positive interaction. On the home front, this same research found the ratio for the most effective…
In an age when much more is being written than spoken, appreciation for the tone of the written word is being lost. For example, a typical cryptic text or email relies on emojis to communicate a serious, sarcastic, or playful tone. Even the craftiest emoji user loses subtle intended meaning. When you are speaking, the…
Here is an excerpt from Leadership Matters. It contains 31 daily insights to inspire extraordinary results. day 7: Connections How often do you hear people speak with envy about companies with “real heart”? Companies like Starbucks, Ben & Jerry’s, Southwest Airlines, Harley-Davidson, Nordstrom, The Container Store, Apple, FedEx, Fossil and Google, to name a few.…
All the questions in the world will not help your team if you are not listening. You don’t learn when you’re talking; you learn when you’re listening. Excellent coaches are also excellent listeners and learners. Mark Twain said, “If we were supposed to talk more than we listen, we would have two mouths and one…
Although Harry Potter’s cloak of invisibility is a very cool accoutrement, invisibility is really the last thing that most humans want. Humans have a fundamental need to be seen and heard. Simply acknowledging people, their input or efforts is validating. We don’t require 1,000 likes from social media “friends,” but we do need human-to-human affirmation that…
Winning leaders are accessible and authentic. That formula for leadership success has not changed in 25 years. Here are some examples and steps you can take to step up your leadership game. For 25 years, we asked lots of clients and colleagues questions about their experiences with strategy execution (what we call "adherence"), including this…
