Oversight is very popular, and obviously necessary within the workplace. Accountability seems to be less of a mandate, and that is a problem. The only way to engage yourself, employees, and/or customers is to combine oversight and accountability. I’m not sure when accountability fell out of fashion, but a lack of accountability equates to lost […]
Accountability
Accountability is the base of business, leadership, friendship, etc. The challenge within it can be very real. Two thoughts on leaning into accountability: 1.) Know that the lens you look through changes, and be aware that impacts accountability as well. Revisit what you need to address throughout your life. 2.) Accountability goes beyond you. You […]
Leadership vs Ego
How do you know if you are a good leader? Step one, lead without ego. I just saw “ego is not your amigo” somewhere. First I laughed, and then I thought how true, and how unfortunate more of us don’t realize that. Ego can not only get in the way of your success, it can […]
Your Lens
What lens are you looking through? If you are talking about bringing people into your community to live, or engaging people in their work in your company, are you looking through your lens or their’s? If you’re not sure, just look at your results. I once consulted to an international nonprofit that focused on advocacy, […]
Good Advice, For Good Managers
I’m a huge fan of Seth Godin. This certainly isn’t the first quote of Godin’s that has surfaced within the blog posts on this site. While Mr. Godin is all about marketing, his thoughts expand far beyond just that topic. I promise you, if you read his posts and/or books you’ll pull great information from them, […]
Leadership Defined
I attended an event this morning for a foundation’s 10th anniversary. Each table participated in the breakout session, assigned with a specific topic. My table’s topic was leadership. Everyone around the table was asked to share how they show and facilitate leadership and had already been asked to share something recent they are proud of. The last woman […]
Ratty Transgressions
There are all types of very important, official sounding words to describe group/team conflict dynamics. We can talk about proportional or perceptual conflict, but what it all boils down to on most occasions when conflict goes from productive to toxic is what I like to call “rats in a cage conflict.” “Rats in a cage […]
Action Trumps Ongoing Discussion
Action trumps ongoing discussion. Think about the issue, have a meeting or discussion to find the best course of action and then move on it. Failure to pull the trigger and then relapse into ongoing consensus and meetings is the path to an ongoing loss of productivity and ROI. Be active, be accountable.
Avoiding Conflict, The Abilene Paradox
There is a dynamic that seems like a smooth path, but leads to bumpy results – the Abilene Paradox is this dynamic. So what is the Abilene Paradox? It is when healthy debate and outcomes are foregone in place of conflict avoidance. Basically it is putting consensus above positive outcomes and productivity. Interestingly, the Abilene […]