Imagine this interesting scenario: You just began your new supervisory role and your boss announces that it’s time for you to find your replacement. No, you haven’t done anything wrong and you’re not getting fired. Your boss believes in preparing for the future by succession planning, which means you train your replacement in conjunction with doing your job. Surprisingly, this … [Read more...]
The Leadership Secret to Getting More Done
One of the things I notice as I work with new leaders is a tendency to accept work practices and processes as fixed entities. In some cases, company procedures, processes and work practices are mandated from a level far removed from the front-line supervisor, and they are relatively fixed. However, in most cases, front-line supervisors have more flexibility and … [Read more...]
In Person Meetings in the Time of Corona? How One Company is Making it Happen
Remote meetings have kept business going during the pandemic, but as companies open back up, leaders are realizing that face-to-face meetings could benefit the team. "Remote work may be the new normal, but there are also times when getting everyone together in the same room is extremely valuable," says innovation expert Howard Tiersky, owner of New York City's Innovation Loft, … [Read more...]
140 Top CEOs Identify Nine Crucial Skills and Mindsets for Future Leaders
This is a guest post by Jacob Morgan, author of The Future Leader. When I would speak at conferences and events around the word, I would frequently get asked, "What should we be teaching leaders now to prepare for the future?" Unfortunately, there is not much research that explores this, especially including the perspectives of top CEOs, so I decided to tackle this with my … [Read more...]
Putting Out Fires: Stop, Drop and Role
I’ve worked with well-meaning, highly-principled leaders and managers for years. When the topic of coaching and developing their employees comes up, I often hear that they know coaching is important, they want to coach more, but they don’t have time because they are too busy “putting out fires.” Right now, that probably has never been more true. The pandemic put many leaders … [Read more...]
Encourage Employees to Take More Initiative
Empowerment is a great thing, especially during times of change, upheaval and disruption. Empowered employees show greater commitment, stay more engaged, and create better results. Empowered employees take more initiative and get more done than employees who work in a fear-based, command-and-control environment. As a new supervisor, you hear and read about these … [Read more...]
Helping Grief-Stricken Employees
Death is an incredibly tough subject to discuss, and one we are confronted with daily these days, but it's also been an issue that managers and leaders have dealt with for a long time. How should you act when an employee loses a loved one? What should you say? How do you respond without coming across as invasive? When one of your employees suffers the loss of a loved one, … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Recognize Remote Employees
It's not groundbreaking news that employees want to be recognized for their hard work. Nor is it surprising that employees' performance, attitude and job loyalty tend to improve when they feel valued at work. Be honest: How well are you performing at recognizing your employees' efforts in recent weeks? Most of our lives have been turned, at least a little, upside down … [Read more...]
Resources: Managing Negativity Now and Later
Most people right now are feeling the full weight of the COVID-19 pandemic. They’re anxious or scared. They may be feeling frustrated with the stay at home measures. Some are experiencing financial problems. Some may have even lost a loved one to the virus. Most of us are dealing with emotional highs and lows, and that can affect even the most positive people’s attitudes. To … [Read more...]
How to Step Up and Lead Strong in Uncertain Times
This is a guest post by Tamara Ghandour, keynote speaker and adviser. Recent events around COVID-19 have turned most of our worlds upside down. The situation is rapidly evolving, leaving most people with a sense of uncertainty around how everything will play out, in the short and long-term. That uncertainty leads to stress, decreasing productivity, and quality of … [Read more...]