Building the capability of your direct reports
I’m constantly pushing leadership teams to get out of the weeds and to add value at an appropriate level. (See my previous post for how to tell if you’re in the weeds.) They are continually pushing...
View ArticleSurprising advice on counteracting mediocrity
I recently debuted a new speech about building high performance teams. My ideas about how to build a high performance team (and whether teams even have the courage that high performance requires) are...
View ArticleHow to tone down an argument
I’m in the midst of an exciting new project building the very first 3COze product. We’ve decided that of all the tools to help teams become more effective, the ones that are most needed are the tools...
View ArticleHow to give feedback to someone who doesn’t report to you
Most of the companies I have worked with have, at some point, stuck the word “one” in front of their company name and heralded it as a great new era. “We are now One Acme!” [Cue the trumpets and unfurl...
View ArticleWhen the problem is outside your team
It can be extremely frustrating when one of your teammates isn’t cooperating. But at least when it’s one of your own teammates that’s behaving badly, you have some recourse with your mutual manager....
View ArticleDealing with complaints and complainers
Do you have someone on your team who always seems to have a little personal storm cloud hovering overhead? You know who I mean: the person who inevitably responds to an exciting initiative by...
View ArticleMake work projects
“We’re smart people, we kick off a lot of ideas.” This was a quote from a participant in the Cascading Strategy workshop we delivered last week. We were in the midst of a discussion about clearing out...
View ArticleHow to get a juicy conversation
When working with senior executives, one of the most common requests I get is to help create “juicy conversations.” What they mean by “juicy” is deep, probing, uncomfortable, novel, productive...
View ArticleDealing with negative emotions
How many times have you heard someone say, “let’s just take the emotions out of this discussion?” It’s one of my favorite lines I hear in team effectiveness sessions. And when I say “favorite,” I mean,...
View ArticlePreparing for a new leader
A change in team leadership can be highly disruptive. I’m on post three of a three-part series on succession and its impact on teams. I started with what to do (and not do) if you’ve decided to vie for...
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