Appreciation matters. But you knew that already. Because it matters to you. We all want to feel valued and recognized for our contributions. Appreciation is one of the most powerful accelerators of employee engagement. For example, research conducted by the O.C. Tanner Company shows that adding appreciation boosts scores at low-trust companies from 35% engaged to … Read more
You may never lead an auction in your life. But you probably do (or will) lead meetings. Last Friday night, I took my first turn as an auctioneer (and emcee) at the annual spring fundraiser for my kids’ elementary school. Now that I’ve run my first auction, it’s became obvious that there are massive parallels between auctions … Read more
Some months back, I shared a post about how we’re no longer in the information age–we now live in the interruption age. Do you feel more overwhelmed and distracted than you used to? If your experience is anything like many of the leaders I work with, you probably answered yes. Part of the reason we’re so … Read more
Meetings.(Cue the groans and eye rolls.) Nobody loves them. Let’s face it, most people would rather be anywhere else than in a business meeting. Are meetings doomed to be inherently horrible? Or have we just settled for mediocrity because we know no better way? This subject of “meeting madness” came with two groups I worked with … Read more
OK, I have a confession to make. I finally gave in. After months of pleading with me, my 10 year old son Alexander has convinced me to let him join in the phenomenon known as Clash of Clans. In case you don’t know what that is—it’s a mobile massive online multi-player strategy video game.It’s hugely popular … Read more
Has this happened to you? You’re leading a meeting. You’ve got 25 people scheduled to attend. (For simplicity, let’s assume all of your attendees are meeting in person together.) The meeting is supposed to start at 9 am. It’s pouring rain outside.At 8:58, you look around. Only 14 of the 25 people are in the … Read more
Who wouldn’t want to be an All-Star? We’re not talking strictly sports here: let’s broaden the definition of an All-Star as someone who’s recognized for being an outstanding performer. All-Stars aren’t just especially lucky. Their achievements are based on some key fundamentals, ones that we can all replicate. My 10 year old son, Alexander, has played … Read more
I’ve traveled to Europe twice in the last month: to France and Germany. Both times, I stayed in hotels with a master key. You can see it in the picture above. (This is from my hotel in Munich.) The master key works like this: when you get into your room, you put the … Read more
Our social world is governed by unspoken norms. Want to freak someone out? The next time someone says “hello” to you, just ignore them and don’t reply. (Just thinking about doing that probably freaks you out.) As someone who wants to influence others, you need to be particularly attuned to what people say to you. When … Read more
Emotional Intelligence. For more than a decade, it’s been shown time and again that Emotional Intelligence is a bigger predictor of success than education and skills. So why do so many emotionally stupid leaders still walk the earth? Last week, I was at a conference of a Fortune 50 company in the Energy Industry. Over 1,500 of their … Read more
