Do Your Employees Think You’re Accessible?

We all have those days of burying ourselves in emails, shutting our office doors, or answering call after call. On those days you’d probably prefer to be left alone in order to be productive and efficient. As a leader, doing your job is important, however, part of your responsibility is to be there for your employees.Employees may hesitate to ask for help or “bother” their boss. They may feel fearful that they will be perceived as weak or ignorant, or simply feel their questions or concerns are not as important as your work. How can leaders open the door to welcome these questions?

What Happens When a Good Decision Goes Bad?

Decision making is a core competency for leadership. Your ability to make decisions and implement them is a foundational principle.

But what happens when a good decision goes bad? How you handle these situations is as important – if not more important – than the original decision. These scenarios don’t necessarily mean that your original decision was a bad one. Circumstances change, and your ability to recognize such a shift is essential.

Wisdom from Ben

Benjamin Franklin was born on this day in 1706. His legacy has lasted three centuries, a notable achievement for any leader. At the age of 20, he created a process for self-improvement, something that methodically helped him advance his character.

These were his 13 virtues, and he proactively worked on these daily. His system was simple: a card that listed the 13 virtues and the days of the week which he checked off when he adhered to the virtue.

Are You in the Swing?

We’re ten days into the new year, and as people have revved back into the work groove, many resolutions have already bitten the dust. This happens for a few reasons, but the two most important ones are that (1) people set unrealistic goals and (2) they try to do too many things.

For you to get into the swing of the new year, focus on one discreet thing. And the smaller the item is, the more likely you will succeed if you want to build an effective, new habit.

Team Resolutions?

Many people identify personal resolutions in the new year that they abandon at varying paces during the month of January. In fact, some 80% of us give up by the time February rolls around.

I’ve often wondered whether the success rate would be better if accountability was part of the process. There are many ways to create accountability, but each participant needs to have some skin in the game.

Shifting Focus to the New Year

We’re almost there – only a few more days until the calendar turns to 2019. How do you feel about 2018? Did it live up to your expectations? Or are you wistfully thinking about what could have been different?

The end of the year is often a time of reflection.

Support, Don’t Reject

It’s normal for leaders to become frustrated by employee performance when employees disappoint. Obviously, you need to be judicious in how you handle these situations and to evaluate the root cause of the less than stellar performance.

You need to look behind the obvious to determine what’s going on with the disappointing employees, especially if their performance is normally positive.

A Note on Civility

One of the comments about President Bush 41 in this week of memorializing his legacy was not to mistake civility for weakness. I thought this was particularly meaningful in an era where civility has taken a public back seat to disrespect and rudeness.

Civility recognizes the humanity of others. In fact, it embodies core characteristics of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-regulation, and empathy.

Do You have an “A Team”?

What kind of standards do you set for the product or service your company produces? Is “good” good enough? Or do you strive for excellence and consistently aspire to do better?

The difference between A and B starts with mindset. If your team perfunctorily goes through the motions and achieves the minimum, it probably isn’t “A” work. When the team has a strong work ethic and strives to do better each time, it’s likely a very different result.

A Day of Gratitude

Thanksgiving is a day of gratitude. It’s a time to pause, reflect, and give thanks for the things that mean the most to you. It’s one of the best times to express your appreciation for the important people in your life.

Beyond your personal expressions of gratitude, think about what you’re grateful for in your professional life. It’s really easy for the frustrations of our daily work life to wind us up, compounding the tensions that exist on the job.