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Here’s a picture of my dog Petey. He likes to watch the world from my front porch. Notice his leash. He is a rescue and when I brought him home from the shelter four years ago, he ran away a lot.  So, I tethered him to keep him safe. Now, he simply sits in this … Continue Reading

There’s a crossing guard who monitors the corner of a busy street in my neighborhood. I encountered her about four months ago while taking a new route. The first time I saw her she was smiling and waving. Her demeanor was so warm, I thought she was acknowledging someone she knew. The next week, I … Continue Reading

  Click here to read the article: What I Learned. What You Should Consider  

Consider this scenario:   A new manager is assigned to your department.  There is an all-hands meeting where she is introduced to the staff.  Everyone in the room takes in the same data:  what she looks like and how she behaves. She makes a few comments, which focus on how happy she is to be joining … Continue Reading

I don’t know about you, but there have been many times in my life when I gave up because I thought the task was too hard or I wasn’t good enough. A specific example of this comes to mind when I think about my freshman year in college.  I needed a math elective so I … Continue Reading

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, here are five practices that will help you improve your ability to communicate the “I care” message to your workforce.   1.       Take the time to have informal conversations with your employees. You show you are interested in them as people when you ask about something going on in their personal lives … Continue Reading

Recently, I have been holding someone accountable. Depending upon your understanding of the word, you either view this as a good thing or a bad thing. I have been in organizations where the mere mention of the word makes people run for cover. It seems the practice of holding someone accountable has morphed into the … Continue Reading

There are countless books and articles being written on the subject of leadership. It seems to me they can be classified into one of three categories.There are writings that offer leadership styles. Others offer principles or laws of leadership and others are written by famous people who have personal stories of leadership they feel compelled … Continue Reading

  What are the questions you ask in your organization? In Change Your Questions. Change Your Life: 12 Powerful Tools for Leadership, Coaching, and Life, Marilee Adams says we think in terms of questions. These questions range from simple to complex; from “What should I eat?” to “How can I best live my values?” Adams … Continue Reading

People have been studying organizational behavior since the beginning of the 20th century.  Many cite the work done by Frederick Taylor in 1916 as starting the practice.  He employed what he called “scientific management” and did time studies to increase productivity.  Mary Parker Follett, known as the Mother of Modern Management, shifted the focus from … Continue Reading