As our calendar year comes to a close, reviewing what you worked on and the big changes we made together, here were the top issues of 2010:

Resolving Conflict Across Generations
Increasing Engagement and Efficiency
Building Trust Throughout the Organization
Better Communication to Increase Productivity
Re-visiting Corporate Vision, Mission and Values and Getting Clarity
Creating Commitment and Improving Accountability
Understanding and Using Workplace Motivators
Improving [...]

950 years of business experience.  No, it’s not a typo. I just met with a group of business people in Washington State for lunch. Between them, they have 950 years of experience, and the headcount was only 30.  That’s approximately 32 years business experience each, if I did my math right. (I have 33 years in business for [...]

The new academic year is upon us. When school starts I always think of my friend Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, who devoted his life to getting adults to keep reading. Being a perpetual student of life myself, I promised to carry his torch after he was gone from this earth.  Soon after Charlie went to Heaven, my mentor Jim Rohn died, the [...]

Voice: “Knock Knock”.
Leader: “Who’s there?”
Voice: “Anxiety.”
Leader: “Oh, hi again.  Who sent you?”
Anxiety: “You called me”
Leader: “I did?”
Anxiety: “Yes”
Leader: “Oh, sorry.  I didn’t mean to.  I must have dialed the wrong number.  You are welcome to come in but only for a second.  You can’t stay.  I have priorities that are important to me”.
Anxiety: “You mean [...]

I was in Phoenix last week at the Summer Conference for TTI Performance Systems.  Always in pursuit of how we can help our clients manage their businesses and their talent better, a select group of 50 of us put our head down and went to work: branstorming, collaborating, sharing knowledge, and listening to experts in [...]

I’ve been re-reading Ben Franklin’s Autobiography for the “umpteenth” time.  In his long journey of self-improvement, he came up with his own 13 “virtues”, which I will list below.  This would be a great set of values for any company or employee! It comes from a man who was not of any religion, but established his own moral [...]

Those of you who know me know I don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t take drugs, don’t usually eat meat, work out on a regular basis, love hiking, used to be a ballet dancer, ran marathons, love yoga and Pilates, and so on.  At one place they used to call me the “Tofu Queen”, and for about 15 [...]

In my last post I talked about disengagement.  Let’s continue the discussion, first, by giving you a “state of the people” address.  Then let’s look at some actions you can take to proactively position yourself for the next battle:
Some things you should know:  

According to a recent study by the Washington-based Corporate Executive Board, the [...]

Distinction: EQ is not drama. (things becoming more emotional)  It is the opposite.
 
We are all draining some amount of revenue because of a less than perfect score on our emotional intelligence.
 
Oh, man, here she goes again with the fluffy stuff.  Emotional Intelligence?  You’ve got to be kidding.  I have a deadline to meet…no time for touchy-feely talk [...]

You are a passenger on an airplane.  You look out the window of the place and the wing is on fire.  The oxygen masks drop down.  The flight attendants make an announcement that the pilot is going to have to make a crash landing on water.  You hear yelling: “Brace…Brace”.  People around you are starting [...]