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Credibility is essential to being an effective leader. One of the most powerful ways to build credibility is to own up to something that didn’t work and apologize for it. When Ed Koch was mayor of New York, he was concerned about the number of accidents resulting from bikers darting in and out of traffic. Determined Continue reading Want More Credibility? Own Up and Apologize If you want to increase satisfaction at work, talk about the things people like. If you want to increase dissatisfaction, talk about what makes them unhappy. I recently talked to a manager – let’s call him Roy – whose company had completed a series of employee satisfaction surveys. It turns out that although Roy’s unit scored Continue reading Conversations Can Lower Satisfaction I recently participated in a book group discussion about The Four Conversations with the managers of COSI, the science museum in Columbus Ohio. Our topic for this session was Initiative Conversations, which are used anytime you want to propose or recommend a new idea, project, or undertaking that involves others. Initiative Conversations tell people what Continue reading Just Tell Me Why Why don’t people perform the way we expect them to? Perhaps you have asked yourself this question, or participated in a discussion with others related to it. Although there are many answers that could be provided, one that has recently caught my attention is the role of common ground. I was recently at a holiday dinner Continue reading Common Ground and Performance Don’t risk being held to account for things you don’t know about. Take the time to find out what people really expect you to do, and what they expect you to deliver. If they don’t tell you, ask. I recently had a conversation with a manager who was disturbed by her inability to meet the Continue reading Convert Expectations into Agreements While flying home from a weekend visit with my son in Houston, Texas, I got a flash of insight into why it is so difficult to train managers to be more effective. I was reading “The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making” when I realized managers make a fundamental error in their understanding of what Continue reading The Fundamental Error in Managing Others Do you ever have trouble getting people to give you what you want when you want it? Do you find yourself explaining things over and over to people with the expectation that if they really understood what you wanted and why, they would give it to you? It could be that you are using the Continue reading Stop Explaining and Start Asking One of the most frequent complaints I hear from managers has to do with accountability: “No one is accountable for that”, “Things would work a whole lot better if people were accountable”, “We need more accountability around here.” I agree, accountability is missing and most organizations could definitely use more of it. Unfortunately, managers are Continue reading We Are Looking in the Wrong Place for Accountability We often get upset with ourselves when we forget something. We also get upset with others when they forget. It seems we think that people are suppose to remember and that forgetting is somehow a mistake – particularly if it something important to us. No doubt forgetting causes problems, particularly when other people depend on Continue reading Forgetting is the Norm – So Remind Them Many of us confront challenges at work. Some of these are easily resolved. Others are more persistent. One reason challenges persist is because we don’t accept any responsibility for them. I recently gave an assignment to the managers in my MBA class on management in which they were to identify their top three persistent challenges. In Continue reading Top Management Challenges: Are We Being Victims? |
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