Great stories and motivational speeches give us a nice feeling. But they are temporary and fail to keep us motivated to work harder and give our best over an extended period of time. The secret sauce of motivation boils down to the alignment between a person’s sense of purpose—including what they value and deem meaningful—and … Read more
Leaders who are serious about overcoming the major causes of virtual employee disengagement – Disconnection, Distraction, and Deactivation can practice the 3 C’s of Virtual Employee Engagement. Leaders must lead in a different way when leading virtual employees. They must bring the best of themselves in three core practices of Connecting People, Coaching Performance, and … Read more
The ongoing Covid-19 crisis has altered our way of life in many ways. Nowhere is this more true than in how we accomplish our work. For better or worse, virtual work is how we must get business done. And while many believe remote work has a great chance to increase employee engagement, there are 3 … Read more
Imagine for a second what you could do if you could boost your brain power by 20%. Imagine what 20% more energy, 20% greater cognitive ability, and 20% higher emotional control would do for you. If you were able to boost your brain power by 1/5 of your current capacity, it would have an immense … Read more
The field of Neuroscience has taken great strides over the past 10 years in understanding how the brain and nervous system works. While in the past neuroscience findings have been mainly used for medical purposes, discoveries are now being applied to many other parts of our lives, including our work. Dr. David Rock’s book, … Read more
I recently completed a research study investigating the impact of leadership character. I’m always curious about what leads to people being motivated and engaged at work. There are certainly many reasons why a person chooses to be more effortful, but one of those reasons doesn’t have a lot of research backing it. So about two … Read more
The statements we make to people during critical times can either support or hinder their potential. That’s why I call these statements “Power Messages.” The event is crystal clear in my memory. I was fifteen years old and a sophomore in high school. I was being driven home after a church youth activity by … Read more
It has been quite popular to talk about leadership as influence. While I certainly agree that a leader influences people, the function of leadership is broader, and dare I say “stronger”, than influence. Influence is defined by Webster’s dictionary as the power or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways. … Read more
As humans, our tendency is to boil concepts down to their most basic elements. In doing so, we extract the uniqueness in pursuit of simplicity. We often do this by using generalizations. These generalizations, while having some utility, rob us of seeing the uniqueness of individual difference. Understanding and embracing uniqueness has been forgotten in … Read more
A few years ago I was talking to a manager who expressed his frustration with the lack of rewards and incentives he was able to give to his team when they performed well. Being an advocate of healthy motivation in workplace environments, I asked him to tell me more about his team and workplace. It … Read more