As a manager and leader of people, one of your most important roles is that of a motivator. Having smart, skilled, and engaged employees isn’t enough to build a high performing team. You must create an environment that supports and accelerates the energy and drive of each employee toward mutual team goals. In my new book, I share … Read more
A person’s quality of motivation is greatly influenced by his/her current emotional state. This doesn’t discount the cognitive processing that is required for goal-directed action. In fact, this cognitive processing is what often produces a perception that creates a highly emotional response that either hinders or supports action. I have observed 7 emotional responses that produce amotivation — the term … Read more
Assessments can be a great way to teach team members about the commonalities and differences among their peers. When we work with others, it becomes quickly evident that we all have preferences and styles for how we work, think, communicate, and handle conflict. There are 5 great assessments that I recommend to help individuals and … Read more
Forgive me for being a little negative in this post. Just for fun, I want to list some of my cliche and buzz-phrase pet peeves. Some of these are just warn out while others simply sound unprofessional. Managers who use these can expect to kill motivation. Use them at your own risk. 10. Rightsizing – … Read more
Great teams don’t just happen. They are built. Over the past 15 years, I’ve had the opportunity to serve on teams, lead teams, and facilitate dozens of team building meetings. I’ve observed and studied what helps teams grow together and increase cohesion and trust. Below, I discuss 5 ways managers can move a team toward … Read more
Have you ever thought of yourself as a genius? I think most of us never think of ourselves as having an extraordinarily high intelligence or natural capability. Although academic research many years ago created a paradigm of general Intelligence and IQ, more resent research is telling us a different story. People can be of average … Read more
While some are still stuck in old paradigms of motivation, many have moved beyond this command, control, and threats style to an over-reliance on the behavioral model of rewards. Scientific studies continue to support a more sophisticated perspective that relies on the leader creating environments of autonomy, competence (mastery), and relatedness (purpose). This video provides … Read more
Like most of you I would love to have more time to learn and grow both personally and professionally. I’ve found that with the invention of apps on mobile devices (phone, tablet, computer, etc.), I can use small windows of time to learn and grow. In the past when we stood in line at the … Read more