Mike’s Blog
This is for everyone who is interested in Leadership, teams, and people.
There are currently 1,652 posts on this site. Narrow the list by searching for topics that are important to you.
How do you define success?
A celebration today will provide the fuel to reach tomorrow’s success.
The only accurate measure of leadership
Leadership is not an easy choice, but I can promise it is a rewarding choice.
When you don’t understand their upset
Rather than being dismissive, work to see the situation from their perspective.
People don’t always need advice
Leaders create the conditions for others to succeed. Success includes helping remove obstacles where needed. The trap a leader can fall into, though, is believing they need to fix all problems. When people are confronting a problem, they will often feel anxious. I...
Dont let the hiearchy get in the way of collaboration
Never let hierarchy get in the way of your team collaborating with others.
Focus on the gap and productivity will improve
Instead of pushing on the inputs or outputs, start by focusing on the gap between inputs and outputs.
You will lower productivity when you try to drive it
Rather than trying to drive productivity, let the team take responsibility for improving productivity.
Listen to all the voices
Resistors are an essential voice in your system.
Do they know why?
When people understand why they are more likely to take responsibility for doing their best work.
Get to know the people
When you get to know the people better, your leadership will change.
Processes will never solve people problems
You can’t solve people problems with process.
Four powerful words that open doorways
Listen. Ask for their thoughts and feelings.
Make it easy for ideas to flow
Good ideas can come from anywhere, so make sure it’s culturally acceptable for that to happen.
Are they open to feedback?
Always ask permission before giving feedback as it ensures the other is open to receiving it at this time. If the answer is “no”, then save it for later.
The nourishment of feedback
Feed means to nourish. Back means to mirror or return. How is your feedback nourishing others through reflection?
Increasing the impact of feedback
Make your motivation for giving feedback transparent, and you’ll increase its impact.
Maximizing your learning
“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” ~ Bill Gates
Recovering to your authentic self
Recovery is returning to your most authentic self and remembering what’s important for you. Where do you need to recover?
Responding to mistakes
You can’t always control the mistake. You can always control how you respond to the mistake.
Communicate in times of uncertainty
When you’re unsure how to deal with a problem in your team: communicate. It will never be the wrong thing to do.
What’s the elephant in the room?
Elephants take over the rooms where no one is talking about them. Talk about the elephants.
Is the workplace a thing of the past?
The Workplace Liberation movement has taken ahold. If you don’t figure it out, your team will.
Team building isn’t a social event
There’s a difference between team building and team social events. Which do you need?
What defines your culture?
Given culture is defined by your values, what values define your culture?
