Mike’s Blog

A while ago, I was talking to someone and didn't understand why they were upset with their situation. This difference in perspective is hardly surprising, as we all look at the world through the lenses of our stories. The problem starts when leaders become dismissive...

Leaders create the conditions for others to succeed. Success includes helping remove the obstacles to success. The trap a leader can fall into, though, is starting to believe they need to take on all problems. When people are confronting a problem, they will often...

I frequently hear stories of people who say they're too busy and don't have time. It's as if there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. Not having enough time is a problem that seems to be at epidemic proportions. We even wear our busyness as a badge...

When groups are going through periods of change, there are often people labeled as resisting change. Resistors are the people refusing to go where everyone else is heading. The effort to lead resistors is why I teach people to put the greatest focus on people who are...

Think of a process you are forced to follow in your work that seems like a waste of time. How do you approach such activities? If you do them out of obligation, you're going to do the minimum required wasting time and energy. As a leader, it's your job to create the...

It can be difficult to see your reality for what it is. Our distorted vision is what makes the concept of the reality TV series Undercover Boss so good. There will always be something to learn when you step into the perspective of employees and customers. You might...

I'm proud of my weight loss for the last number of years. One of the contributing factors was shifting my mindset around exercise from needing to wanting. This mindset shift took me from obligation to responsibility. In work, there are likely things you are required...

I once worked for a leader who loved to tell us what to do. When we questioned his direction, he would say things like, "Just trust me." How much do you think we trusted him? Telling people to trust you is more likely to put them into a mindset of obligation. In...

If you're like me, you've spent a lifetime focused on knowledge. This fixation seemingly starts in school. The more knowledge you have, the better your grades will be. The better your grades, the more acknowledgement and awards you receive. This focus on knowledge...

People look in mirrors to get feedback on themselves. I'm guessing for most of us we look for what's wrong. What would be the impact of looking in the mirror at what is right? To look and simply say, "Wow, you look great today!" In the book "Nine lies about work," the...

I find myself increasingly sensitive to buzzwords. Buzzwords, by definition, are jargon and the fashionable thing to talk about. It seems buzzwords give the illusion that something can be easy. Take this course, or do what I'm telling you and suddenly your problems...

Tuckman's model for team formation tells us teams will go through a series of phases. The second phase is storming, when the team's productivity is low and conflict high. What happens when a team gets stuck in storming? There are many reasons a team might be stuck in...