Author Archives: worxjones
Honest Feedback Reinforces Excellence
Leaders should be continuously providing evaluations and honest feedback, while addressing poor performance and inappropriate behavior in a timely way. Evaluations contribute to the overall morale of the workforce; the immediate feedback clears up confusion, reinforces excellence, and helps reassure people that their growth within the company is on track. When hard work is recognized, […]
Acting On Asssumptions Fosters Mistrust
Mistrust is the result of leaders and followers who do not bother to confirm their assumptions about a given situation before either or both take action. Here is an example. A production line supervisor needed some routine information from Larry who was working nearby at his station. The supervisor walked over to Larry and said, […]
Valuative Coaching Upgrades Performance
Supervisors sometimes avoid taking corrective action because it feels too much like parenting. Other times they withhold critical feedback because the childhood injunction, “Judge not, lest yee be judged,” still rings in their ears. It is time to set these past feelings aside and talk about a new approach called valuative coaching. The purpose of […]
When Good Enough Isn’t Good Enough
If you ask someone at Alcoholics Anonymous how they are doing, they say, “I’m in recovery;” meaning they know they are not perfect, but they are working on it. That desire to improve is what moves us through life: the potential of being better. The four stages of the Mastery Learning Sequence outlined below provide […]
Responsibility Charting Promotes Accountability
Leaders are running into a growing problem with followers, who will not accept ownership when a job is done poorly, but instead pile on the excuses and float the whole mess back up the chain of command. This phenomenon is called “upward delegation.” One example is when a follower pesters you with questions about how […]
Workplace Cliques Have Consequences
One of the first things new employees encounter when they enter the workplace is an intensive effort by other employees to recruit them into a clique. Those who hold a negative view of the organization will pull the new people aside to warm them about whom they can trust and whom they should watch out […]
Long Term Consequences Of Short Term Thinking
The speed of innovation is accelerating and embracing the future is the way to stay competitive, but there is more to it than simply jumping from one short-term fix to another. Followers expect a future-focused strategy to have a marked beginning and a measurable ending and when these factors are not present; they eventually lose […]
METAPHORS UNCOVER HIDDEN ISSUES
The value of a metaphor is that it provides a safe way for coworkers to discuss the undiscussable. Individuals do not have to accept the whole metaphor as truth. Each person can accept those parts that have meaning for her or him. For most people, getting the story straight does not matter. What does matter […]
Discontent Sometimes Comes With The Job
When organizations send leaders to training with the intention of improving performance and productivity, they often neglect to raise consciousness among the followers. They fail to see that leaders will be picking up a new language expressed in words and concepts incomprehensible to anyone not included in the training program. Companies mistakenly assume that when […]
The Truth Is Closer Than You Think
Leaders get together frequently to exchange ideas and share information. They network for career opportunities, speculate on projects, and commiserate over troublesome employees. Why is it, then, followers are not afforded this same opportunity to gather with their counterparts? Employers seldom set aside the time and space for followers to compare notes and share their […]
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