Organizations are still about people and how well they work together. But workplace relationships take time to develop, and in this day of rapid change and fast turnaround, time is at a premium. Therefore, connecting the Doers as soon as they are hired is critical. From the start they need a sense of direction and […]

Doers expect their leaders to form teams and to act in a team-like fashion. If they do not see teamwork modeled from above, there is no inspiration for them to make the necessary compromises to work with their peers cooperatively. Organizations without teamwork at the upper levels develop a reputation for dissent, not cooperation. Doers […]

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, […]

We all love a juicy piece of gossip now and then. Even if we do not want to believe it, we still want to hear it. Unfortunately, those few who take delight in spreading rumors do not seem to realize that their mean spirited game-playing can harm innocent people. Here is a real life story […]

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, […]

Supervisors sometimes avoid taking corrective action because it feels too much like parenting. Other times they withhold critical feedback because the social 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 valuative […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]