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, […]

Mistrust in the workplace is often the result of leaders and followers who do not bother to confirm their assumptions about a given situation before either or both take action to rectify a problem the cause of which neither fully understand. Here is an example. A production line supervisor needed some routine information from Larry […]

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 performance […]

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 […]

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 […]

Doers often disparage workplace relationships because they “don’t know, don’t like, or don’t trust” the people with whom they work. Applying the tenets of teamwork as defined in the previous two Blogs when building a task-based relationship objectifies rather than personalizes individual performance. This shift in focus attracts Doers because it is now clear to […]

When organizations send upper level leaders to training with the intention of improving over all performance and productivity, they often neglect to raise consciousness among their lower level followers. Those responsible for providing the training fail to see that graduates will be picking up a new language expressed in words and concepts that are potentially […]

Personality clashes, unmet expectations and resistive coworkers are among the primary causes of behavioral-based conflict in the workplace. Without an effective resolution process, no work unit can continue to function effectively. When evaluating the need for a conflict management program, be aware that unresolved conflict is directly related to job satisfaction – as job satisfaction […]

The existence of a rumor mill is an indication that employees don’t trust what they hear from official communication channels. Sadly, in a large organization the rumor mill is sometimes the only source of information available to those at the lower levels. The most effective way to close down the rumor mill is to provide […]