What is your EVP?
As managers and hiring managers, we need to sharpen our pencils when it comes to attracting, engaging, and retaining talent in our organizations. One way to start is by clearly and capably articulating our organizational employee value proposition (EVP). This is the sum of the benefits that are unique to our organization that drive the […]
Take that meeting outdoors!
The idea of taking a meeting outdoors was introduced to me by a dean with whom I work. We had a problem we were trying to solve and needed to do some strategic thinking. When deciding where to meet, he suggested that we could meet in his office or my office or could take a […]
Out of office???
As managers and leaders, many of our employees look to us to either signal or give explicit permission to take time away from work. Therefore, it is essential to foster a culture where stepping away undisturbed to recharge is okay and encouraged. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2022 Report states that employee stress is […]
What can you learn from a softball mom?
Most of my weekends in the late spring and summer are spent on softball fields in various states, mostly along the east coast. It has been a four-year journey that I have been enjoying with my daughter, a travel softball player. Her primary position is as a catcher, and her secondary position is at third […]
360 feedback and influence.
Receiving feedback from direct reports, peers, and managers can be challenging to digest. My mindset in these moments is that there is a grain of truth in almost every piece of feedback I receive because, for the person giving the feedback, this is how they perceive me. However, this does not always lessen the sting […]
Employee fear: anxiety and phobias.
As a manager, how do you know if you have an employee suffering from anxiety in the workplace? Before digging into anxiety, it helps to understand fear. Fear is a natural emotion that all of us experience as humans. When we think about the word fear, we usually think about it in primal terms, an […]
How to start thinking like a futurist.
Resistance to change can be a limiting factor in futuristic thinking. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has opened the gateway for futuristic conversations because we are all swimming in change and uncertainty as we move toward a new equilibrium. It is no longer out of the realm of possibility to see a shift in business practices […]
Your mental health matters.
Part of the ritual of driving my daughter to school is listening to music. A few months ago, she hopped into the car and grimaced because I was listening to Daniel Goleman’s book “Emotional Intelligence.” After asking, she disconnected my phone and selected her phone for Apple CarPlay. We then listened to a song by […]
Who’s Got Your Back?
One of the most memorable managerial light bulb moments I have had was interviewing for a development leadership position. It was a robust interview schedule. One of the interviews was with a team of about six who reported up to the vacant role. By the questions they asked, it was apparent they had taken the […]
Time Management – The dark side of the moon.
Yes, that is a Pink Floyd reference; I could not resist the 80’s. People tend to use the phrase “dark side of the moon” to mean something unknown or mysterious. That is how elusive time can be, at least in my experience. Have you heard the saying, “Work expands so as to fill the time […]
The “Great Resignation” + 4 ways to check in with your team.
The Great Resignation is a term that has been used to describe employee turnover during the Coronavirus pandemic. It sounds fearful, as if employees are running away from the workforce in droves. Each time I hear that term, I think of Tom Brokaw’s The Greatest Generation, a tribute to a cultural generation fighting for country, […]
A nod to the Oscars: “King Richard,” lessons about life and leadership.
This year there are ten movies nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. In our ongoing journey exploring lessons about life and leadership, I thought it would be fun to take a closer look at one of these contenders and see what gems it gives us. My Oscar pick goes to King Richard, a biographical […]
Bloom where you are planted.
“Bloom where you are planted” is a quote I have often come to love and use. I first heard it when I was interviewing for a job. It was early in my career. I had moved from one state to another, and on my resume, the work experience I listed showed that I had moved […]
Managers, Stress, and “Vagus.”
Nope, I did not spell that incorrectly. It’s time to take care of ourselves! Stress in the American workforce is a mental health crisis. As managers, we have people at work who depend on us, and that means to take care of them, we must take care of ourselves first. According to the American Psychological […]
Eight steps for hiring the best candidate and one Golden Rule.
The hiring process can be a daunting proposition for many managers. It is easy to focus on the dread of filling in the gaps when an employee leaves, knowing that you will have to take on an increased workload and manage many more people. However, filling that gap is an opportunity that I now take […]
