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Woman looking in the mirror pointing at herself, questioning if it's about her

Why Taking Accountability is Risky

Confession: I used to think accountability was simple—just own the work, do your best, and deliver. But then I realized something uncomfortable: accountability is owning what you don’t control.
Accountability...
Person writing at their desk with lots of crumbled paper

Is Productivity Really So Important?

Well, there goes summer. Was your summer less a sipping-mocktails-from-a-floaty-in-the-lake kind of summer and more a, at least I can see a lake while I’m on this Zoom call kind...
Man holding a laptop and a cup of coffee and looking enthusiastic

Wells and Waterfalls: Sources of Energy to Power Your Work Day

In this final post in my series on managing your energy at work, I want to distinguish between two different kinds of motivation: the kind that comes from opening yourself...
Man struggling with energy management in a meeting

The Other Side of Energy Management: Stop the Drains

You’ve probably had days where you start off feeling fully charged, only to find yourself on low power by mid-afternoon. Sometimes, it’s hard to explain why. You got a good...
Young man has come in and flopped on the couch, exhausted.

Energy Management: Rituals, Routines, and Refills That Work

Does your energy run out long before your to-do list? Are you exhausted and uninspired by 3 p.m.? Does your family get the spent, hollow version of you every evening...

Woman with a giant coffee hunched over her computer looking like she's run out of energy

How to Make Your Energy Last All Day

It’s 11:12 a.m. You’ve already crushed your inbox, sat through one too many meetings, and your to-do list still looks untouched. Sound familiar?

For professionals, energy isn’t just about stamina—it’s...

Business woman looking at herself in the mirror with a serious expression

9 Signs You Might Be Creating Drama on Your Team

When I first began this series on drama in the workplace, I invoked Cy Wakeman’s definition of “arguing with reality.”  We talked about all the ways your hapless colleagues might...
Three teammates standing over a desk having an argument. One being very dramatic

Drama Detox: How to Reduce Emotionality on Your Team

We’re talking about drama this month. We began by defining what constitutes drama and considering why being dramatic can be rewarding. Next, we got tactical about what to do when...
A man in between two colleagues holding them off as they try to fight each other.

Stuck in the Middle: Navigating Drama Between Your Teammates

It’s bad enough when you have to witness drama among your teammates, but when you get trapped in between them, it can be maddening, messy, and mind-numbing. Suddenly, their problem...
Two colleagues whispering to each other.

Why Your Team Loves Drama

Does your team love a little drama? Do you? Whether you do or you don’t, it’s worth understanding why we’re seeing so much petty, personal, and pernicious behavior lately. Workplace...
Two colleagues arguing over priorities. One is sitting at a desk, the other is standing over him

What To Do When Your Work Isn’t a Priority for Others

This is the final post in a series on better prioritization. We’ve already covered how to get to one priority, how to prioritize when everything is urgent , and how...
Two women having a conversation at a desk. One is talking and animiating with her hands.

How to Coach for Better Prioritization

This month, we’ve been discussing better prioritization. We started by debunking the myth that you can have multiple priorities and established a process for getting to one . Next, we...
Business man at desk looking at two different pieces of paper with dozens of sticky notes on the window behind him.

What to Do When Everything is Urgent

I once worked with a woman who quit because our boss kept putting stacks of tasks on her desk, all marked urgent. Each time she tried to clarify what she...
Leader giving a presentation to a large group of people

Leaders Do Not Understand Prioritization

If you want to see me turn red and blow steam out my ears like a 1970s cartoon character, just sit me in an audience with a group of leaders...
Man looking at watch and rushing up the stairs (background is blurred)

Use Stress to Your Advantage

So far, in this month-long series on stress, we’ve been talking mainly about the negative effects of stress: diluted attention, increased emotionality, and physical and mental health issues associated with...
Woman wearing headphones and meditating in a plant-filled room to alleviate stress spillover

Reducing the Spillover Between Home and Work Stress

Facing significant stress at home or work is problem enough, but when stress crosses from one part of your life to another, it can create a vicious cycle. What can...
Man leaning his head against a white office wall dealing with too much work stress.

Addressing the Root Causes of Work Stress

In my previous post , I shared four examples of how your stress might manifest and provided techniques for reducing the impact of a perceived threat. In this post, we’ll...
Male employee working at the computer ignoring a woman who looks frustrated

Dealing with a Low EQ Teammate

Do you have a colleague with a low EQ? They lack the emotional intelligence that supports self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and good social skills. It can be perplexing, draining, and exasperating...
Person shaking hands with the boss with their fingers crossed behind their back

Your Team is Lying to You, and It’s Your Fault

How aware are you of the dynamics at play in your team? Maybe you’re clued in on what’s wrong with everyone else, but what about their perceptions of you? Odds...
Man peaking out through his fingers

How Emotional Blind Spots are a Silent Career Killer

Can we start by stipulating that you have blind spots in your self-awareness and risks you can’t see from your vantage point? Or do I need to invoke the name...
Team sitting around a table looking confused

Is Emotional Intelligence Really That Important?

Can I be candid with you? I sometimes roll my eyes at the term “emotional intelligence.” Sure, I believe there are traits, skills, and behaviors that contribute to people’s ability...
Steering wheel covered in post it notes with tasks

A Better Alternative to a To-Do List

Is your to-do list getting you down? Do you start lists only to lose them in the shuffle? Does transferring incomplete tasks from one list to another make you feel...

Team meeting where people are multitasking on their phones

8 Things to Do to Prevent Multitasking in Meetings

Multitasking is making us less efficient, reducing the quality and creativity of our work, and stressing us out. And yet, it’s the norm rather than the exception, particularly in meetings....
Woman talking on the phone while trying to carry a bunch of files because she's multitasking

What You Can (and Can’t) Multitask

In my previous post , I came to terms with the fact that 95% of us can’t multitask (hard blow). Instead, what we call multitasking is just rapidly toggling between...
Woman getting stressed from multitasking

Enough with Multitasking

Are you making a New Year’s resolution? I’m not usually into resolutions, but I have had some success with creating a theme for the year. One year, I made a...

Woman working remotely and saying

Why You Can’t Say No at Work

Does it feel like you can’t ever say “no” to new assignments, additional tasks, or doing just “one small favor” for a colleague? Are you the yes person that your...
Looking into a meeting room where a manager is talking to an upset employee

Consequences For Not Being Accountable

In my keynote on fostering accountability, I argue that if you’re unwilling to impose consequences, you’re not serious about accountability. The audience usually nods, some enthusiastically, some grudgingly. However, when...
Woman covering her face with a paper while her boss leans over her desk in an intimidating way

Mistakes in Trying to Hold People Accountable

I’m in the midst of my annual NOvember campaign. The idea is to share one thing to say “no” to each day if you want to be happier, healthier, and...
Two business men sitting across a desk from one another having a conversation

Don’t Include Feedback in Year-End Reviews

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but a performance evaluation conversation is no place for feedback. The end of the performance management cycle is the time to sum up the...
Woman looking in the mirror, reflecting and thinking

How to Stop Being Passive-Aggressive

Are you frustrated or angry with your colleagues but hesitating to address your concerns directly? Do you tend to express your dissatisfaction indirectly by being sarcastic, saying one thing while...

Two colleagues staring each other down across the table.

What to Say to Prevent Passive-aggressiveness

Passive-aggressive behavior on teams stalls progress and leaves you wondering whether your colleague is trying to take you down or if you’re just imagining things. Passive aggressiveness is harmful to...
Woman rolling her eyes as two colleagues talk in the background

How to Address a Passive-Aggressive Colleague

Are you dealing with passive-aggressive behavior from your teammates? In my previous post, I provided a full rundown of the causes and symptoms of this all-too-common dysfunction in which people...
Two colleagues one with arms crossed acting passive-aggressively

Why Are People So Passive-Aggressive?

Do your team meetings look like everyone is going with the flow but feel like there's an undercurrent of resistance, bitterness, or hostility? Are you frequently surprised by people who...
Woman looking exhausted sitting in front of a giant stack of work

Coping With Unrealistic Expectations at Work

Does your boss set the bar too high and then accuse you of not being accountable when you can’t get over it?  Do they ever consider that you aren’t living...
One colleague yelling at another while the receiver covers his ears with his hands.

How to Deal with a Colleague Who Yells

In one of my keynotes, I ask the audience which is more uncomfortable: navigating a colleague who is crying or one who is yelling. The responses have shifted over the...
Black man looking at his phone frustrated with what he's reading.

Managing a Boss Who Doesn’t Know What They Want

I received an email from a coach last week asking for advice on how to get better feedback. She has a client who is trying desperately but failing to meet...
Woman working at her computer with a medding colleague looking over her shoulder

Dealing with a Colleague Who Meddles

Do you have a colleague who’s constantly mucking about in your business? Poking their nose in? Stepping on your toes? Somehow, they have enough time to do their job AND...

Difficult conversation between a male and a female colleague

10 Ways to Help People Say Uncomfortable Things

Are you struggling to foster open, frank, candid communication among your teammates? Do uncomfortable conversations happen behind the scenes or not at all? Have passive-aggressive conflict styles stuck you with...

Two colleagues talking over a video call

How to Strengthen Connection in Your Virtual Team

A social media post by Adam Grant about the value of “pebbling” got me thinking about how to open and strengthen virtual team connection.

The term “ pebbling ” derives...

Woman looking at her phone looking confused by the message

Why Your Message Might be Misinterpreted

Have you ever shared a message and been surprised by the receiver’s reaction? Maybe you said something you thought was innocuous, but the person responded by taking offense. Or you...

Two colleagues giving each other a high five

How to Communicate Better

You might think you’re doing a great job communicating with your colleagues, but do you know that your messages are landing as intended? There are myriad reasons why attempts to...

Manager standing over a team member who looks upset and spreading emotional contagion

Strategies for Managing Emotional Contagion for a Healthier Team Dynamic

Emotional contagion has powerful effects on teams. It can cause the tenor to rise to match a great mood or fall in line with a sour one. I’ve previously talked...

Two colleagues sitting having coffee. One colleague looks sad.

How to Help Someone in a Bad Mood

Negative emotions are swirling around the workplace these days: overwhelm at the endless workload (and thoughtload), friction among coworkers, and stress from financial pressures. When negative emotions start swirling, it’s...

Person reaching out to put a hand on a shoulder of a colleague feeling sad.

Reduce the Impact of Emotional Contagion

There has been a rising emotional buzz in the workplace lately, for good reason . While it’s understandable that your colleagues might be angry, frustrated, sad, or anxious, how do...

Team sitting around a table looking really down.

Rising Emotions and the Risk of Emotional Contagion on Teams

“Have you noticed that teams are more emotional lately?” Craig asked at the dinner table recently. (Such conversations are common when you work with your spouse.) I hadn’t put words...

Team meeting with a clock on the table to make their meeting shorter

The Easiest Way to Make Meetings Shorter

I facilitated a couple of full-day meetings last week. In both, I implemented a simple process that made the discussions quicker and better. Try this structure to make your meetings...

Woman working on a laptop and looking at a large screen with plans on it

8 Alternatives to Having a Meeting

I love a good meeting, especially if its format is well-tailored to its content and purpose. But, wow, there are way too many meetings! Why is a meeting the default?...

Team meeting viewed from outside the glass walls. No boss present.

Six Reasons to Meet Without Your Boss Present

Most teams I work with meet regularly. The routine is usually the same: the team leader calls the meeting, owns the agenda, chairs the discussion, and gets what they need...

Team leader standing and talking to team who are seated around a table in a meeting

Dos and Don’ts of Different Meeting Types

How many times a week do you complain about meetings? Too many, too long, too boring. Not worth it, not set up for success, not the right people? Wrong agenda,...

Woman in a meeting leaning way back in her chair with her hand on her head while others in the background talk to each other.

Improving Team Alignment

If you want a high-performing team, everyone must be aligned. But often, I find that teams make a cursory effort to get on the same page and then run off...

Man sitting at a computer with his glasses pressed up rubbing his nose because he's overwhelmed and stressed

10 Helpful Things To Do When You’re Overwhelmed

In this series, I’ve been sharing strategies to manage your heavy workload so that you can work efficiently and effectively and manage your stress levels without getting completely overwhelmed.

In...

Man at desk pointing to himself as if to say

How to Deal with Someone Who is Not Self-aware

I’ve been delivering a shiny new speech about giving feedback . It’s full of unconventional ideas and new ways of thinking about how to use feedback more effectively. The best...

Team clapping for a colleague

How to Give Positive Feedback

What did you do the last time you saw a colleague do something remarkable? Did you think, “Wow, that’s awesome,” and go about your day? Did you toss off a...

Team in front of a white board covered in data looking frustrated

Common Mistakes in Strategic Planning

In my work with executive teams, I see many mistakes in strategic planning. Of course, the worst is not doing strategic planning, but even if you decide to invest in...

Woman with her head against a wall full of planning documents...giving up.

Don’t Confuse Strategic and Operational Planning

You might be trying to do too much with your strategic planning process. Are you smooshing operational and strategic planning into one undifferentiated, overwhelming, let’s-do-a-bunch-of-good-stuff-to-get-better plan? If so, you might...

How Does Strategic Planning Benefit Companies

“Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower [1]

In the previous post , I discussed how to start strategic planning. Now it’s time to talk about why...

Woman leaning over a table leading a discussion

How to Get Started on Strategic Planning

Is it time to initiate a strategic planning exercise for your organization? If so, you might be looking for a source of inspiration or momentum. But what is the genesis...

Colleagues pointing the finger of blame at each other.

The Problem with Shared Accountability and Three Alternatives

Shared accountability is weak accountability.

If your goal is to establish a weighty sense of obligation to get a project from conception to delivery, shared accountability is your nemesis. Shared...

Woman talking on phone and running to a meeting

Want People Back in the Office? Deal with the Meeting and Email Burden

This is the third and final instalment in my series about how badly we’re botching the return-to-office transition. This time, I’m putting leaders in the crosshairs and imploring you to...

Three employees wearing work wear sitting on an industrial staircase looking unhappy

The Return to Office Fight is About Control not Productivity

I’ve had many conversations about returning to the office lately. In fact, I’m writing this post in a café in Ottawa while waiting to give a speech about it. I’ve...

Start up team all working in a small shared space

How to Get Leaders Focused on Growth

I spoke with a successful entrepreneur last week. Her start-up has grown rapidly, and she’s feeling the pressure that success puts on her and her young team. Although each new...

Woman at desk giving enthusiastic two thumbs up

Are You Saying Yes Too Often?

It's NOvember, the month where I provide 30 days of things to say NO to if you want to be happier, healthier, and more productive. Join the NOvember crusade on...

Team standing around a table full of reports

Using Personality Assessments with Your Team

So, your team has just done the DiSC, Hogan, the MBTI, or the Birkman.

You feel seen.

Finally, everyone can appreciate the multitudes you contain. Things will be better now....

Three people standing over a table discussing an issue

Different Approaches to Decision-making Cause Friction

The 3COze High-Performance Teams process helps colleagues understand one another’s styles and needs and how the differences in those characteristics can affect team dynamics. This article is the tenth in...

Person working at computer looking off into the distance

To Multitask or Not to Multitask?

The 3COze High-Performance Teams process helps colleagues understand one another’s styles and needs and how the differences between teammates can affect team dynamics. This article is the ninth in a...

Women taking off her glasses and rubbing her face

Are You Taking Steps to Prevent Burnout?

A humpback whale spends the summer feeding--ingesting two tons of krill daily. Two Tons. That’s more than 6,300 Big Macs.

Some might have thought I was imitating the mighty humpback...

Team meeting viewed from outside a glass-walled room

How to Evaluate the Quality of Meetings

I’ve been working with several leadership teams recently to help them become more efficient and effective, particularly in their meetings. It’s a simple process that makes a big difference, particularly...
Person working from home with cat on their lap while using computer

Why People Don’t Want to Return to the Office

Are you reluctant to return to the office? Is your team? I know many people who are. One of them is helping to craft their company’s Return to Office program....
Welcoming a new person to a meeting

Be My Guest

If you’re trying to make your meetings more efficient and effective, one place to start is by doing a better job with guests. Bad meetings are already enough of a...
Woman drinking a coffee and looking pensive

What To Do With an Untrustworthy Teammate

Do you have a teammate that you can’t trust? And when I say “can’t trust,” I’m not talking about the friendly incompetent who’s still getting up to speed on their...

Team members shaking hands.

Trust the Process

Here's a conundrum I see frequently. You're completely dependent on your colleagues to do their work (well and on time), but you're too busy to keep tabs on their progress....

Young professional typing and smoking a pipe

Stop Trying to Sound Strategic!

I know, I know, you’ve been told that you aren’t strategic enough, so now you’re trying to reach a self-imposed quota for using big words and making references to The...

Enthusiastic team have a strategy discussion

How Team Dynamics Affect Strategic Planning

Developing a great strategy that uses your strengths and capitalizes on a market opportunity to give you a competitive advantage requires a particular team dynamic. That dynamic includes a certain...
Team of people in suits doing strategic planning

Why Your Strategic Planning Needs More Insight

Can I rant for a moment? The way most organizations develop their strategy is a useless paper-pushing exercise that makes me want to rip my hair out. It’s vanilla, formulaic,...
Woman standing and addressing a team in a meeting

How Can I Be More Strategic?

Looking for a promotion? Want to be paid more? Tired of hearing that you’re “not leadership material?” One of the things you might need to work on is becoming more...
Three teammates together talking with multiple teammates on a video call

How to Strengthen Connection on Remote and Hybrid Teams

Are you finding that your virtual team is productive but not much fun? Are you spending hours with your teammates each week but still feeling like you barely know them...
Phone showing the Slack app sitting on top of keyboard

Are You Using the Right Virtual Collaboration Tools?

Are you collaborating virtually more often these days? How are you finding it? Are you able to have just as interesting, innovative, in-depth discussions as if you were in person?...
Person collaborating with teammates in a virtual environment over a laptop

Building Trust in Remote and Hybrid Teams

Trust is critical to the efficient and effective operation of any team. Research suggests that trust enhances productivity, proactivity, and optimism. But is that equally true for virtual teams? It...
Hybrid team meeting half in person, half over video conference

The Pros and Cons of Hybrid Teams

Many teams won’t return to the same office-centric approach that existed before the pandemic drove people to their home offices (and kitchen tables) in March of 2020. Instead, the future...
Unhappy team

Toxic Team Dynamics

Is your team dynamic toxic? Does it detract from your ability to get the job done? Is it ripping you and your colleagues apart? Or just ripping you apart? Maybe...
Team in a meetings

8 Techniques to Make Meetings More Effective (Part II)

In the previous post , I provided four techniques you can use to set your meetings up for success. This post includes four strategies for facilitating a great meeting.

More...

Woman preparing for a meeting

8 Techniques to Make Your Meetings More Effective (Part I)

How much of your week do you spend in terrible meetings (and by terrible, I mean meetings with poor planning, unclear agenda, facile facilitation, and no clear outcome)? I’m going...
Blurred photo of people rushing out of a meeting

End Your Meetings Properly

You know how a gymnast loses major marks if they don’t “stick the landing?” That’s how you should think about your meetings. I don’t care how many flips and twists...
Team working in crisis mode

Too Many False Alarms

Since the advent of nuclear weapons, there have been several incidents where false alarms might have caused a cascade to global thermonuclear annihilation. One such episode was triggered by a...
A team standing around a whiteboard designing a process

Design by Committee

Do you know the old adage, “a camel is a horse designed by a committee?” That line nails it for me. Imagine you’re sitting in a leadership team meeting. At...
Team of people around a meeting table

Stop Solving Problems

Imagine you’re sitting in a typical leadership team meeting (and by a leadership team, I mean you're a people leader and so is everyone else around the table). It probably...
Person at a desk with head in hands

A Different Take on Psychological Safety

Do you feel safe speaking up in your team? Can you voice an unpopular opinion without fear of your colleague’s rebuttal? Will you disagree with your boss knowing that they...
Woman sitting on desk alone while teammate talk without her

To Foster Trust, Ask for Help

Do you find yourself working on a team where you just don’t fit in? Or do you like your colleagues well enough but still not trust them for anything more...
Woman lying face down on couch looking at her computer

How to get things done when you aren’t motivated

What do you do when you have work to do, but no mojo, motivation, or momentum to get started? Seriously, I’d love to know because I am not “feelin’ it”...
People in a meeting with a video conference

How to Improve Hybrid Meetings

Have you suffered through a hybrid video meeting where you’re remote while a few of your teammates are together in person? Here’s my question. Did you at any point:
  1. Tune...
Extremely messy desk

Why You’re So Busy and How to Ruthlessly Prioritize

Do you believe in the adage, “less is more?” Would you love to have fewer priorities, a shorter to-do list, and more time to focus on the few activities that...
Annoying man meeting with two colleagues

What if you’re the jerk?

So far this month, I’ve talked about flip-flopping bosses , toxic bullies , and overly sensitive colleagues . Those are just a few of the many difficult people you might...
Person closing laptop in horror

Are Your Teammates Too Sensitive?

Last week, I talked about the toxic phenomenon of bullying in the workplace. Based on a few comments on my LinkedIn post, it’s clear that long-term, aggressive, harmful bullying is...

How to Deal with a Workplace Bully

The term “bullying” gets bandied about liberally in conversations about team dysfunction. For what it’s worth, I believe too liberally. How often do you hear someone claiming to be bullied?...
Person pitching an idea in a meeting

How to Sell Your Strategic Idea

This post is a part of Strategy Month—my 30-day LinkedIn series aimed at bringing strategy down from its lofty perch and providing the ideas, techniques, and tools to democratize strategy...
Person raising her hand in a presentation

Is Interrupting Rude?

View the video transcript of this post here “Don’t interrupt.” It’s right up there with “don’t talk with your mouth open,” “don’t talk about sex, politics, or religion,” and “don’t...
Nurse looking tired, making a phone call

Working Cross-functionally? Build Trust Before You Need It

I was giving a speech to the leaders of a large teaching hospital. We were talking about conflict and difficult relationships when one of the directors of an in-patient unit...
Woman and four colleagues on video conference screen

Team Building Exercises for Remote Teams

There’s something missing when your team is separated from one another—something intangible. It’s that sense of where people are at, of how they’re doing. Sure, you don’t ever really know...
Man leaning over woman's desk talking while she's not listening

Why You Think You’re Listening, but You’re Not

If there were one skill you could improve to become a better communicator, to be liked more and respected way more, to accomplish more, and to waste a whole lot...
Two people in a meeting, bored and balancing pencils on their upper lips

Questions to Redirect a Low-Value Meeting

How many hours have you spent stuck in mind-numbing meetings where the conversation is so mired in the weeds that you have to amuse yourself by coloring in the holes...
Couple walking outside, not talking to each other

Pay Off One Conflict Debt in Your Life

We’re halfway through February and I suppose that most of the New Year’s resolutions have worn off by now (although I’m still on my 45-day streak of getting my Inbox...
Manager leading a virtual team meeting

Reset Your Remote Management Approach

Updated On:
Nov 17, 2025

(I’ve gone into some detail in this post and therefore it's long. If you want this in a quicker, click-through version. You can check it...

Blank Notebook open on a desk

Do You Have a Theme for the Year?

A few years ago, I made my choice in the raging debate about whether it is best to start a new year with resolutions, intentions, or themes. I chose themes....

2020 Wrap Up

(This photo is by the phenomenal Becky Wright. Becky, who pivoted her photography business during Covid to doing remote photoshoots from her home in the UK. This was an early...
Person holding up hands to say

What Could You Say No To?

We survived another November. And not just any November. For many of us, it was a locked-down, Covid-19 November, which made the normal challenges of November in the Northern hemisphere...
Woman shooting finger guns

Dysfunctional Behavior in Disguise

When introducing change to your team, it’s completely normal that you’ll face some unpredictable reactions. Heck, it’s completely normal that you’ll HAVE some unpredictable reactions. Volatility in the face of...
Male and female employees sitting across a desk from one another. Woman is looking apologetic

When Not to Apologize

Last week I wrote about good and bad apologies , which got me thinking about what behavior necessitates an apology and what doesn’t. Apologizing (when done well) sends a very...
Two employees talking in a casual environment

Exercise: Giving Feedback Gently

Occasionally, I focus the blog on sharing the techniques I use to facilitate important conversations among individuals and teams. I inherited this one and I love it so much, I’m...
Team sitting around a meeting table

Do Teams Decide?

What is the most important role of your team? Why do you come together?  I ask those questions of every team I work with. What is the organization counting on...
Woman pretending to shake hands over video conference

How to Onboard New Employees Remotely

Now that we’re living in a hybrid world, many managers are facing the question of how to integrate a new team member remotely. On the plus side, you don’t have...
Man working from home late at night

Close to the Boiling Point

The calls have started coming. Teams are reaching the boiling point. Some have gone past it and the lid has blown clear off. In some ways, I’m surprised (and impressed)...
Person facilitating at a flipchart

Keep or Ditch?

Last week, I facilitated a business strategy session online using MS Teams. This is the kind of session that most leaders would traditionally have said needed to be in person....

How to Make Yourself Feel Better

How goes the roller coaster? This is week four of isolation at our house and I’m becoming more and more interested in emotional regulation (not a coincidence). So many of...
Person talking to colleague over video call

How to Have an Uncomfortable Conversation Remotely

Do you have virtual teammates? Well, not virtual humans (at least not yet), but real people who work with you in a virtual office rather than a physical one? Working...
Team arguing with one another

Getting Your Team Unstuck

You’re stuck on a toxic team. You’ve been trying to keep your head down and get along with everyone, but you can’t take it anymore. You’re done with the passive-aggressiveness....
Business woman collapse face-down on couch

Reducing Conflict Fatigue

I received a great question over Twitter this morning. The person asked, is there another side to the risk of conflict debt (the price we pay for avoiding conflicts that...
A leader leading a team down a hill

The Role of a Team Leader

If you’ve read my book or heard me speak , you probably know my story about how cross-functional teams aren’t like rowers (members aren’t all pulling in the same direction),...
Person looking in the mirror, giving himself the thumbs up

Hey Leader, It’s Not About You

Is there a risk in leading from strength? I’m starting to think so. I’ve worked with hundreds of team leaders over the years and almost all of them have been...

Dealing with the Person Who Skips Your Meetings

Another week, another great question from an audience member. This time, “What do I do if a colleague from another department keeps skipping the meetings I schedule and then complains...
Dissent, disagreement, and diversity of thought are critical to high performing teams. Here's how to start to build a productive conflict habit on your team.

The First Steps to Create a Productive Conflict Habit

When you write a book called The Good Fight , you have a lot of conversations that go something like, “I wrote a book.” “Oh, cool, what’s it about?” “...
Lack of trust is a common problem on teams and can lead to severe team dysfunction. Most trust issues can be avoided if you use these 10 techniques to get your team off on the right foot.

10 Tips to Prevent Misalignment from Destroying Trust

You’d be surprised how many trust issues on teams aren’t actually trust issues. Well, that’s not totally fair. They’ve become  trust issues, but they didn’t start with team members backstabbing,...
What happens when someone comes to you to complain about one of your team members? Should you pass on feedback or ask the person to give the message directly?

Passing on Feedback for Someone Else

One of the most precarious situations you can get in as a manager is when someone comes to you with feedback about one of your team members and asks you...
If you want high performance, you can't let non-performers have a spot on your team

Do You Enforce Consequences for Non-performance?

It’s World Cup time again. This global football-fest is always a great source of teamwork stories, including that moment in 2010 when I got called as an “expert” to comment...
One of the main reasons we don't give constructive feedback is because we fear an ugly reaction. Don't fear it, expect it!

How to Cope with Backlash to Your Feedback

I facilitated a workshop this week that has given me lots of juicy fodder for discussion here with you. The session focused on uncomfortable discussions, including considerable time on how...
Woman sitting at her desk cutting up a credit card.

Conflict Debt

When I work as an advisor to executive teams, the most common team effectiveness problem I see is too little conflict. But how do I convince you that working through...
Feedback can create defensiveness and reduce the chances that someone will change for the better. Next time, try the feedforward technique to get them to take ownership for their own development.

Feedforward Instead of Feedback

A couple of years ago, Craig and I were at an industry event and heard Dr. Jamie Gruman talk about Feedforward Interviewing, a technique developed by Avraham Kluger and Dina...
It doesn't take much to take 25% off of each and everyone one of your meetings. Try these techniques to give you time back in your day

8 Quick Tips to Shorten Your Meetings

I was facilitating an executive team meeting last week. Although the meeting had been scheduled as a full day, four people started the day saying that they needed to leave...
There are many good reasons to attend meetings, but unfortunately, there are just as many bad ones. Stop going to meetings for the wrong reasons

Why you shouldn’t go to that meeting

In my previous post , I reacted to an editorial in the Guardian by Simon Jenkins, who came to the conclusion that meetings are killing people and destroying organizations. His...
People in a meeting

If Meetings Suck, Why Do You Keep Going?

I read an editorial by Simon Jenkins in the Guardian this morning about meetings crushing morale and killing productivity. Jenkins’ list of the perils of meetings touches the personal (meetings...
There are tips you can use to make sure you receive feedback in a way that helps you succeed and strengthens your relationships

How to Receive Feedback

I gave a speech last week on the importance of feedback to a high performance organization. It was clear that many of the audience members were uncomfortable with the thought...
How to draw out the introvert on your team

How to Draw Out the Quiet People

When I’m preparing to facilitate a session, I always conduct individual interviews with the members of the team I’ll be working with. The last question I ask is, “what advice...
You need to know the root cause of trust issues before you can tackle them. Here's an idea for what it might be

The Surprising Source of Most Trust Issues

When Craig and I are invited to work with a team, it’s common that the client cites trust issues as one of the reasons for engaging us. Although it’s immediately...
People in a meeting

Are you meeting at the wrong time?

This weekend, I facilitated a workshop about change and transformation with a large group of leaders. Once we finished talking about the perilous task of transforming an organization, we started...
Feedback can cause unpleasant reactions - here's how to handle them

When Feedback Causes Backlash

I love the questions I get at the end of a keynote. This week I got a couple of really good ones. The first was, “How do I handle it...
How do you deal with the person who talks too much?

How to handle someone who talks too much

“I’m trying to chair efficient meetings, but I have someone on my team who always needs to talk it out before coming to a decision. How can I reduce the...
Person having difficult conversation that other person doesn't want to hear

Maybe You Shouldn’t Give Feedback

I have a new speech that I’m working on called “The New Nice.” It’s the culmination of all my work on increasing productive conflict and getting comfortable being uncomfortable. One...
Presenter and people looking at their phones

When you’re not the subject matter expert

I’ve watched you do it. While you’re presenting your content at the meeting, you’re interested and engaged and you add so much value. I love your passion and your feisty...
Pre-Reads are made for a reason - here's why you should always read them

Read the damn pre-read people!

I was talking with someone this morning about the sorry state of meetings. We spend so much time in the weeds and waste a precious opportunity to have valuable conversations...
Tips on how to have a great, productive conversation

How to get a juicy conversation

When working with senior executives, one of the most common requests I get is to help create “juicy conversations.” What they mean by "juicy" is deep, probing, uncomfortable, novel, productive...
Person standing out from a team

Focus Your Time on Your Real Value

We’re helping a group of senior leaders prepare to cascade their corporate business strategy down into their departments. I’m putting the materials together and thought I would take a moment...
Two people standing face to face talking

How to Give Feedback to Someone Who Doesn’t Report to You

Most of the companies I have worked with have, at some point, stuck the word “one” in front of their company name and heralded it as a great new era....
Here are some tips on how to improve your presentation skills and keep your audience engaged

5 steps for better presentations

There are almost infinite posts in the blogosphere about how to give better presentations. If you want good ones, try www.PublicWords.com by Dr. Nick Morgan. Today, I’m dedicating this space...
people gathered with sticky notes on the wall

Running a great strategic meeting

You spend a huge amount of time in meetings; make it time well spent. I’m in the midst of a series on better meetings. I started with how to split...
person writing 'agenda'

Running a great monthly meeting

Meetings are where team goodness should happen, but meetings these days tend to be awful. I’m in the midst of a series on better meetings. I started with how to...
group of teammates sitting around a meeting table

Running a great weekly meeting

  In my previous post , I outlined the ways you can improve your meetings by creating a structure that differentiates meetings based on their purpose. I recommend that you...
Are you finding your meeting to be useless? Try this meeting structure to improve your productivity

A better meeting structure

One of the most common outcomes of the first team effectiveness session with a new team is an overhaul of the team’s meeting structure. It happens through a very logical...
business person breathing through an oxygen tank

Wasted time in meetings

Teams, and especially executive teams, spend way too much time in the weeds. It’s a colossal waste of precious time together and, in my experience, the main reason why people...
Struggling with group collaboration? Here are some questions you can ask to get the ball rolling

10 Questions to Increase Collaboration

I’m on a bit of a roll on the topic of collaboration on teams. This little flurry of posts stemmed from three teams in a row that raised concerns about...
person getting aggravated

Use your words

“Use your words.”  It’s a line you probably heard as a child when you were getting agitated but not articulating what was wrong.  Your parents taught you that expressing your...
people engaged in a good discussion

4 ways to stimulate better discussions

  I was preparing to facilitate a day-long meeting for a new team leader.  He had just joined the organization and was pulling together the team of direct reports he...
person looking into a mirror

An alternative to using ground rules for meetings

Try this at your next team meeting. Rather than having a standard conversation about ground rules, try using this question instead. What could you do (or not do) today that...
people sitting around a video conference

Working in a regional office

  “We regional office people never know what’s going on!” I’ve heard versions of this statement many, many times both inside the organizations I have worked in and from people in...
one person giving feedback to another, who looks stressed

Unconventional Wisdom on Constructive Feedback

In my previous post , I talked about emotional reactions to issues at work; specifically, things that make people cry.  In that post, I alluded to the idea that advanced...
two team members conversing

One trick to turn a useless meeting into effective communication

How often do you meet with your team without actually communicating with them? For one team I worked with recently, that kind of meeting was commonplace. Now they were offsite...

person standing in front of a blackboard

Can your team make decisions?

In the first session of every High Performance Team process, we have the team generate a list of verbs that describe what they should be doing with their time together. ...
group of people standing around a flipchart

How to facilitate an efficient meeting

Inefficient Meetings

Do your meetings go off on tangents so that two hours later you’ve covered a wide swath of territory but made no progress? Do you find yourself at...
person talking on the phone

Virtual Teams and How to Give Feedback from Afar

Every time I give a speech these days, I get at least a couple of questions about how my techniques apply to virtual teams . Given that my team at...
people leaving a meeting room

How to end a meeting

In my previous post , I gave you some tips on how to start a meeting to set it up for success. Today, it’s the other bookend—how to end a...
people shaking hands across a meeting table

How to start a meeting

It’s been a while since I posted a new Right Words to Say video, but I’m back with a few new answers to questions sent in by members of the...
Some meetings are critical - so here are some tips on how to ensure they're useful at the same time

How to make a meeting more useful

In my previous post, I drew a parallel between our society’s consumption of empty calories and the prevalence of useless meetings. You can read that post here .  The idea...
group of people looking totally bored around a meeting table

Are you starving for a useful meeting?

One my favorite books is a healthy eating book called In Defense of Food , by Michael Pollan. It’s part nutrition guide and part history book on the evolution of...
the word 'kudos'

How to Accept Positive Feedback

Positive feedback is rare and precious and you need to make sure you treat it as such. It’s rare because we tend to take good behavior for granted. There are...
post-it note drawing of a person with a target

How to Take Constructive Feedback

Feedback is a gift .” How many times have you heard that little gem?  I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed that not many people ask for feedback...
Feedback isn't easy to hear - but it can be just as hard to give. Here's how to do it effectively.

How to Deliver Feedback

Giving someone feedback can be uncomfortable. Some people even agonize over how (and if)  they should share a difficult message with a teammate or a direct report.  Unfortunately, that discomfort...
person selecting 'excellent' on a rating survey

How Honest Should You Be on 360 Feedback?

So you've been invited to provide feedback to a colleague as part of a 360 feedback process. How honest should you be? Can’t I just soft pedal it, Liane? Can’t...
four people with paper bags over their heads spelling out 'team'

Maybe You Don’t Need to Be a Team

Several years ago I was asked to help a group of people in a Finance department to become a stronger team.  The punchline, after a couple of sessions, was that...

WAIT! Read this before attending another useless meeting

I hear no shortage of complaints about meetings.  Sometimes I hear them from people who just mindlessly move from one meeting to another requiring them to move their individual job...

office gathering with holiday presents

Twas the night before

Some days I worry that it's less naive to believe in Santa Claus than to believe that healthy, productive teams really exist. I believe in both.  Here's my Christmas wish...
two people looking at each other at a desk

Your Teammate is Not Weird: Simple Rules About Respect

Everyone in the world is not like you. Get over it and get on with it. I have been in too many team sessions where the team members are blind...
Want to be a high performance team? Take a look at these lessons

What Teams Can Learn From Olympic Athletes

I get to work with some amazing teams, but this spring, serendipity handed me a seat on a flight beside the  Canadian Olympic synchronized swimming team members .  They take...
Group of people sitting around a table

Are You Working With a Toxic Team?

Are You on a Toxic Team?

Sometimes, the consequences of team dysfunction are relatively innocuous. The team might just be a little slower or a little less rewarding than you'd...
Group of teammates smiling

The ‘You’ in Team

Do you point to all the things your teammates or team leader are doing that are rendering your team ineffective? In my role as a team coach, I hear these...
Person holding a sign with a switch halfway between the words 'strength' and 'weakness'

Vulnerability – A Strength or a Weakness?

How Much Vulnerability to Show at Work?

The stoic, stiff-upper-lip generation gave us really bad advice when they taught us never to show weakness. Unfortunately, some of the huggy-lovey people...
Two colleagues talking

Are You a Good Listener?

How to Listen at Multiple Levels

A good listener can demonstrate that they've logged the facts, understood the emotions, and uncovered the associated values and beliefs. This kind of listening...
Person holding up hand with sign on it saying 'no'

Know When and How to Say ‘No’

We have got to get over our view that good team players always say yes.
From our earliest days at work, we are sent the strong message that good team...

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