When 250 IT managers were asked to identify their top security concern, their #1 response was “employees using applications on social networks” during the workday, according to Network Box. Not only do companies face an increased risk of computer viruses from sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn, but they also lose a significant percentage of [...]

My favorite boss (now lifelong friend) insisted on giving her entire team the day off on their birthday. It was a simple manager’s discretion day that barely impacted her budget, but the morale boost enjoyed by the team was almost palpable, leading to happier and more productive people.
My birthday is this week, and I’m reminded [...]

Also known as Generation Y, the Millennials are defined as all people born between the late 1970s and 2000. Some managers have struggled with leading the Millennials because they can be perceived as unusually demanding in contrast with the other three generations currently in the workplace: the Silent Generation, the Baby Boomers, and Generation X. However, [...]

In his classic poem Desiderata, Max Ehrmann urged us to “avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit.” But what if you can’t avoid them? What if they happen to be your best customers? Or your top salespeople? Or your aging parents? Or your own teenagers?
One helpful technique for dealing with loud [...]

We’ve known for decades that one way to build personal and professional relationships is through giving feedback. Not empty compliments about someone’s shoes or hair, but meaningful feedback about someone’s contributions to a relationship, a household, an organization, a community, or any other entity. 
There are two kinds of feedback: positive and constructive, and both are [...]

Whether coaching employees, athletes, clients, or kids learning to ride a bike, it’s important to use different coaching styles with different people in different situations, according to Ken Blanchard’s very powerful Situational Leadership II model.
When a beginner is enthusiastically learning a new task or a new job, they don’t need a lot of support; they [...]

I ran across a great quote over the weekend: “An army of deer led by a lion is more to be feared than an army of lions led by a deer.”
To me, this quote speaks of empowerment. If a lion has empowered a group of deer enough to bravely march into battle, then that army [...]

With so many leadership books, seminars, and gurus out there, leaders can start getting paranoid about how well they measure up. A leader “should” be skilled in conflict mediation, delegating, coaching, setting goals, giving feedback, handling performance reviews, succession planning, budgeting, selling, negotiating, communicating – the list goes on and on.
From the perspective of the [...]