Communicate Changes Before Implementing Changes

Oct 19, 2021 | Leadership Development

Managing change has become a never-ending but essential part of every leader’s job. It’s become ubiquitous. It’s something we, as the ‘recipients’ of change, are begrudgingly accepting more and more often, and it’s therefore something we, as leaders and often the ‘instigators’ of change, need to improve upon. Why? Because we’re still too often forcing our team members to ‘just deal with’ the never-ending changes instead of helping them absorb and adopt the changes. We’re still too often...

It’s Not ‘Return to Work,’ It’s ‘Return to Us’

Sep 21, 2021 | Leadership Development

You have no doubt heard or read others proclaiming: “Stop saying: ‘Return to work’. We’ve been working this whole time! And, we’ve been working longer, harder, and in more challenging ways than ever before!” You know what? They’re right. If there is one thing we can all agree on, it’s that this past year, regardless of industry, profession, etc., we’ve all had to work harder and more creatively than ever before. So it’s simply wrong to now focus on how to ‘return to work.’ Instead, we need to...

Piloting Change Communication

Jul 20, 2021 | Leadership Development

As you well know, the most brilliant change initiative will fail if it’s not implemented well. A brilliant change initiative will also fail - or at least not go as seamlessly as it could - if there is no intentional communication strategy - before, during, and after the change. With clear communication before, during, and after, the likelihood of team acceptance and implementation improves drastically. Without clear communication, acceptance and implementation is much more difficult. A...

Leadership Dysfunction – Doing What You’ve Always Done

Jun 22, 2021 | Leadership Development

“This looks good in general, but there are several items that need to be corrected.”...No response. “As I’ve asked before, how do you know everyone wants to continue to stay on the team?”...No response. “I recommend we tap the brakes on asking the directors to create their promotional videos. Without some upfront coordination, we run the risk of, once again, having incorrect information being conveyed because we acted before we coordinated internally. Let’s first provide the...

What Happens When a Leader Spells Team with an ‘I’?

Nov 17, 2020 | Leadership Development

We’ve all heard the old saying, “There is no ‘I’ in team.” When you hear it, you probably want to roll your eyes as you think to yourself, “Ugh! That’s so cliché and corny!” Yeah, well I felt the same way too until I recently experienced a board chair figuratively spell the word team with an 'I' at least six times during a board meeting. During that one board meeting, I observed 16 highly-experienced, professional, and articulate board members shrink from their responsibilities and limit their...