I've been travelling in Italy this past week for business constantly moving from plane to hotel to train and back again. It's hard at times to push myself to keep up work routines let alone work on a new idea. Wouldn't it be easier to do all that once I'm...
Are You Approachable? Take This 3-Point Assessment!
I checked in at my hotel in Washington, DC and headed to the elevator like I've done a million times before. Reaching out to press the call button, I stopped suddenly. What's the problem here? A single button with flames rising from it. RED flames. Graphics with actions crossed out. The...
Great Leaders Tell Great Stories: 4 Ways Storytelling Makes You Stronger
Recently I received a lovely surprise from my parents - a copy of The Gingerbread Man. Well worn, this was one of several stories I demanded be read to me again and again (thanks Mom!). Listening to a good story is not just a delight for kids, adults love them, too....
4 Keys to High Performance Goal-Setting
It's shocking how many companies end the year without reviewing progress against goals, or with merit increases completely divorced from actual goal attainment. No wonder we have employees with entitlement issues. If you want to spur high performance and reward for performance, it's critical to set a strong foundation of...
Why Gyms Have Mirrors and You Should Too
It was a full class at the gym Saturday. A colleague with a barbell across her back in front of me shuffled over so I could get a clear view of myself in the mirror as we performed synchronized squats. In many training areas - from ballet to bootcamp - there are...
4 Unbeatable Ways to Keep Your Remote Team Working at Peak Performance
20 years ago if you were a guest at IBM's head office you would have seen employees working from desks in the hallways such was our rapid growth. To manage the dearth of space, IBM pushed remote work. We were all using laptops and cell phones anyway, so why come into...
How to Break the Blahs: Strategies for Resetting Team Energy
In January I landed in Winnipeg on their coldest day: -53 Celsius (-63F) with wind chill. Good timing! Many cities in North America have experienced record lows that suck the energy right out of you…all except what’s needed to cozy up beside a fire with a latte. In the heart...
11 Signs Your Strategy Will Fail
I recently challenged an executive to ask her team if they could paraphrase her strategy accurately. The results were abysmal, getting about one and half of the priorities correct out of five. That's a fail. Companies rarely crash and burn over night. Instead, strategies get off track as cues are missed...
Want monumental success? Strip mental weight and bulk up on lightness!
When I worked at Suncor, the company would physically re-shuffle people periodically to bring teams closer together. A couple days before our group’s move, bins showed up at our desks to kick off the process of sorting, purging and packing. It’s amazing how much crap (aka, vendor knickknacks) you can...
