FieldNotes
Our daily Field Notes email is just the kind of jumpstart you need. A fast read. Maybe less than a minute. Because sometimes it just takes one insight to change the trajectory of the day.
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Crushed by Criticism
Some people don’t just react to criticism about their performance, they get destroyed by it. This is usually because they have an intense need for approval, recognition, and praise from others. When most team members receive well-deserved praise from a peer or leader, they get a warm feeling inside that invigorates their efforts. For others,
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A Team Roadmap to Catch Up New Team Members
When a new person joins the team, they lack the historical context to interpret many of the choices, decisions, and messages in play. In a simple analogy, they have entered the television series at episode 20 and have no understanding of what has transpired in episodes 1-19. Giving them this context pays big dividends as
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Would You Re-Hire Your Team Members?
Developing and adding new talent to the team is a never-ending process for great leaders. This includes deciding what roles need a talent upgrade. For a variety of reasons, the skills of some team members plateau and do not keep pace with colleagues or the evolving challenges in the workplace. Even with a significant investment
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Do You Run Away From Conflict?
Working through conflict takes time, energy and courage. Dodging conflict or avoiding it altogether is always the path of least resistance. Conflicts can get messy, harm relationships, and leave everyone feeling unhappy. Most of all, addressing conflict increases the likelihood of not being liked by the parties involved. For those with a profound need to
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When a Negotiating Weakness Is Really a Strength
When people bargain, they often go to extremes to get the upper hand. Negotiators are famous for making ridiculous demands and then offering a series of small compromises to appear reasonable. By retreating from an extreme starting point, negotiators eventually land on the outcome they preferred all along, all while looking like they were giving…
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Colleagues Who Perform But Are Toxic Must Go
The Performance/Attitude Matrix is widely known and shared. Most leaders know it by heart, but here’s a review. Team members are evaluated along the axises of performance and attitude, with a Great and Bad for each.
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I’m Not Good at the Workplace Politics
When others use their authority, influence, and status for personal self-interest, they are operating politically. Examples of negative workplace politics are plentiful: Kissing up to a leader to gain an advantage, badmouthing a colleague to harm a reputation, avoiding a peer who is out of favor, taking credit for work a colleague has created, withholding…
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Why Less Competent Peers Get Promoted
The best runner does not always win the race. In large and small organizations, who gets promoted is often a head-scratcher. How the devil did “so-and-so” get promoted over a much more qualified peer? Was the promotion process rigged? Is it really about who you know and not what you can do? While it is
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Reducing Defensiveness
Sometimes, trusted colleagues can become highly defensive when leaders disagree with them or make decisions they don’t support. As leaders attempt to work through the disagreement, they can face stiff resistance, as the other person’s defensiveness becomes a shield during the conflict. When team members get defensive, they dig in, stop listening, and make excuses
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Study Your Best Performers
It is not breaking news that the best performers on any team do things differently from those who lean toward average. The same is true for highly effective specialists. Those who create excellence develop routines, habits, and disciplines that propel them forward. In addition to having competencies that are sharper and more developed, you will