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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What a Suggestion Box Suggests About Your Team
Any group where everyone present can’t be heard or register their view because of the sheer number of participants will likely benefit from a suggestion box format. But for smaller teams, suggestions boxes impede openness. Good team leaders ask themselves if they would learn truly different ideas and suggestions with an anonymous format, like a…
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Failure to Rescue
In the world of hospitals, patients, and physicians, there is a quality metric that speaks volumes about how well doctors and nurses think critically and attend to those who need them. Failure to Rescue refers to a delay in recognizing and responding to a patient’s needs or complications, usually resulting in death. As it turns out, a…
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Do You Know Who I Am?
Taking oneself too seriously is a challenge many leaders face and fail. In the heat of a conflict, it is a curse that makes everything so much worse.
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The Right Practice Challenge Jump Starts Learning and Elevates Performance
Performers in any field get better by practicing difficult tasks. But only the right challenge at the right time allows performers to acquire and retain the important learning that improves long-term skill. Collecting and designing challenges for use now or in the future is a critical element for reaching higher levels of performance. What difficult…
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Developing a Strategic Knowledge for Long-Term Credibility
What expertise do you have that is deeper and more robust than anyone else in the organization? Do you bring this strategic knowledge to many team discussions as a way of setting the standard for true expertise? It’s never too late or too early to begin developing such a deep and abounding expertise. Examine the…
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Data Is Sometimes the Best Answer for Overcoming Resistance to Feedback
Some team members repeatedly resist the same feedback. They prefer to hang onto their self-view that the behaviors that derail them are not at issue. Others lack all awareness about what they do that negatively impacts others. They prefer their own wise counsel and pay little attention to what others suggest. As a result, they…
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Apologizing for Other People’s Bad Behavior Underscores Your Values
When people observe others behaving poorly, rudely, or inappropriately, they typically shake their head and ignore the episode. Unless they know the transgressor well enough to predict their reaction to being confronted, most won’t take the chance to intervene. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t something else they can do. Apologizing to the recipient of…
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The Essential Ingredients of a Highly Engaging Team Offsite
Running a great offsite is no easy task. Team members want to be fully engaged and spend the time productively. But they also want to have fun and get the chance to converse with other team members in a relaxed atmosphere. Naturally, when asking the team to set aside time away from the work setting,…
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Delivering a Tough Message About Their Flaws Starts With Your Flaws
Some team members don’t know themselves well and fight the same demons on many days. They need to come to grips with the character flaws that make them less effective than they should be. Some are too reactive, others too emotional, some lack clear values, others live in a state of anxiety. Some are too…
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The Feeling of Being Trusted
Legendary investor Warren Buffett was recently asked why he still enjoyed investing money for others. He replied, “I like the feeling of being trusted.” That statement explains a lot about Buffet and captures a feeling many leaders value but rarely articulate. Many of the most admired leaders in the world build their lives and reputations…