One of the many pleasures of living in Singapore is being able to experience an incredible diversity of architectural design. From the sweeping vista of Marina Bay to colonial period buildings like Raffles Hotel, and shop houses dating back to the 1840’s, there is no shortage of design to inspire the imagination while serving a functional purpose. Good job design should do the same – inspire and motivate while meeting the needs of…
In his HBR article, "To Reduce Burnout on Your Team, Give People a Sense of Control", the author, Andrew Wittman, observes that team dynamics play a key role in workplace stress. He argues that “being part of a team can be a quick road to disappointment, frustration, and burnout, especially when some team members work harder than others, when some are on time and others are consistently late, when there’s drama and tension resulting…
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." —Aristotle, 384–322 BCE Aristotle's observation about human behavior and motivation speaks to the essence of leadership. As a leader, it is our habits that determine the expectations we create and the experience that we deliver. Those behaviors, whether conscious or unconscious, place us and our teams on a path towards excellence or meandering towards mediocrity. Experience versus Expectation…
Too many team leaders gamble on the performance of their team without having put in place solid team fundamentals. During my research, I uncovered many reasons for team leaders taking shortcuts in building their teams — from too little time due to competing priorities and their company’s obsession with quarterly results, to believing that they can drive the team to perform through a mix of inspiration and coercion. While some teams that are…
About this blog This is the first of four posts which are excerpts taken from my recently published book, The ONE Habit: The Ultimate Guide to Increasing Engagement and Building Highly-Effective Teams. My doctoral research on human motivation, engagement and team performance was the basis for the book. Following the first four foundation posts, “Notes From The Field” describes team leadership experiences from my career, as well as from many other team leaders…