Hybrid Teams / Leadership / Motivation and Engagement / Performance

Three Ways Behavioral Science Will Shape the Future of Leadership Development

Summary A combination of global pandemic and a new generation of employees are driving a realignment of the employee-employer dynamic. As people re-examine their work priorities, enlightened CEOs and senior leaders increasingly recognize that managers who understand and effectively influence human behavior deliver better results. Behavioral science is moving front and center as executives rethink leader development. With this focus they are asking which of the many behavioral science insights and tools will…

0 Comments

22 March 2022

DNA strand assembling from different elements

Hybrid Teams / Leadership / Virtual Teams

Decoding the DNA of Hybrid Teams

The sudden and rapid shift to hybrid workplaces brings a unique opportunity for exploring new ways of working. What makes the emergence of hybrid models different from past seismic changes in the business landscape, such as the industrial and information revolutions, is that the hybrid workplace is primarily about embracing new behaviors enabled by technology rather than new technologies redefining businesses and behavior. If you’re a leader navigating this new world, your first…

0 Comments

22 August 2021

Communications / Leadership

Brain Science is Turning Feedback Inside-Out

In his article, Employee Surveys Are Still One of the Best Ways to Measure Engagement, Scott Judd, the head of People Analytics at Facebook, observes that "…surveys are starting to look like diesel trucks, collecting dust in the age of electric cars." Employee feedback surveys first emerged in the 1920s, along with scientific management and the drive to improve industrial productivity. In 1932, Rensis Likert began a revolution in survey research with his…

0 Comments

9 May 2021

Leadership / Virtual Teams

Embracing Uncomfortable Conversations: Leaning Out to Create Authentic Connections

Noël found herself mentally fatigued, burned out, and disengaged from her work. How did she end up here when she felt so energized by this new role just a short while ago? Even before the Pandemic, Noël started feeling discouraged and isolated from her colleagues. When she transferred to the engineering department two years ago, she was excited for the opportunity to align her passion with her daily craft – Noël loved developing…

0 Comments

21 March 2021

Diversity / Inclusiveness / Leadership / Performance

How to Build a Team that (Actually) Embraces Inclusiveness

In my work with teams, I found that most people describe themselves as "almost always" or "always" inclusive. Yet, too often, I've seen those same people demonstrate subtle acts of exclusion and discriminatory mindsets that keep their co-workers off the dance floor. A few years ago, a young woman from South East Asia presented some promising new product research results in a department review. After the meeting, an executive intended to compliment her…

0 Comments

30 August 2020

Leadership

Seeing the Potential for Extraordinary

Why is it that some people see the potential for extraordinary in others when everyone else sees only the ordinary? Thanksgiving is a few days away and snow is in the forecast which means lots of visitors to the ski slopes and lodges here in Park City. So before things get too busy I figured I'd pull a chair up close to the fireplace at my favorite mountain lodge, indulge in a mug…

0 Comments

24 November 2019

Leadership

Crafting Your Leadership Legacy

I can still recall the feeling of satisfaction and anticipation that came with my promotion to Senior Product Manager and my first people leadership role. Reading the company announcement that named my new team, and our mission to define the next generation of products to fuel the company’s growth, I was determined that we were going to be the best, exceeding every expectation in the relentless pursuit of our goals. I was already…

0 Comments

22 September 2019

Coaching / Leadership

Stop the Silent Startup Killers

In the medical world, “silent killers” are conditions with no obvious symptoms that progress to an advanced stage before someone discovers them. In organizations and on teams, a lack of psychological safety, unconscious bias, and low trust are “silent killers” that slowly drain away energy, engagement, and the human spirit — often going undetected until the damage becomes irreparable. Ignoring these silent killers is toxic for teams and life-threatening for startups. Leaders who…

0 Comments

9 September 2019

Communications / Leadership

The Cost of Leader Silence

The role of employee voice in organizations – whether in the form of work-related complaints, participating in decision making, contributing new ideas, or providing feedback – has been a topic of discussion and debate for over 200 years. The industrial revolution fueled the drive towards a greater employee voice via organized labor. The information era precipitated the rise of Organizational Behavior as a discipline, and a greater focus on encouraging employees at all…

0 Comments

11 November 2018

Performance / Virtual Teams

Are You Measuring what Really Matters?

When Peter Drucker said, “If you can't measure it, you can't improve it.” he was advocating that organizations could improve their performance through better metrics. I would argue that Drucker got it right, but that he should have added “and what you measure matters the most.” Many teams fail to measure the most critical predictors of their effectiveness over time – the health of the relationships between team members and across teams. Unlike…

0 Comments

22 July 2018

Communications / Performance

Want Performance? Get Feedback.

Feedback is the breakfast of champions. Top organizations don’t treat it as an activity to be added to already busy workdays – seeking feedback and proactively responding to it is a habit that forms an integral part of the culture, norms, and values of the best teams and organizations.

0 Comments

6 May 2018

Communications / Team Research

The Importance of Transformational Team Communications

Complex global business environments, and the need for agility in both decision making and execution, are driving organizations towards ever greater collaboration and teamwork as the means of resolving challenges and creating competitive advantage. Most leaders agree that one key component in ensuring effective team functioning is the content and quality of communications to, and among, team members. Interestingly, I found – in both my work with teams and my research on team…

0 Comments

25 March 2018

Performance / Team Research

The Connection Between Team Performance and Wellbeing

Many factors influence performance and wellbeing at work, including professional and personal goals, job design and flexibility, skills and competencies, and perceptions of fairness and trust across key relationships. For many organizations and teams, the simultaneous pursuit of performance and wellbeing can feel like chasing conflicting goals. In his comprehensive review of recent Human Resource Management (HRM) research, David Guest demonstrates that there is a strong case for focusing on employee wellbeing as…

0 Comments

25 February 2018

Leadership

Team Leadership Trends 2018

The reshaping of organizations that began at the turn of the century continued this year at an accelerated pace. How organizations respond and reshape themselves based on team leadership trends will determine their trajectory: greatness or mediocrity.

0 Comments

24 December 2017