The Jersey is already on the record as sort of a hater. The irony of hating on email through the medium of a social media invention is assuredly amusing to you loyal fans and fellow leadership junkies, so let’s get to it, shall we? Way back in 2013, there was a discussion here about the negatives […]
Category Archives: Communicating Effectively
December
21
Who’s Review Is It? 4 Realities of a Conversation Between Two People
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
Performance reviews are an interesting topic for first-line supervisors. Nothing evokes more outrage from someone more than a poorly handled review. And nowhere is the scene set for a potentially career-altering conversation than when boss and employee sit down for this process. From The Jersey’s perspective, reducing this to a clash of cultural […]
October
25
Eulogy or Casket?
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
The list of phobias that plague the average human adult is an interesting study. The effect they can have on your personal life, and your career, can be tremendous. It is human to gravitate toward the comfortable and lean away from the uncomfortable, and to a large degree, that affects how we navigate life. It […]
April
05
The Secret To Leadership Isn’t A Secret
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
There is a saying that goes “Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead”. While this may be the creed of the professional intelligence officer, in the world of the leadership of human beings by other human beings, the goal is the opposite. The temptation to keep secrets can often be the undoing of […]
March
16
The Power of Perception
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
The late Steven Covey has long been considered one of the more important voices in the self-help genre over the past few decades. His signature work, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, was first published in 1989 and has sold over 15 million copies in 38 languages. These numbers suggest that Dr. Covey’s observations […]
February
28
In The Spotlight – And Not In A Good Way
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
I recently had the opportunity to participate as a neutral factfinder in what would commonly be considered an “EEO” complaint. The process from that perspective brought back not so fond memories of a prior experience when I was actually a party to the fact-finding. Being in the “good” chair this time instead of the spotlight, and working […]
January
13
What Kind Of Follower Are You?
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
This blog is about the art of leadership, and as I have said on several occasions, is aimed at the leader, the aspiring leader, and those who are led. Many of the topics I have covered thus far focus in on the perspective of those first two groups. The last group, the led, are known by another […]
December
31
Of Resolutions and Such, Part 2 – How Not To Suck At Email
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
According to a 2010 study, a little short of 300 billion emails are sent daily. After deducting 90% of that figure as spam, this results in about 15 emails per day sent/received by about two billion actual users (and not computer generated ED pill salesman). With the assumption that this is not the first post of […]
December
29
Of Resolutions and Such, Part 1 – Email Sucks
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
There are several interesting articles that discuss the many reasons email sucks. From ambiguous etiquette rules, to poor expression of emotion, to the permanency of your heat-of-the-moment rants, email can be frustrating to the leader and the follower alike. From a leadership perspective, email can be a time suck that delays or even defeats your […]
October
27
You Keep Using That Word – Communicating Effectively
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
Resolving communication problems can appear to be simplistic when written as a five-step action plan. In the real world, the causes for miscommunication between yourself and another, or your entire team, may be a much more difficult issue to tackle. Depending on your emotional IQ, or your teams, no one may be even willing to […]
October
17
Your Own Kobayashi Maru – Leadership in a Crisis
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
For the Trekkie‘s amongst you, the K-Maru scenario has been fodder for uncountable arguments. In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Maru is a training simulation every Star Fleet cadet is put through. In essence, the decisions available to the student are all “no-win” and the entire exercise is about how you come to terms with […]
The Truth, and Other Things
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
There are two possibilities about your team that you can contemplate from your position of leader. The first possibility is that they will follow you because they want to. Or, they will follow you because they have to. Despite the apparent differences that each of these realities suggest, there is one important similarity. You have […]
Up The Lazy River – Leading Others
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
The Economist recently published a blog post with a theme sure to warm the hearts of anyone who recently shelled out some coin for the latest management treatise that screamed out the need to cram 25 hours into the day and simply work your competition into the ground. “In praise of laziness” takes to task the […]
Things That Nobody Gets
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
Forbes recently had an article suggesting that 20-somethings are missing some important facts about success in life and work. The author, aged 34, referred to himself as a curmudgeon in relation to his team of millenials at his self-created business. Beside the chuckle thatwelled up in me reading that, when I reviewed a list of […]
“Mr. Scott, ..Set Phasers on Ignore” – Communicating Effectively
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
Sending and receiving large volumes of information is a daily routine in the modern workplace. As a leader, you communicate in many ways other than emails or memo’s, to your peers, your bosses, and your team. However, chances are, there may be something that dilutes the power of your message or the urgency or importance […]
June
21
Defining the “Rogue”
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
Webster’s defines “rogue” as a “scoundrel, scamp, or generally mischievous person”. In Nachbar and Lanse’s work “Popular Culture”, the tension between the hero as Rogue, and the hero as Citizen is represented in American popular culture in numerous ways. Americans admire their Citizen heroes and carve their faces and names in granite. Americans love their Rogue […]
Iceberg, dead ahead!
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
In this era, public service organizations devote significant time and energy to identifying and developing mission and vision statements. They also devote time to creating strategic plans that seek to translate those statements into goals and practices. What frequently proves to be the biggest barrier to carrying this out successfully, especially when the plan represents […]
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