Category Archives: Fosters Collaboration and Teamwork

It’s all about the team

October 30

It’s All About The Team

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  At 109 posts since February 2013, this endeavor has occupied a consistent amount of my free time for a while. It has also generated countless conversations about this thing we call leadership.  One of the challenges I have experienced from contributing my thoughts in such a public manner is the net effect of creating a pretty […]

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September 28

Loyalty And The Team

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The history of literature and art in Western civilization is expressed in a number of recurrent themes.  Some are positive, like love, loyalty, struggle and triumph, sacrifice, friendship, and family.  Others are the shadow traits of each of these, such as hate, treachery, cheating, cowardice, and forsaking the team for the loneliness of the selfish act. All are, […]

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July 22

When To Lose One For The Gipper

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One admission it pains me to make is that I generally hate to lose, at anything. There is something at the DNA level since childhood that makes defeat a very bitter-tasting pill to swallow. Over time, it was apparent that not everyone felt the same way about it that I did. I observed that some […]

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June 08

Fellowship

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In past posts on this blog, I have spoken about the concept of “followership“. The general drift of that message was that there was good and bad “followership” and that good leaders in general were equally adept at being led.  There are some rules to being led, and being the best you can be at it. […]

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May 09

When The Heart Of Darkness Beats For You

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If you work in an organization big enough or wide enough to have at least two different locations, Theorem 1 of the Colonel Kurz Theory of Probability is that some percentage of one office think that, generally, there is something wrong with the people in the other office. If the organization is big enough to have […]

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April 26

The Green Eyed Monster

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Shakespeare’s use of jealousy, in families and governments, was a constant theme throughout his works. His use of this theme was consistent with the era and the predominance of the Catholic Church in those times. Envy was identified as one of the seven deadly sins by Pope Gregory and then used by Dante in his “Divine […]

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March 16

The Power of Perception

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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 […]

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March 07

How (and When) To Disagree With The Boss

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There are several common pieces of DNA in every person who tends toward the leadership path in life. One of those common elements is a confidence in one’s own opinion or abilities that under the best of circumstances, can translate into the courage to seize opportunities as they occur, or make bold decisions when others hesitate.  All good, […]

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February 26

Competence vs. Character – The Army Dilemma

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Recently, the top two generals in the United States Army, Chief of Staff Ray Odierno, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, told the Associated Press that the Army has suffered from a loss of focus and a failure to balance character with competence ….Sometimes in the past we’ve overlooked character issues […]

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November 24

When Conflict isn’t a Problem

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The terms “conflict resolution” and “problem solving” are sometimes used interchangeably in organizations to describe any situation which has the potential to, or has already, threatened the momentum or direction of things. Practically, they are two very different dynamics and revolve around some very distinct action steps. Confusing one for the other is by and […]

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Reality…What A Concept

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There are many stories in and around the workplace, but none are arguably more frustrating to the new leader than inheriting the narratives of all your teammates.  Cy Wakeman, author of “Reality-Based Leadership” argues that drama is emotionally expensive for all concerned.  As both leader and a peer within your own team, you will find […]

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How Resilient Is Your Organization?

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Social psychologists generally define resilience as the human capacity to remain both flexible and strong in the midst of ambiguity, stress, and change. The “resilient” person perseveres by showing above average ability to remain positive, focused, flexible, organized and proactive. According to researchers at the National Mental Health Institute, the answer to human resiliency might […]

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Engagement – It’s just about a ring….

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According to a recent study by Deloitte, only 20% of workers are truly “passionate” about their job. Brent Peterson, in his book “Fake Work” reported research that claimed 70+% of workers believe their organization’s strategies and goals are not translated into specific work tasks they can execute, do not know how to support their organizations’ strategies […]

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Influencing Others –

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So, you understand that people will follow your lead because they want to, and not because they have to? And, you have worked hard to keep a consistent character-driven relationship with everyone. What’s next? There are many force multipliers in the field of “influence”, but there are an equal number of “force-dividers”, which will ensure […]

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Got Influence?

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It is generally accepted among leaders who have significant experience in the dynamic that things get done more often because of influence rather than direction. The new positional leader may find this challenge to be among the first they experience.  Having been anointed as a “leader” by virtue of title or job description, it is […]

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Courage, Apathy, or Fear?

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Courage, Apathy, or Fear. From your viewpoint as a leader, which one defines your organization? Each one of these words can define the culture of an organization, the people in it, and the fundamental way that the organization works its way through the cycle of decisions and opportunity. Does your behavior as a leader, or as […]

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Crucial Conversations –

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As humans, we converse through the power of language every day. When we work as a team in a shared endeavor, like the workplace, we often engage in conversations, that often, but not always, involve the spoken word. It is not likely that anyone will exist in the modern workplace for long without at some […]

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Let’s have a meeting! – Communicating Effectively

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Meetings can be a Dickensian see-saw of “the best of times and the worst of times”. Chances are, if you are the team leader, you’ll need to organize one at some point. This is an opportunity to communicate in very clear terms what the future will be for anyone tapped to attend one of your […]

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