Fifty Shades and Permission
About a month ago, I bought my wife a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey. By that point, the media had me convinced that everyone woman (and some men) in America was reading this book. A few of her close...
View ArticleI Swear because I Care
Yesterday, TLNT.com published an interesting piece about swearing (cussing, using foul language, etc.) in the workplace. Here are the cliff’s notes as I read it: half of employees say they swear at...
View ArticleIs your heart in it?
I don’t remember when I first heard the phrase, “Your have to put your heart into it.” It was probably when I was a kid growing up–likely something to do with sports. We encourage kids to throw...
View ArticleWhy do we tolerate bad managers?
Based on all the evidence I’ve seen both quantitatively and qualitatively, we have a real epidemic of bad management. This may be an obvious and almost cliché thing to say. It seems that everyone is...
View ArticleGetting Credit is Overrated
Early in my career, I used to get really wrapped up in getting credit for every idea and every bit of work I did. I desperately wanted to be recognized for my contributions and my “brilliant” ideas....
View ArticleMy Olympic Reflections: Mastery and Commitment
The curtain has closed on the Olympics and we can now return to our regularly scheduled programming. For two weeks I resisted writing about the Olympics. But, before I completely close the book on...
View ArticleThe Two Keys to Making Employee Engagement Matter
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to sit on a panel discussion about employee engagement at the Southwest Learning Summit hosted by the Dallas Chapter of ASTD (American Society for Training and...
View ArticleIs Organizational “Fit” Really a Good Thing?
Organizational fit (or cultural fit) is a topic that gets a lot of discussion, particularly in recruiting circles. We strive to find people who will be a good fit for the organization–people who will...
View ArticlePracticing what I Preach – Feedback Please
For the past week, Joe and I have been having a discussion on the Talent Anarchy blog that was prompted by a post written by Ted Coine that you can (and should) read here. The conversation has...
View ArticleTalent Strategy starts with Questions
Creating a strategy for your organization around talent starts with defining the what and how of talent for your organization. Talent can be leveraged and managed very differently from one...
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Talent Hates Being Managed – Try Cultivation Instead
I grew up as a country boy on a farm in rural Iowa. I was surrounded by farming everywhere I went. I don’t know that I honestly paid a lot of attention to the business of farming growing up (other...
View ArticleMastery, Autonomy and Purpose: A Dan Pink Friday
It seems lately I’ve been referencing Dan Pink’s book, Drive: The Surprising Truth about what Motivates Us. It is a great book that presents some powerful conclusions that should challenge our...
View ArticleInterviewing for an Unpredictable Future
One of the blogs I follow that consistently provides me with new perspectives and ideas to chew on is Life in Perpetual Beta by Harold Jarache. Harold has some great vision and ideas about how the...
View ArticleWhat exactly is Discretionary Effort?
A lot of my work lately has been focused in the area of employee engagement. In fact, I’m speaking at a number of conferences this fall, sharing my presentation, “Employee Engagement is Broken” with...
View ArticleLeadership is about Choices
If there’s one lesson my children learn from me, I want it to be that life is a series of choices. Every moment represents a choice or a set of choices and every choice has consequences, good or bad....
View ArticleIs your Office Space causing Turnover?
I have a friend who started a new job recently. She was pretty excited about the opportunity and was particularly excited about the company she was joining. The company, while relatively small, has a...
View ArticleThe Power of Simplicity
Here’s a thought to consider on a Friday. In your work with people, do you continually strive to make things simpler, or do you unwittingly make things more complex? People love simple. It’s why...
View ArticlePatriotism, Awe, and Inspiration
Rarely do I share a blog post referencing a video clip or blog post without attaching some commentary on the lesson specific to leadership, talent or HR that I took away from what I am sharing. Today,...
View ArticleOne Important Question for Leaders
Can you do for others that which you have not done for yourself? This is a critical question when we think about the health of our organizations and cultures. As a leader or manager: if you aren’t...
View ArticleTime for Change
On May 16, 2010, I launched this blog. Over the past 2 years and 4 months, I’ve posted 220 blog posts. In the past year, I’ve been committed to writing at least 3 blog posts per week. That means I’m...
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