I love this blog post on creating trust within your workplace; the author’s key point is that if you act as though your workers are trustworthy – assuming positive intent, not micromanaging them, allowing them to make decisions – they are more likely to BE trustworthy than if you are continually vigilant for signs of […]
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My CalSAE colleague Shelly Alcorn writes a great blog called Association Subculture. She recently posted a great “back of the napkin” story sketch about association membership. So I decided I needed to draw mine! (Click on the thumbnail to see a bigger image.) When I went to library school in the 90s I joined a […]
I recently read Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why after watching this TED talk…later that week, walking through the hall at work, I saw Sinek’s diagram on another person’s whiteboard! Talk about serendipity! Sinek’s key point is that WHY you do whatever you do is more important to your target audience or customer than WHAT […]
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As a facilitator, I have often worked with groups in the process of clarifying their common values. Inevitably, there is someone in the group who questions the value of this exercise. It is true that there are a lot of generic, meaningless values statements gathering dust in drawers across the nation. So how do we […]
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As I wait for the shipment of my new book on apology to arrive…two excellent pieces on this very topic floated through my digital inbox. Yesterday, Forbes columnist Erika Andersen discussed the role of apology in leadership. I was particularly struck by the connections she makes between respect, responsibility, and courage. She and I are […]
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I’ve been working on a piece of homework assigned during a presention by my Australian buddy Donna McGeorge at the 2011 IFVP Conference. One of her recommendations to us was to make a list of fifty declarations: statements that we know, through our professional expertise, to be absolutely true. This list can then be turned […]
I love this little video. (The narration is transcribed here.) I get two big lessons from this. First, if you are going to be a leader, you need to BE EASY TO FOLLOW. If what you are doing is too difficult or complicated, it will be too hard for folks to understand you and join […]
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There are many ways to influence people’s behavior, and the best strategy is to incorporate multiple pathways. In order to change, people must have both the motivation and the ability to do so. Social and environmental factors are often overlooked. One of my favorite books on creating change within an organization is Influencer: The Power […]
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Sylvia Lafair’s November newsletter used a great metaphor for dealing with consequences: gravity. If you sit under an apple tree, an apple might fall on your head. The apple wasn’t out to get you. The apple doesn’t wish you ill. The apple isn’t sorry it hit you. The apple isn’t mean. The apple just […]
Tags: Accountability, Consequences