Careful Candor

Recently, I overheard two executives having a conversation. One executive was bemoaning the meeting he was about to have with his team to announce more layoffs and cutbacks. He added that he also had some positive news and wanted to “put a spin on it.” I sat there listening and wondering why he wanted to put a “spin” on the news. Of course we’re all guilty of

Some time ago I got a call from an old friend looking for help. I’ll call him “Ben.” He had recently been appointed to a leadership position with a new employer.  When he was hired the CEO sent out an email to him and his new team welcoming him and wishing them all well.  However, things weren’t all going well.  The new team had begun rebelling against him. It had been going on for several mo

Why we don’t empathize enough at work:

There was a time when people believed that keeping feelings out of business was a good idea.  We now know too much both about how work gets done, and how the human brain functions in relationship to others to believe that keeping feelings out of work is useful or even

It isn’t just methodology and quantification.

In his book ‘Leadership Is An Art’, the former CEO of Herman Miller, Max Dupree, writes presciently that “Managers who have no beliefs, but only understand methodology and quantification…can never engender competence or confidence.” In other words, manage

I recently participated in a group dynamics experiential weekend (organized by the A. K. Rice Institute.) The task of the group was to explore “The predicament of joining with others to get things done.”   A major theme that emerged over the course of the two days was “What is not said” between individuals, within groups, and between groups. The predicament for individuals, it seems, is often deciding what should be said and what is better rem

Building a “People-Sustainable” Organization

The great Chinese philosopher Confucius, believing that trust is a key concept in society and for governance, noted in his advice to a ruler that, “…when there is no trust, the people will have nothing to stand on.”

The recent fourth annual  Ethics & Workplace Survey conducted by Deloitte highlights the depressed (and depressing) level of trust employees have in their leaders and organizations. Forty eight percent cite loss of trust in their employer and 46 percent say lack of transparent communication from their company’s leadership as reasons they will seek alternative employment when the economy improves.