Warning: Overtly spiritual message follows. I have felt a burden to share it, so here goes. I want to say the next sentence with as much empathy and care as I can: This has been a great year. Yes, I’ve had loved ones touched by the plague. Yes, I have mourned people who have passed away. Yes, my income took …
Ship it.
This post isn’t going to make sense unless you get in your head, right now, the thing you’ve wanted to introduce that you keep putting off. A presentation for the office. A project for your community. A process for your team. A book. For years, my father had a file folder on the desk in his home office. Scrawled in …
How promoting shopping carts and selling garbage applies to employee engagement
“I just wish they’d do what I ask them to do!” It’s one of the most common complaints I hear from clients. I don’t want to spoil the humor in Bernadette Jiwa’s TED talk (9 minutes). But if what she says is true for customers … how could you apply this to employees?
A team that grows–on purpose
My ears perk up for anything that discusses wrestling and/or growing. (Hint: Articles about teams that wrestle always feature teams that grow.) For years organizations have sought to become “great places to work.” For some of us, the phrase conjures images of foosball tables at Google. It seems silly. But that’s not why people work at Google, is it? They …
“How can I get Millennials to work!?”
This is specifically for my friends and clients in automotive. But there are some insights for all of us who are helping Millennials to work. First off, Millennials aren’t magically lazy. Exhibit A: Nashville. Every time my family and I visit the town, I’m blown away by the number of young people creating things and serving them to customers. From …
Blind Man’s Find the Gas Rag
Years ago I went camping occasionally with some friends. I was on the periphery of this group of guys, but a story from one of our trips must be told. It was the day they created a game I call Blind Man’s Find the Gas Rag. These men were hilarious. They were always coming up with new ways to entertain …
“What’ll THAT get you?”
“What’ll that get you?” It’s a question I often ask. (Hat tip to one of my teachers, executive coach Gary Wood, for teaching it to me.) Once a client told me he wanted to be no. 1 in his market. “What’ll that get you?” I asked. “Well, then I’d win,” he said. I had to ask: What would winning get …
How to ensure you and your people get back up
I’ve worked in employee engagement for years. Buckingham defines it as the mindset that allows you to proactively give your best. Resilience is the opposite: the mindset that allows you to reactively “bend and bounce back,” as he says–to get back up after a negative experience.
Growing your leadership habits
Hip Socket helps leaders wrestle and grow. Good leaders grow good habits. And leaders manage (constant?) change. Leadership habits are key.
Nailing Zoom
Some of my clients have always met with me exclusively through Zoom. But when the pandemic forced other clients to use videoconferencing, I was surprised by how it helped.