SELF IMPROVEMENT AND MOTIVATION

There’s a tendency to assume that we want our leaders to be encouraging, magnanimous, and optimistic. But in the last decade, across borders and sectors, we’ve been seeing an increasing number of leaders better known for a style that is more vitriolic, punitive, and negative. This disconnect led me to wonder how positive or negative rhetoric affects our perception of someone’s leadership. My subsequent research shows that although we may think we want our leaders to be cheerleaders, we instinctively tend to empower naysayers instead. As  prior research  has shown, we humans create social hierarchies to preserve order and form rich expectations of how the powerful will behave. We have evolved to be sensitive to the behavioral cues that signal these power dynamics. For instance, we often associate a person’s physical height with power, which leads us to attribute more power and status to tall people. These kinds of associations may be particularly influential when we’re ju...

While on a whirlwind tour of the US this week, I struggled with a stiff neck. To relieve myself of the accompanying excruciating shooting pain, I went to a spa where the therapist - Candice - gave me a warm welcome. As I waited for my turn, she took all the preliminary information on my health. However, I noticed that she did more than just take “some” information, she was 100% interested in understanding my therapy needs before recommending the right solution. After a few minutes, Jack – Candice’s boss – walked in. It was then that I got to know the real Candice. Jack was all praise for Candice and her terrific skills. Apparently, Candice was the toast of the spa – loved and praised in equal measure by everyone. She received some of the best reviews from her clients - positive review notes were splashed across the walls of the spa. Aside of making the highest salary, she made the most in tips. I wondered what helped her perform so well. After the therapy (which was expectedly relaxing...

Most of us have experienced the misery of working for a boss who intimidates employees while charming superiors and customers. But it’s hard to figure out if  you  may be that kind of boss. You might think you are doing a good job, getting results by pushing people past their comfort zones, but what if they experience it as being afraid of you? How your employees feel about your style impacts business performance. According to a 2018  study , managing employees with pressure tactics resulted in more than a 90% increase in the predicted turnover of employees, while using more inspirational tactics was related to roughly a 68%  decrease  in likely turnover. And  research shows  that employees of toxic bosses engage in more counterproductive work behaviors as a form of retaliation against their colleagues and leaders. As an executive coach, I work with clients who are dealing with intimidating bosses as well as those who exhibit negative tendencies themse...

Trustworthiness is important in business and in personal life. Here are some of ways to earn trust:   1. Invest in learning and use your skills to contribute to your community 2. Help other leaders achieve their goals 3.Give respect to other leaders by willingness to acknowledge their authority.  4.Be Kind and Be Firm 5. Stand up to those who opposed truth. Learn to speak and when to listen. 6.Endorse other leaders who can handle responsibility and reliable.  7. Cooperating with present leaders and honor their requests.  I believe every leader must take care of people's trust by being true to themselves and aligned with truth.  Filling others emptiness, doing what is right and providing value to your community are some of the important factors in building authentic relationships.  

Many strategy execution processes fail because the firm does not have something worth executing. The strategy consultants come in, do their work, and document the new strategy in a PowerPoint presentation and a weighty report. Town hall meetings are organized, employees are told to change their behavior, balanced scorecards are reformulated, and budgets are set aside to support initiatives that fit the new strategy. And then nothing happens. One major reason for the lack of action is that “new strategies” are often not strategies at all. A real strategy involves a clear set of choices that define what the firm is going to do and what it’s  not  going to do. Many strategies fail to get implemented, despite the ample efforts of hard-working people, because they do not represent a set of clear choices. Many so-called strategies are in fact goals. “We want to be the number one or number two in all the markets in which we operate” is one of those. It does not te...