A Curious New Year

Curiosity has been praised by researchers, therapists, and business leaders as a mindset that strengthens relationships, boosts well-being, and sparks creativity. That makes it an appealing choice…

The Resurrection of Fear-Based Management

With the disturbing rise of disrespect and intolerance in our culture, fear-based management is in danger of becoming normalized again. Read Judy Agnew's post on LinkedIn. 

Are Your Work Systems Unintentionally Sabotaging Employee Engagement?

Telecom giant AT&T recently announced it is scaling back its “presence report” system. This system is designed to enforce return-to-office compliance for employees. Since its introduction, it has…

Two Consultants on Leadership: Key Elements of a Strong Culture

Organizational culture can be defined generally as the shared values, beliefs, and assumptions that guide behavior. Behaviorally, it can be defined as the patterns of behaviors that are strengthened…

An Example of Leadership Success: Leading through Core Values and Mission

The tenth and final blog in this series is dedicated to one leader’s commitment to supporting one of his life’s missions—ensuring people live their best lives. Many leaders go through life…

Balancing the Carrot and Stick: The Role of Negative Approaches in Leadership

Over the past several years, I’ve noticed that people and organizations are shifting away from using primarily negative approaches to influence behavior. Instead, they are embracing more positive…

Teaching Persistence Without Overdoing the Pain

A headline about Nvidia CEO, Jensen Huang, wishing pain and suffering upon Stanford students caught my attention recently. I took the bait and clicked to find out what he might be getting at.…

An Example of Leadership Success: Putting Safety First

It’s easy to preach “safety is number one” when the sky is blue, but what you do when the sky goes grey is what really matters. This third blog is dedicated to highlighting one leader’s example…

Leading a Return to the Office Without Losing Your Team

While some organizations have been able to fully embrace a remote model, most have grappled to varying extents with a return to in-person work. The process of trying to get employees back into the…

Examples of Leadership Success: Leading through Positive Accountability

Leadership Success Blog SeriesFor this next blog series, I will be highlighting successful examples of critical leader behaviors I’ve seen. The goal is to share leader behavior(s) and why they are…

Four Reasons Lean Initiatives Fail and How Leadership Can Help

It’s been estimated that at least 60% of continuous improvement initiatives fail to achieve their desired results. In reaction to lackluster results, I’ve seen budget cuts, SME resignations, training…

Will This Behavioral Stuff Work With My Kids Too?

A reoccurring question I get while facilitating in-person workshops is whether the strategies and tactics discussed in class can be applied to other settings—be it spouse, kids, or family dog. While…

The ABCs of a New Year’s Resolution

Many people make New Year’s resolutions dedicated to making themselves better in some way. Whether it’s to lose weight and get fit; become a better leader; or be a better spouse, parent, or friend.…

Quelling Quiet Quitting

Quiet Quitting is trending—on TikTok, in articles and blogs. Definitions vary but tend to include things like (1) worker disengagement, (2) a refusal to go “above and beyond,” and (3) a re-set…

From "Beat Down" to "Build Up"

Recently during a leadership workshop I was facilitating, a participant approached me at a break and told me he wanted more out of his direct reports. He wanted to know why his current approach was…

New Year’s Resolutions: Beware!

This is a reprint of a classic blog by Aubrey Daniels, from 2012.The origin of New Year’s Resolutions can be linked to pre-Christian times in Rome, thousands of years ago.  So every year about…

Thanksgiving Resolutions

At Thanksgiving dinner my family does what many families do—we go around the table and share what we are thankful for. Not surprisingly, on the top of our lists are people. Family and friends support…

Overestimating Your Leadership: The Dunning-Kruger Effect

Many people underestimate the complexity of being a good leader while simultaneously overestimating their own leadership skills. According to Psychology Today, “The Dunning-Kruger effect is…