Flying Monkeys: How Rituals Can Create Connection and Purpose
It’s funny what you remember about past work experiences. We’ll spend (on average) 124,000 minutes per year working, which can
It’s funny what you remember about past work experiences. We’ll spend (on average) 124,000 minutes per year working, which can
My palms were sweaty before everyone arrived. I looked out of the windows of a swanky conference room and knew
….and how to avoid having others put their monkeys on your back! Perhaps no other job I’ve had taught me
Arianna Huffington, co-founder of the Huffington Post and CEO of Thrive Global, once said this about burnout: “In a culture
It’s true about apples – but what about teams? Does one bad apple really spoil the lot? Dr. Will Felps,
The Biden administration has made unifying the nation as their centerpiece for the entire nation. The current focus on unity
As a person leading a virtual team, I suspect you are scoffing that I suggest that you only have two
Hate to tell you, but if you are patiently waiting for upper management to proclaim their vision for your work and your team, it most likely is NOT going to happen. Or at least in the degree of granularity you might be hoping for.
We all want to have work with meaning – and as a leader, it is your job to help create that meaning. The good news is that each of us has the ability (and perhaps the obligation) to cast vision – for yourself and your team.
The notion of vision scares us at times. It sounds big. Pretentious. Unknown and unknowable. You might struggle with deciding what is “too big” and what is “too little”. I encourage you to acknowledge the doubts and plow ahead. I’d much rather put my effort toward a “too big” vision than none at all. And if you err by starting small, you will have at least started. Small steps are better than no steps. …
I often say “we are smarter than me,”… referring to the increased capacity, deep wisdom, creativity, and solid decisions that groups of people can make – as opposed to one individual acting in isolation. No matter how smart that one person is, in general they will be “outsmarted” but a group of people. That is, of course, if that group of people can work together effectively.
Briskin, Erickson, Ott, and Callanan examine the phenomena of group decision making in their book, The Power of Collective Wisdom: And the Trap of Collective Folly. They answer how groups can come up with novel and powerful solutions to intractable problems at times – and at other times wallow in cobbled together solutions that are amazingly awful.
In my executive coaching I see plenty of folks plagued with this problem: They are smart. They have deep expertise in their field. They are competitive and are on the hunt for the next promotion. And they have an almost uncontrollable need to prove just how brilliant they are. Unfortunately, these actions work against them. Even when they are smart and capable and driven.
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