Criticize with CareEver notice that criticism gets a bad rap, generally speaking?   Not the “you’re ugly and your mother dresses you funny” kind, but the constructive kind that portends to improve performance. The problem is that when the criticism isn’t received as constructive, there’s no incentive for the desired improvement to occur. And the whole concept

Criticize with Care – How to get action instead of acrimony

Ever experience this? Question:”Hi, Honey, welcome home. Please tell me about your day?”Reply:”It was fine. The boss was in a grumpy mood. Had lunch with the team at work. Closed the Penske sale. Planned a big conference call for tomorrow. How about your day?”Sounds like a 1950’s sitcom, right? Perhaps. But it also illustrates the ingredients of

SITREP Your Way to Greater Success

Once upon a time I failed as a leader…Okay, so it happens regularly, but let’s just focus on one of them for now, okay? Here’s a story of a leadership failure, what I learned, and how you can avoid the same mistake.My business, TEAM Solutions, has 3 full-time employees: me, myself, and I. When I have a

How I failed as a leader … and how you can avoid the same mistake

Orange, TX, September 13, 2008 — Members of Texas Task Force One and Two come together for a quick field briefing. Both teams conducted search and rescue efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. Mike Moore/FEMAAre you a responder who wants to transform from a good communicator to a great communicator? Great response leaders are defined

How Leaders Quickly & Effectively Improve 2-way Communication

When I first started instructing for a living (versus as an occasional sideline), I was eager and intensely interested in sharing what I knew. Every moment was a teaching moment! On one hand, that’s swell. But sometimes, not-so-much. Let me explain. During a course where 2 or 3 or more of us would be delivering a course,

Stepping On or Stepping Out? Rules for Classroom Etiquette.

… Or should we even reward folks at all? After being bombarded with the ‘everyone earns a ribbon’ strategy, a little balance may be in order. First, here are some simple formulas:1E=1R ($1 worth of effort = $1 worth of pay/reward) 2E=2R ($2 or more worth of effort = $2 or more worth of pay/reward) And so

How and When to Reward People and Teams … and When NOT to.

Building TrustHaving someone’s trust is kind of like having a winning lottery ticket … either you have it, or you don’t. Here’s a simple jump start to building trust, especially when you’re new to the team: Win! Yep, find a few simple and quantifiable problems that are currently impacting your team and solve it.  Building trust doesn’t have

Building Trust By Doing 1 Simple Thing

By asking the right questions, leaders at every level can engage followers and achieve greater success. Click to learn 5 Questions to Earn the Best Results.

The 5 Best Questions to Earn the Best Results

How soon is it too soon to start thinking about your legacy? Are you going to wait until you near the end of your career and then try to cram in a bunch of noble gestures before receiving your proverbial gold watch? Or are you building the ladder now to enable future leaders to climb

Is it Too Soon to Establish Your Legacy?

What’s the future of training?  How long will professional instructors be relevant in front of a classroom? One could argue (me included) that: the personal touch of classroom instructor has no equal. it’s blasphemy to even suggest that a computer can do a better job of educating tomorrow’s leaders than the flesh and blood of

The Future of Training