Learned helplessness. What comes to mind when you hear that phrase? Probably nothing good. The phrase comes from studies by psychology researcher Martin Seligman. His studies showed that animals (including humans) were susceptible to giving up all hope when put in an environment where negative outcomes were beyond their control. Electric shocks and losing hope. […]
“I’m giving my notice. I’ve accepted an offer at another company.” Devastated and unsure of what to do with this news, Joe could do nothing but accept it. He was losing one of the best people on his team. For the past 2 years Sam had been one of the most productive and positive members […]
Last week, our CEO, Jason Evanish, was a guest on the Voice America podcast talking about “Millennials in the Workplace.” The discussion covered a variety of topics and cited a number of books, stats, and key takeaways that anyone managing Millennials in the workplace can apply. You can listen to the podcast here: To […]
“Do you have good, leading indicators of culture?” I was emailing with an investor recently discussing how so many have written about the value of culture, yet it often goes un-discussed by boards until there are Uber-level problems. They told me the only indicator they had was to watch for turnover. Unfortunately, by the time […]
There are many skills and concepts to master to be a good manager. Management is a career change, not just a promotion, after all. It takes years to master many of them. However, there is one skill, one approach, that is the best place to start: Self-awareness. To be a Good Manager, Always Start with […]
“Ugh…I should have never taken this job.” No one wants that feeling, but it happens all too often. You had high hopes when you interviewed and then accepted your job, but now it’s proving to be miserable. When you take a job, you’re unfortunately locked in. While the company can generally fire or lay you […]
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Zac Cramer is the CEO of IT Assurance, a Portland, Oregon based IT consultancy. His managers had a system for managing their teams performance and growth, but he lacked a way to measure the ongoing effectiveness of his managers. The Problem: Measuring the effectiveness of […]
“It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.” – General Norman Schwarzkopf, U.S. Army With Memorial Day this weekend in America, we honor those who have died serving in our military. The crucible of war and battle is a […]
“The difference between mere management and leadership is communication.” – Winston Churchill As Winston Churchill captures well, good communication is central to success as a leader. When your organization grows to have layers between you and other team members, the skip level meeting becomes one of your best tools for effective communication. We recently took […]
What is the key to a successful performance management process? While that’s not the most exciting question someone may ask. It’s a important and expensive one. According to Gallup, “the cost of poor management and lost productivity from employees in the U.S. who are not engaged or actively disengaged [is] between $960 billion and $1.2 […]
