We’ve all heard about the benefits of journaling recently, haven’t we? You can do a quick Google search and get a TON of information about the value of this practice. You can also find a lot of how-tos and tips — almost too many, in fact. The information overload can...

A few weeks ago we talked about how interconnected trust and communication are — each affects the other, and when they’re failing, you can quickly find yourself with a toxic work environment. But it’s worth noting that while broken trust will almost always break down...

My brother used to say that the secret to success is "Keeping your boss's boss off of your boss's a--." Roughly translated: if you make your boss look good, you look good, and success is sure to follow. And as Derek Severs teaches us in this brilliant TED Talk, if...

I work with a lot of teams, and I’ll be honest — people usually don’t call me in because things are going well. Which means, in my work, I see a lot of dysfunction. And in my experience, dysfunction is so very often caused by one of two things: 1) Broken...

One of my clients decided to try meditating recently. I have to admit, I’m not a meditator — not because I haven’t tried, however. I have. But it’s frickin HARD! It’s one of those tricky things that seems like it should be easy — but trust me, it’s not. What’s more,...

A few things we’ve been talking about — building a culture with our team, having tough conversations, clarifying terms and decisions — all of it is uncomfortable, I know. All of it is difficult. If you don’t think so, I’m sorry, but you’re likely kidding yourself....

Has this ever happened to you?  You make a decision as a team. You think you have all decided together. Then, you go about your day, and you notice — not everyone is following through with that decision. They’re sitting at their desks doing something else, not doing...

I know someone who recently left an incredibly toxic work environment. It was a long time coming — he really did his best to stick it out, to try and make it work, to do his part — but nothing was enough, because, as my dad used to say, “You can’t make chicken soup...

Imagine if your whole team agreed with you, all the time, about everything. Sounds pretty sweet, right? Too bad that’s about as realistic as certain bacon producing farm animals sprouting wings. If that were the case, there would be no need whatsoever for leadership...

In a recent past post, we talked about how we typically form culture by accident rather than design. Which is important, to be sure. But it also begs the question: When it comes to culture, what do we have the right to define, as leaders?  A client of mine had a...