I often hear people say, “I took this job because I can’t stand working with people.” News flash, if there is more than one person working in or on the organization it means that you have to work with people. It’s fair to acknowledge that the person sharing their disdain for people was successful in [...]
“West Michigan Nice is this strange cultural loophole around issues where you can’t seem to get full honesty from your closest neighbor, your coworker, and sometimes even your family.” Our culture of wanting to please people and avoid disruption is spilling into the workplace, which makes understanding the true condition of our companies nearly impossible. [...]
Do you find moments of truth to be elusive in the workplace? Even if you’re at a place that is ethical and are surrounded by people that aim to do the right thing, the truth can still be elusive. And when we don’t have complete truth in the workplace, perception wins. I want to share [...]
“West Michigan nice.” It’s one of the phrases you understand well if you live in West Michigan. West Michigan nice is this strange cultural loophole around issues where you can’t seem to get full honesty from your closest neighbor, your coworker, and sometimes even your family. It's a comfort for some and a pain point [...]
You need team conflict to have a healthy team. Yes, you read that right. (Actually, you need conflict for any relationship to be healthy, but I don’t do domestic so you’re on your own with how that works with your spouse.) As psychologist Michael Batshaw says, “Engaging in conflict isn’t going to end the relationship, [...]
By Ken Bogard In 2002, professor Bob Frey of Grand Valley State University told us, “Communication is the primary issue in organizations today.” He told the room of upcoming college graduates that business leadership teams and departments constantly struggle with alignment, simply because of poor communication. At that time, I wasn’t buying it, and I chalked [...]
If you want to be a more effective communicator, have more productive meetings, and have people respect you more - skip the verbal hugs. “Sounds good Jim, but what the heck is a verbal hug?” Good question. A verbal hug is used to soften the blow of what you believe is going to be difficult [...]
November 15th, 2016 Let me ask the leaders a couple questions. Do you find yourself clearly stating what needs to be done in your team? When a team member has an issue, do you tell them the best way to fix their issue? If you are working through a performance concern with staff member, do [...]
October, 12th, 2016 “Jim, I can’t put my finger on just one thing that has changed. But, things are just smoother, easier almost. It just doesn’t take the crazy effort to get things done like it use to. I don’t think we realized all the wasted energy and time but we do now. Things are [...]
I am at a session with one of my clients and we are working through a problem that they have been struggling with for a while. It was a concern about one of their people. This person was not performing at the level that they should be and through our work with the People Analyzer [...]