Positive Leadership with Dr. Dave Martin

We finish our little mini-series on virtual teams with a look at some automated collaborative software applications.  Dr. Dave discusses how he uses various collaborative software suites to engage with his virtual team members.

In the previous two episodes on virtual teams, Dr. Dave discussed the nature and unique characteristics of the virtual team environment.  In this episode, Dr. Dave turns his attention to the core theme of this mini-series on virtual teams and remote employees, that is, how to properly lead virtual teams and remote employees to get the very best from their efforts. Studies show that well-led v...

Remote teams are becoming commonplace in today's work environment, even in this post-pandemic era of work.  Well-led virtual teams hold out the great promise of increased efficiency, reduced costs, and greater productivity when compared to traditional brick-and-mortar teams.  Yet, at the same time, remote teams provide managers with unique leadership challenges.  Such is the paradox...

A recent in-depth study of the American work environment by the well-known consulting firm McKinsey revealed that at the beginning of 2022, over 92 million Americans were working remotely in virtual teams.  The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the nature of work. Despite the attempts of many more traditional managers to 'bring back the old days' of the brick-and-mortar office, it c...

Modern organizational life puts high demands on life. Whether you're an executive, an aspiring leader, or just someone entering the workplace for the first time, it's easy to let these demands overwhelm us.  Before we realize it, we find ourselves emotionally exhausted and can even experience some early career burnout.   In this episode, Dr. Dave explores the importance of taking some time to look...

While some companies seem to go out of their way to keep their teams young (despite all the age discrimination laws), the reality is that most companies find their organizations are staffed with multi-generational teams.  In this episode, Dr. Martin talks about the challenges and the necessity of leading multi-generational teams.

In this episode, Dr. Dave draws on a real-life story from the time he was a young lieutenant to talk about the need to practice courageous leadership, no matter what your age.  Being a courageous leader means that you will always take the moral high ground and do what is right - for you, for your people, and the organization.  Enjoy!

I reached 500 listeners today, in 17 countries and 22 States in the US. I wanted to take the time to thank everyone for listening.

The title says it all. Enjoy! I think this is one of the most important podcasts that I have done.

A vital characteristic of any leader is their ability to make good decisions - especially in a crisis.  In this podcast, Dr. Dave explores the importance of making good decisions, ones that are timely, accurate, and based on the best information available. 

Your front-line workforce needs to know that you value their contributions to the organization or the business.  In this episode, Dr. Dave talks about the importance of taking some time out to celebrate achievements. 

In my many years as a leader, a follower, and a student of leadership, I have often wondered what defines great leadership and great leaders.  Certainly, great leaders have many defining characteristics, but where does the desire to embody these traits come from?  There were a lot of men and women in history that held positions of importance but could hardly be defined as great leaders....

Recently, there has been a host of articles on social media about a phenomenon called 'quiet quitting.'  I'm not sure where the concept came from, because my understanding is this is just another catchy phrase for employees who have become disengaged at work. This is not a new phenomenon, however.  Many studies have shown that employee engagement is a real problem in the corporate workpl...

Last Saturday, I listened to a leadership podcast where I heard a Human Resources manager talk about the importance of developing 'safe spaces' at work. Safe spaces at work? That's kind of a scary idea. In what is sure to be one of my more controversial podcasts, I make an impassioned case against this idea of 'safe spaces' in the workplace.  They don't help anyone face the brutal fact that t...

During the time we spend on the internet, we are all exposed to these 'enticements' about how to get rich on the internet.  Just start your own company or go work for an Internet start-up.  Fame, fortune, and riches will all soon be yours. But is it really that simple?  Hardly.  Research shows that 9 out of 10 startup companies fail, and even 75 percent of all those funded by v...

In this episode, Dr. Dave talks about how important respect is - in leadership, in the workplace, and in life.

When leadership styles clash in the organization they can cause envy, jealousy, and other dysfunctional behavior among front-line staff.  Productivity can really take a hit as a result.  In this episode, Dr. Dave explores some of the causes of envy and jealousy in the workplace and talks about how leaders can minimize this issue and create a work environment where everyone can thrive.

Your success in any career in today's knowledge economy is based on your willingness to learn about the technologies in your particular industry.  In today's and tomorrow's economy, this need to always update your personal skills will never stop.   So don't ever stop thinking about your professional growth.  Don't stop thinking about tomorrow.

In this episode of Positive Leadership, Dr. Dave discusses how vital 'keeping your cool' is to leadership.  As a leader, you're the person everyone looks to for guidance on how to deal with crisis situations, whether it's a major system crash, a very bad financial crisis that threatens the company, or even an unforeseen accident or natural disaster.  As a leader, if you can't keep your h...

I recently watched some YouTube videos where the host talked about different great leadership books they had recently read.  I thought this would make a great podcast.  So in this episode, I discuss five books I view as classics.  I think these five books should be on every leader's reading list, whether you are an aspiring leader or a seasoned veteran.

I have a particular bias against meetings in the corporate workspace.  I loathe them.  Eighty to Ninety percent of your meetings are unnecessary, especially in today's communication-on-demand work environment. But if you absolutely feel you MUST have meetings, I'm offering practical tips to make them more productive.

If your organization was faced with a major disaster in the next 24 hours, would it survive?  Would it?   You can't fly by the 'seat of your pants' when it comes to dealing with unexpected events.  If that's your idea of planning for unexpected contingencies, your organization might not survive the next major crisis it encounters - and we all encounter disasters in our life, so...

So many young people coming out of college right into the workplace by into the myth of their individual hard work above all else.  Then, after performing very well for a decade or so, they are asked to step into management and leadership roles where many fail miserably.  Why?  Because they didn't take the time to learn how to build alliances in the workplace and, when faced with th...

In this episode, I talk about how critical it is for a leader to write and speak well.  These two 'soft skills' are so essential to a leader that if you haven't mastered them, your leadership, even perhaps your entire professional career, will stall out.  I illustrate some examples from my own career where these two traits were essential to my professional advancement.

We often feel like the only way we can get ahead as aspiring leaders is to take on every single project that senior leaders throw our way.  I mean that's how business is done, right?  Well, not so fast, says Dr. Dave.  Taking on every single project that you're assigned may just be the way to a divorce or an early grave. In this episode, Dr. Martin talks about the importance of lear...