Your Morning Commute

Showing Empathy Doesn't Mean You Are Soft - shift your mindset today on the word empathy. You can't just be sympathetic and try to be liked every time someone comes to you with a problem or concern. But you need to be able to understand the problems, as well as that person's point of view. You can't just dismiss them out of hand. And if you're able to see things from their point of view and truly...

We / You have an idea, a vision, a dream...you hire a team of talented individuals to make it come alive - but then reality sets in and nothing's going how you planned it in you mind. You are frustrated and start to take it out on your "talented team members" - what went wrong? Let's listen in to todays 37th episode of #YourMorningCommute #CultureMatters #TalentOptimization

Today on the morning commute I ask the question: Why are you giving performance reviews? Is it for development, or merit increases, or goal setting or bonus? Why? Of course we talk frequency, training and REAL development. What is your training philosophy for your team? #CultureMatters 

“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” ~ Jimmy Dean. Don't focus on what you can't do but what you CAN DO. Listen in as we finish out our week strong, intentional and on course. #CultureMatters #YourMorningCommute

This year I am focused helping the culture curator members create their Culture Handbooks (playbook). This is VERY different from an employee handbook and even more vital to the continued success of a company. Listen in to today #YourMorningCommute to get your mind flowing on why it's important and perhaps how to get started. Message me for more information on membership or creating your own cultu...

Listen in for today's challenge and pulse check with your own mindset. Three underlying causes of a toxic workplace culture and one could be you. Leadership stops believing in the overall vision for their company or team. Employees stop trusting the leadership team, vision, direction, etc. and then apathy creeps in from all sides until passion is gone. Which means out goes the good culture and in...

Happy New Year! Many if not all of us took some time off recently. Returning back to work can be challenging at times. Whether you are returning or welcoming others back to the office, make sure you get your social on first before diving back into the to do list. Make office rounds before your lists. Warm greetings are important to the relationships in the office and your workplace culture. Don't...

What makes a great leader? It’s a question we’ve all asked or thought about at some point. Answers might vary, but there are several traits that appear time and again: confidence, competence, and charisma , to name a few. While these are helpful traits for a leader to have, there are many others that great leaders consistently display. Listen in to hear the six less obvious signs that you’re...

The cost of doing business when your team disagrees on the go forward strategy. This begs the question - do you have strategic alignment across your entire team & board? Are you sure? How do you know? What worked in 2018, 2019? Listen in to this episode of #YourMorningCommute for more. #CultureMatters #TalentOptimization

The research shows employees want more feedback, not less. Look and listen for your next opportunity to give feedback—then use these tips to deliver feedback that doesn’t fall like a ton of bricks.  Shift your culture to one of learning and growth through the right kind of feedback. #culturematters #talentoptimization 

The holiday season is about our emotional state (happy, sad or somewhere in between). Yesterday we talked about flex-schedule and remote work as tips. Listen for the final list to stay on track and avoid those potholes. This works as individuals as well as teams. #culturematters #talentoptimization 

It’s hard not to get caught up in the spirit of the holiday season, for better or for worse. With company parties,  end-of-the-year tasks and personal commitments, this time can become an all-encompassing behemoth of festivity. It filters into nearly every aspect of our daily lives, including our workplaces. Listen to this episode of #YourMorningCommute for tip 1 - to keep your employees enga...

How does your organization promote the professional growth and development of employees? It doesn’t (ouch) Regular, constructive reviews Staff awards (internal or external) Combines professional and personal needs/development Opportunities for growth within the company Sponsored (paid) ongoing education Flexible learning opportunities Office mentoring Cross-training (not the kind with kettlebells)...

What's an on-boarding loop - that feeling that you are stuck in traffic going on and off the exit/entrance ramps but not going anywhere. Starting and stopping in traffic, you thought you on-boarded right, but then your new team member lets you down. Perhaps you didn't layout the roadmap to on-boarding with clear intentions and a ton of feedback (check-ins) along way to make sure you and they are s...

It's no longer called being progressive to give feedback around performance on an ongoing basis. If you are still giving feedback once a year in a combination performance and merit increase you are really STUCK IN A DITCH in the past.  If you want to change performance, impact performance, enhance performance, grow yourself, grow others - then giving feedback on the regular is NORMAL and expe...

How effective are you at getting tight knots out of small chains? Do you stay calm or end up tossing the chain and take the loss? These knots can be like our team members - we spend time and money finding them, on boarding them and then when KNOTS occur in their work performance we may not take the approach needed and patience to undo - what's been done. Today's challenge is work with a team membe...

Ugg, NBC and CBS are both back in the news for #MeToo and #Bullying ongoing claims, investigations and conversations. I say Ugg as it seems they and others are still trying to sweep things under the rug; they are tolerating and accepting their workplace culture environment. You know that #Toxic one. If you are serious about zero tolerance then take action, get an inquiry done from an outside profe...

Continuous change is common today. Organizations everywhere are stepping up their change management processes, engaging key people, and implementing successful initiatives. But what happens when too many project changes begin to take a physical and emotional toll on your people? Listen for signs and tips to get ahead of the change mountains that slow process and positive outcomes.

Trends continue to rise with employee burnout -According to the 2020 Global Culture Report, 79% of employees are suffering from mild, moderate, or severe burnout. Burnout affects not only the individual’s mental and physical wellbeing, but also the organization as a whole. Organizations need to identify burnout before it happens, discover the cultural preconditions that foster burnout, and take ac...

Tis the season for retailers and it can be draining on the entire team. How do you get and keep your employees engaged in retail? Focus on basics - it's okay to have employees working to get a check and nothing more. Don't stress on the fluff - do the basics. Breaks are important, accurate check is important, tell them what you need them to do and allow them to do it, and lastly have you heard the...

Respect is often listed as a core value in many organizations but is it clearly defined? Listen to today's quick podcast around the basics of respect.

I hear this often and find it really upsetting: We shouldn't put best and worst in the same sentence while describing a high performing, top of the heap employee. That just doesn't make sense. Avoid these potholes in your morning commute. Don't excuse it and help prevent it. Listen for all 6 tips.

Research shows a core finding inside several High-Purpose Cultures exists with the correlation of employee- and customer - focus. They’re well defined and make clear exactly what the organization stands for. Not only that but they live it everyday through their actions. Learn more about these tips when you become a culture culture member - core benefit resides in the 'constant' you are served up h...

Saying thank you shouldn't sound robotic, but rather authentic and highly intentional. Today, focus on your thanks you with those you work around: a team member at any level. But don't just say thank you - tell them specifically why you appreciate them. Helping others feel seen, valued and heard can be really easy the more we do it and recognize the strengths and all the giving around us.

Work styles vary wildly from company to company, country to country, which can make expansion challenging and difficult to keep the workplace stress at bay. But one thing is for sure, every company regardless of industry or location has people. Listen to 3 principles that go along way to prevent culture clash.