Accelerate Your Performance

As individuals strive for growth in their professional and personal lives, there is often a gap between where people are and where they want to be. While individuals are excited for growth and opportunities, this excitement can lead to anxiety and tension. These feelings can cause people to give up and ignore opportunities to grow, or instead for motivation to work through the personal discomfort...

When we establish recognition systems in our organizations or on our teams, we focus on employees by understanding what makes them shine and what keeps them engaged. Focusing on expressing appreciation for the contributions people make to our organizations motivates individuals to continue their hard work. Sincere appreciation changes the culture of the organization. It takes little time and has a...

Rewarding and recognizing the right behaviors and excellent performance isn’t just a nice thing to do. Lack of employee recognition is a top reason for employees leaving an organization. With recognition we are able to engage, retain, and motivate most employees to sustain high performance. Recognition is so important to an organization’s success, it’s our ninth principle and the glue that holds a...

Several years ago, the decision was made to transform TeacherReady, a Studer Education online self-paced teacher certification program, to meet students where they are today. Transforming TeacherReady wasn’t something the organization took lightly, Dr. Julie Kunselman was instrumental in helping to review significant data and research to revolutionize this program for the future. As with any organ...

Organizations are facing more pressure than ever to transform their practices in order to improve their outcomes. Competition is fierce. The speed of information and higher demands from consumers forces leaders to shift the way change is approached. Commonly, there is much anxiety attached to change, people like to do things, “the way they’ve always done it,” but that’s not the attitude that will...

At some time in your professional or personal life, you have probably experienced the let down of an empty promise. It’s also likely you’ve promised a friend or a colleague something you’ve let slip through the cracks at least once or twice. These empty promises, no matter how small, erode trust and jeopardize relationships with others. In this episode, Dr. Pilcher digs deep into what causes us to...

How do you turn passionate employees and leaders into people who have the ability to make a difference not only in their work, but in their communities? Janet is joined by Dr. Pat Greco today to talk about continuous improvement. Pat is an award-winning retired superintendent who served 38 years in public education and has been a champion of Evidence-Based Leadership℠. She shares her advice and ex...

As a leader do you tell your teams, “Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.” ? Or maybe as an employee you’ve worked for a leader who believes in this philosophy. While presenting solutions to problems is ideal, it’s not always possible. So, what can leaders do to create safe environments for teams to bring problems forward, while avoiding being bombarded by complaints? In this episode, Dr....

Changes in an organization can occur that team leaders may have little control over. What we can control is how we adapt and react to the change in our daily business. When we utilize team meetings with structured, thoughtful discussions, and analysis, someone will propose a winning solution or solutions for the team to agree on. Using a problem-solving agenda, conversations stay focused and teams...

For the first time in history we are operating with five generations co-existing in the workforce, and there are more young professionals joining every day. Dr. Pilcher talks with Ruthie Speight, the Executive Director of Pensacola Young Professionals (PYP) about their mission and impact in our community. PYP provides young professionals with a community where they can make a difference, connect w...

Service excellence is more than just being polite or being ready to offer the unsatisfied customer a discount. Join Donna Kirby and Janet Pilcher this week as they conclude their conversation about the value of service excellence. Donna Kirby reveals her top 3 tactics for applying customer service excellence within your organization and how to treat your organization like a living room.  This epis...

Service Excellence differentiates your organization from others in your industry. Great leaders place importance on how to become the best service provider for what they do. Donna Kirby returns this week to discuss why prioritizing service excellence is necessary for success and what core drivers keep her focused on service excellence.  This episode addresses questions, such as: Why is it importan...

Donna Kirby, the Vice President of Operations at the Pensacola Blue Wahoo’s AA Baseball team, joins Janet Pilcher this week to talk about Donna’s journey to becoming a leader of best practices in minor league baseball. Donna and her team at the Blue Wahoo’s stadium are sought after as an example for creating the ultimate fan experience.  This episode addresses questions, such as: What is the passi...

Many successful, hardworking Americans experience burnout more than once during their careers, even people who are passionate about what they do. High performers can be obsessed with achieving excellence and exceeding results to the point of exhaustion. And when the candles are burning at both ends for too long, we do ourselves, our clients, and our team a disservice. Begin reducing stress by taki...

The way we provide feedback makes a difference in how people receive and act on the feedback. If our goal is to provide feedback to change behavior for the right reasons, we need to message our feedback in the right way. Dr. Pilcher dissects real-life situations where feedback was given that wasn’t asked for, or that hurts the receiver, and offers solutions and tips to improve the interaction.  Th...

There’s a fine line between giving feedback for improvements and leaving an employee feeling criticized and deflated. Few of us respond well to someone telling us what to do or how to fix ourselves. Yet when feedback is provided in the right way, individuals are motivated to learn and improve. To create excellent organizations providing others with feedback is necessary. Reshape your feedback conv...

Making intentional connections with employees is especially important when the employee is within the first 30 and 90 days. Research shows that up to 22% of turnover takes place within an employee’s first 45 days of employment. 30-day conversations reinforce that leaders are committed to retaining the new employee and provide leaders with a fresh perception of the organization. This week Dr. Pilch...

Why is a commitment to excellence important as a leader and as an organization? Dr. Janet Pilcher interviews Harry S. Hertz Leadership Award recipient, Dr. JoAnn Sternke, to get her perspective on what it takes to pursue performance excellence. As a superintendent of Pewaukee School District, JoAnn led the organization to receive a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award . In this episode, she rev...

It’s difficult to become a great organization, and even more difficult to sustain that success. This week, Dr. Pilcher explores the 5 stages of defeat as identified in Jim Collin’s book ‘How the Mighty Fall’ and what you can do as a leader to get up before you fall too far.  This episode addresses questions, such as: Why do successful organizations fall? How can you get up before we fall too far?...

How can organizations set themselves apart and provide their stakeholders with unmistakable value? It all starts with effective leadership and a culture focused on purpose. Dr. KK Owen joins Dr. Janet Pilcher to discuss how she helps organizations mold a culture around unmistakable value in real life.  This episode addresses questions, such as: What is ‘unmistakable value’? How do organization’s m...

Are you really listening to your employees? Many employees don’t think so , in fact, more than half of employees say their company fails to act on good ideas, and a third of employees feel their ideas are ignored. Why? Because leaders demand action without input, receive feedback and avoid making changes, and lack a clear process for managing ideas. It’s crucial for leaders to let employees speak...

One of a leader’s greatest responsibilities is to ensure teams are engaged and productive. People are motivated to increase productivity when leaders take time to get to know them personally, make them feel comfortable, and help remove barriers in the workplace. When we connect with employees in ways that are meaningful to them, they become more engaged, productivity and profits increase, meanwhil...

Thriving workplaces depend on trust to continue to grow and excel. However, most of us can recognize; trust isn’t given, its earned. Building positive relationships in the workplace lays the groundwork for trusting teams that can perform and adapt at high levels. When leaders start prioritizing trust in the workplace, their teams will follow.  This episode addresses questions, such as: How do you...

Receiving feedback is an emotional experience, it’s often difficult to take in. Whether the feedback is positive or negative, we humans are quick to respond emotionally, sometimes overreacting, even to the point of denying the data is accurate. Feedback is also a powerful gift, it helps organizations understand what they are doing well, and areas in which they’re falling short. In this episode, Dr...

Organizations perform at different levels, some are poor, others good, and very few are excellent. What makes an organization excellent? It’s their relentless commitment to continuous improvement. Great organizations are willing to get their hands dirty and face the brutal facts to improve, even when things are going well.  This episode addresses questions, such as: What is an improvement mindset,...