Here’s a really useful question to ask your direct reports, bosses and/or customers. (Hint: You can use this in your personal life too)
“What’s the one thing you need from me that you’re not getting?”
Once you ask this question, I’d recommend following Mark Twain’s pithy advice and “never pass up a chance to shut up” 🙂 .
Summon the courage and ask.
Ali
On my flight home somewhere over the Atlantic, one of the passengers commented “The service is good enough” and that triggered the following response and my dislike for the words “Good Enough”.
60 second reflection:
What one area do you want to stop settling for “good enough” and challenge yourself or your team to reach higher?
How many of us have had a dialogue playing on repeat inside our heads, but we can’t seem to muster the courage to take the next step and share our thoughts with the intended person? Go ahead take 10 seconds to think about it: The first conversation that comes to your mind is the one I’m talking about.
Difficult conversations tend to be nerve-wracking and anxiety-inducing, because they involve providing constructive feedback…however they’re the ones we often want (and need) to have to make us and our direct reports more successful. (more…)
Feedback – How appropriate that the word begins with feed. Study after study indicates that employees are hungry for feedback. Conversely, a low feedback diet comes with many side effects including: Disengagement, Loss of opportunities, and the ultimate price “loss of talent”.
Framing your feedback is critical, specially if its constructive in nature. Consider following these guidelines to help get you comfortable. (more…)
Have you ever asked yourself “What is great work and am I engaged in doing it? .
Another way to get to the heart of this question might be asking yourself the following: (more…)
One of my favorite teachers in 7th grade Mr. James made the most profound statement in our Science Lab “The worst kind of fool is the one who fools him/herself”. That line just stuck with me forever, a timeless line that still tugs at me and also reminds me of the thick blue science textbook. I digress.
I often wonder when, where and how we’re fooling ourselves, what invisible scripts are we feeding ourselves? What lies are we telling ourselves? The words we choose to use, invariably become our thoughts, our thoughts turn into our stories, our stories into how we live on a daily basis. What’s fascinating and arguably so, is we’re often the most mean to none other than our own selves. We dare not speak to others the way we do to ourselves, well some do, but I digress yet again. (more…)
I’m Ali Merchant, and I’ve been leading teams for over 10 years. I believe good managers like you deserve better -- better tools, better training, better support, and the opportunity to be a great leader.
Custom designed training for busy managers like you.
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