The Importance of Explaining WHY
Dr Ellen Langer, Harvard Psychology Professor, did an interesting experiment using lineups of students waiting to make photocopies in the Harvard University library. In round one of the experiment, she had one of her graduate students go up to the front of the line and ask, “Can I get in front of you to make […]
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How You Can Offer Praise and Positive Feedback Effectively
Very common in leadership training programs, is the recommendation for leaders to give more praise and positive feedback. It seems like common sense to be more positive, yet many managers and supervisors still focus on the negative. Here are a few reasons why we don’t offer more praise: We don’t get much praise ourselves. We […]
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3 Tips to Help You Become More Self Aware and Self Reflective
Are great leaders born or made? While having certain personality characteristics might make it easier to succeed as a leader, most leaders are made over time, based on their experiences, the training and coaching that they’ve received and through their own self awareness and self reflection. Getting feedback from others can help you be a […]
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Tips to Get Your Team Members to Think for Themselves
In our pre-training surveys, one of the top frustrations expressed by front line supervisors and managers is when a team member brings questions, decisions and problems to the leader that the employee could likely answer, decide or solve on their own. It is tempting to blame the team member for avoiding accountability. However, before we […]
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Three Tips to Help You Become a More Curious Leader
Of all the significant leadership characteristics and behaviors, one of the most important is curiosity. Take the example of a driver cutting off another driver in traffic. Most reactions would be one of anger or aggravation. A curious person might wonder what kind of day that person is having or wonder why they’re in such […]
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Dealing with Passive Employees
More common than the aggressive employee is the less offensive, passive employee. Passive employees are usually easy to get along with but they still might not fully meet your expectations as a leader. A passive employee tries to avoid conflict by telling you what they think you want to hear by following the rules and […]
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Tips to Improve the Hand Off Between Shifts
More and more, production facilities operate across multiple shifts. This requires good coordination to ensure a smooth transition from one shift to the next. Many companies will use written shift notes to communicate key highlights from the previous shift. The shift notes are inadequate for one major reason — most supervisors don’t spend much time sitting at […]
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Tips for Developing Servant Leadership
Most organizations have a hierarchy structure similar to the military with the general at the top and the soldiers at the bottom. More progressive organizations and their leaders turn the traditional organization upside down. Instead of the President or the CEO being at the top, that person goes at the bottom, supporting the organization above […]
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Three Tips for Shop Floor On-the-Job Training
One way to help your team achieve the expectations that you have of them, is to ensure that they have the necessary knowledge and skills to perform. Training is important; however, there’s a tremendous effectiveness gap in most skills training. Most employees who receive training are motivated to do well and because of that desire, […]
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Tips for Increasing Accountability in Your Team
In order for someone to be accountable, they need to receive the consequences of their actions. The team members need to see a direct link between their behavior and the consequences of those behaviors. Most of the time when we think of consequences, we think of punishment but in reality, consequences can be positive or […]
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