Inspiration
High performers have enough coffee mugs
Take a gander around your workspace. What’s the bling factor? If you’ve done anything even remotely beyond the call of duty, you probably received...
Inspiration
Inspiration
The art (and science) of giving good feedback
This guest post is by Heidi Grant Halvorson, a motivational psychologist and author of “Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals,” as well as...
Inspiration
Jennifer Chatman, on how cohesive leadership drives effective change
Major change within an organization is easier to lead if leaders at all levels of the company are collectively committed, found a recent study,...
Inspiration
How are you helping relief efforts in Japan?
If you or your company, organization or group want to help the Japanese people recover from last week’s devastating earthquake and tsunami but aren’t...
Inspiration
Do you make your English teacher cringe?
This post is by Michelle Cubas, founder of Positive Potentials, an advanced enterprise coaching, training, consulting and publishing company. Remember when you thought using...
Inspiration
3 ways that New Era Leaders can enable dreams of others
This post is by Shawn Murphy, president of Achieved Strategies and a learning and organizational development consultant. He is @shawmu on Twitter and can...
Inspiration
The 3 C’s of leadership
As a leader, you hope your workers will follow your example, including what you do and how you do it. These behaviors reinforce a...
Inspiration
Business leaders: Are you drinking from the fire hose?
This guest post is by Christopher Frank, vice president of business-to-business and communications research at American Express, and Paul Magnone, vice president for business...
Inspiration
Navigating a new age of deception
Pamela Meyer is the author of “Liespotting: Proven Techniques to Detect Deception.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_6vDLq64gE Don’t look now, but the person reading this over your shoulder...
Inspiration
VIP Corner: Lawrence Summers on how the present affects our future
SmartBrief is partnering with Big Think to create a weekly video spotlight in SmartBrief on Leadership called “VIP Corner: Video Insights Powered by Big...
Inspiration
5 steps to becoming more interesting — and a better leader
Great leaders are interesting. They captivate, fascinate and intrigue us. It’s the interesting people with whom we want to engage, as they’re the ones...
Inspiration
Let’s end the paradox of kindness
Employees complain in engagement surveys that their bosses don’t treat them with respect or as unique individuals. Yet on the flip side, research shows...
Inspiration
Driving from the passenger side
One of the most harrowing times in the life of a parent is that period when their children learn to drive a car. If...
Inspiration
Coaching optimism: Tips from the St. Louis Cardinals’ mental trainer
It’s often said that optimistic people are born with the tendency to see the glass as half-full. That may be true. But there’s another...
Inspiration
When work passion goes awry
It seems everyone is talking about having passion about the work they do these days. Having (or finding) passion seems especially important for leaders...
Inspiration
Creating the right conditions for others to flourish and grow
I’m a pushover for flowers, filling the house with plenty of them as long as the things we’ve planted around our yard keep blooming....
Inspiration
Symbolic leadership: What do you stand for … or where do you sit?
“Symbols can be so beautiful, sometimes.” ~ Kurt Vonnegut, “Breakfast of Champions” Sandra described the past week of headaches associated with a systems conversion...
Inspiration
Expect excellence
There are some leaders who expect perfection. With their personal ideal of what perfect means, they drive others to do things in exactly the...
Inspiration
What business owners can learn from the Carlyle Group’s “One Carlyle”
This post is part of the series “Workplace Morale,” a weeklong effort co-hosted by SmartBrief’s SmartBlog on Leadership and the folks at Switch & Shift. Keep...
Inspiration
Being believed in — it’s magic!
As leaders, we have many pathways to help our team members. What is the best approach? That may depend on the individual. Regardless of...
Inspiration
Do you care about your employees’ lives?
People have lives outside of work! What? This isn’t really a shock to anyone, yet plenty of employers act as though they have no...
Inspiration
How to break bad news (without breaking faith)
So much of an HR executive’s day is made up of announcing good news (“You will receive an offer letter by the end of...
Inspiration
Andy’s Answers: How McDonald’s is engaging employees with a social-media talent contest
With more than 1.5 million employees, McDonald’s is one of the largest employers in the world. That number alone is incredible — but when...
Inspiration
How employees steered 5 companies to sustainability success
This post is by SmartBrief Editor Rebecca Pollack Scherr. Employees are the No. 1 driver of change when it comes to sustainability, said Marc...
Inspiration
Q & A with Karen Hough: What leaders can learn from improvisational troupes
Karen Hough is author of “The Improvisation Edge: Secrets to Building Trust and Radical Collaboration at Workplace.” Previously, her acting training at venues such...
Inspiration
The journey toward values-based cultures — are you on the way?
This guest post is by David Greenberg, executive vice president of knowledge at LRN, a company that helps businesses develop ethical corporate cultures and...
Inspiration
Design a workplace that reinforces your culture
This guest post is by Barbara T. Armstrong, a principal at Kahler Slater, a global architecture, design and consulting enterprise specializing in Total Experience...
Inspiration
The impact of unlearning on leadership
Mike Myatt writes, speaks and offers advice on the topics of leadership, strategy and innovation. He is widely regarded as America’s Top CEO Coach...
Inspiration
VIP Corner: Margaret Cho on following your passion
SmartBrief is partnering with Big Think to create a weekly video spotlight in SmartBrief on Leadership called “VIP Corner: Video Insights Powered by Big...
Inspiration
VIP Corner: Robert Kaplan on why senior executives need a support group
SmartBrief is partnering with Big Think to create a weekly video spotlight in SmartBrief on Leadership called “VIP Corner: Video Insights Powered by Big...
Inspiration
Why you don’t need charisma to have presence
Whether you call it leadership presence or executive presence, it’s a term that’s being discussed widely at companies. One recruiting professional I know said...
Inspiration
Leadership lessons from 13,000 feet
I recently stepped out of an airplane from 13,000 feet, connected to a man named Chuck. The story began in March when my fabulous...
Inspiration
A leadership revolution, and why it matters to you
Many CEOs have identified creativity and innovation as critically important to growing their organizations. My experiences have convinced me that most of what they are...
Inspiration
How to train employees to be critical thinkers
Critical thinking: It sounds like something college professors do. And while critical-thinking skills are vital to academic research, they are equally important in the...
Inspiration
Why volunteering makes you a better leader
You know volunteering is good for the community. But can volunteering make you a better leader? Lots of leaders volunteer. According to the Department of...
Inspiration
Why mentorship is the gift that keeps on giving
The human capital development strategy of mentorship is getting a lot of attention these days. From books to boardrooms, everyone is trying to crack...
Inspiration
Communicating change: “Me” before “we,” then “us”
I can’t believe I’m going to do this. I’m about to share my secret weapon for change communications. When I tell you my methods...
Inspiration
Are you overlooking your secret workforce?
You know those things that get done, and you really don’t know how they happen, until they don’t? Or those employees you see only...
Inspiration
Craft workplace inspiration with an organizational constitution
This post is part of the series “Workplace Morale,” a weeklong effort co-hosted by SmartBrief’s SmartBlog on Leadership and the folks at Switch & Shift. Keep...
Inspiration
Battling the bulge: Handling the expectations of too many employees for too few promotions
Many organizations today are fighting a battle of the bulge. No, it has nothing to do with wellness programs, insurance premiums or weight-loss competitions....
Inspiration
Hospitality’s challenge: Finding and keeping the best people
Susan D. Strayer, author of “The Right Job, Right Now,” is a seasoned HR professional, consultant and career coach, with expertise in hospitality. Angela...
Inspiration
HRevolution: 3 questions for Jason Lauritsen
Jason Lauritsen was one of the facilitators at last week’s HRevolution, and I was lucky enough to catch up with him after his session...