How shared principles finally got a leadership team unstuck
Senior leaders from a family-run Boston-area insurance company were frustrated that their 90+ corporate employees were refusing to return to the office full time. “We want to get back to being a...
View ArticleWhy advancement, growth and visibility shouldn’t depend on work location
“If you don’t work at the Mothership, you’ll never get ahead. That’s how I see it.” The “Mothership” in this case was the gleaming new HQ building outside of Boston where hundreds of corporate staff...
View ArticleBefore Attempting Big Change, First, Root Out the Dysfunction
Roger, a newly-hired Chief Development Officer for one of New York’s biggest hospitals, was eager to meet his team. He called an All-Hands meeting for his 65 employees for Monday at 9AM on his first...
View ArticleHow Great Facilitation Leads to Better Decisions, More Revenue and Less Waste
No doubt, making go/no-go decisions for billion-dollar projects requires careful consideration, but this was getting ridiculous. Marc’s 20-person Engineering team, scattered across multiple time zones,...
View ArticleWhat Today’s Managers Really Need to Succeed in a Hybrid World
Every day brings new fires Amy has to put out. Yesterday it was yet another corporate policy calling for mandatory office time, prompting employees to ping her throughout the day. Earlier today, two of...
View ArticleWhy Coaches Make the Best Leaders in a Hybrid World
The cafeteria on the 9th floor is mostly empty as James and Ceci plunk down their trays at a table near the window, out of earshot. They began on the same day six months ago, both newly-minted grads...
View ArticleBracing for Giving (and Getting) Difficult Feedback When You Can’t See Eye to...
If I ask you whether my presentation that I’ve labored over for weeks was any good, your slight nod after a long hesitation tells me that I pretty much bombed, despite your verbal assurance that “it...
View ArticleOvercome the Worst Facilitation Fears of Introverts (and Everyone Else)
Admit it. You’ve done your share of commiserating about some perfectly awful meetings you’ve had to endure. In fact, you’ve been such a vocal critic of poorly-run meetings that your manager anoints you...
View ArticleTimeless Tips for Designing and Facilitating Engaging Virtual (or Hybrid)...
“Hi Nancy, I hope you can help me. We just had to cancel our 2-week-long program kick-off meeting in New York City, and now we have to figure out how to run the whole thing virtually. I’ve been looking...
View ArticleConfronting Conflict with Courage in Remote Teams
“Fine! Have it your way. Again. You always do.” “Hey, you had a chance to speak up, and you still haven’t told us why you oppose this proposal. We can’t read your mind.” “Has it occurred to you that...
View ArticleWhat? So What? Now What? – Today’s Workplace Trends and Why They Matter
Earlier this month, Margie’s company mandated that all employees be onsite at least four days a week, up from three. Some are following the new mandate begrudgingly, while others are ignoring it, for...
View Article(Free) Gifts that Keep on Giving Year-Round, at Work or Home
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill “No one has ever become poor by giving.” – Anne Frank Each year, members of my (very large, extended) family vow...
View ArticleTips for Creating a Remote-first Workplace to Make Life Easier for Everyone
Let’s face it. Designing and implementing a high-performing hybrid workplace isn’t for the faint of heart. In fact, it can be one of the hardest things a leader will ever do. It can be so confounding...
View ArticleWe Really, Really Need to Talk
Like many of you, I was gutted when I heard the news about the massacre at Robb Elementary School this week. My mind went completely numb. I had trouble putting one step in front of the other. I could...
View ArticleStop Agonizing Over Tough Decisions to Save Your Sanity (and Maybe Even Your...
I came this close (holding thumb and index finger ¼” apart) to returning our pup, Honey, just three days after we adopted her from a shelter a year ago today. (And believe me, I am no novice when it...
View ArticleEveryone’s Feeling Stressed, and Here’s Why
July can be a great time to reflect on how far we’ve come and the progress we’ve made during the first six months of the year. For this Communique, I’m reporting on trends I’m seeing in terms when it...
View ArticleLeadership Tips for Retaining Top Talent During a Time of Turbulence
For this edition of Communique, I invited my long-time colleague, the senior talent management professional of an international healthcare company, to reflect on why 2022 has been so messy and to...
View ArticleWhy Culture Must Transcend Work Location for Healthy, High-Performing Teams
Dear Senior Leaders, To be blunt, I’m weary of hearing you say that your organizational culture will somehow be lost or diluted if you move to a permanent virtual/hybrid model. I’d really like to know...
View ArticleCreate a Sense of Community with Questions That Connect
“Let’s go around the room and have everyone share a fun fact.” You cringe as you wait your turn, wondering which fact you can use that: You have not already used the dozens of times someone has asked...
View ArticlePractical Steps for Creating a Team Communications Map that Everyone Embraces
“Why did we have to wait until our weekly team meeting to discover that three people couldn’t deliver on time? If we’d known earlier, maybe we could have done something about it. Now we’re looking at a...
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