Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last month, you’ve no doubt heard of Southwest Airlines difficulties with holiday travel. Passengers found themselves stuck in places they didn’t intend to stay while their luggage found separate places to hang out for the holidays. The airline, whose stock symbol… Read More »Leadership Lessons from Southwest Airlines
Yes, if… The short answer is they can be. But it depends on what team building events you employ. You may have heard of the big team building experiences where the whole team treks out to the woods for a few days of camping, rafting, climbing, or whatever. If you… Read More »Are Team Building Events Worthwhile?
You’re a good leader. Your team is successful, but there is one team member who is always contrary, who always causes trouble, and who is keeping your team from reaching the high levels you know they’re capable of. You have a toxic team member What do you do? This can… Read More »Do You Have a Toxic Team Member?
It was 3 years after the end of open hostilities of the first Gulf War. The atmosphere was somewhat more relaxed but there was still tension. I was the maintenance officer for a deployed rescue squadron. Coalition aircraft were flying combat missions to enforce the no-fly zone over Iraq and… Read More »Do You Need Ice Cream?
There are many voices around the world that claim it is. What do you think? Is leadership development failing? If you answer yes, then leadership training is probably failing for you. If you answer no, then leadership training is probably not failing for you. Although that may seem overly simple,… Read More »Is Leadership Training Failing
In the last couple of years we’ve been hearing quite a bit about what has been labeled the “great resignation.” It seems like a lot of people don’t want to work anymore. It also seems this is a new post-pandemic phenomenon. It isn’t. In fact according to the Bureau of… Read More »Is This a Cause of the Great Resignation?
I recently saw a video of a “flash mob” orchestra (the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès) in Spain performing Ode to Joy. The performance started with a bass player who was joined shortly by a cellist. As more musicians entered the scene, a conductor appeared. It would almost seem the conductor… Read More »Are You the Conductor? Does Your Team Make Beautiful Music?
As another year draws to a close, many people begin to consider New Year’s Resolutions. Please Don’t! Resolutions are certainly a noble idea, but are often forgotten a few months into the new year. You will be a more effective leader if you use this time to seriously consider a… Read More »Eight Steps for a Successful Next Year
One of the most effective communication skills a leader can have is to stay on message. I was assigned to lead an organization that had various different and largely disparate responsibilities, none of which seemed to have much in common. We were a collection of small groups, but definitely not… Read More »Effective Communication Skills: Stay on Message
Do I have to like everyone on my team? Should all my team members like each other? The answer leads to team conflict resolution. Bad team conflict is to be expected and we’ve written about it before. That conflict comes from the fact that each one of us is a unique… Read More »Team Conflict Resolution