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Are You A Good Boss or a Bad Boss?

Posted by in Employee Engagement

Are you a good boss or a bad boss?

 

If you’ve already downloaded my brochure, Coaching for Enhanced Business Performance, you’ll have noticed I included a quote from Daniel Goleman, expert on Emotional Intelligence, that goes as follows:

Self-awareness of leadership abilities was greatest for CEO’s of the best-performing companies and poorest for CEO’s of the worst performers…

Goleman’s book, The New Leaders, was published in 2002 and it turns out that this statement is substantiated by the more recent findings of Robert Sutton, Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University.  In 2010 Sutton published a book entitled Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to be the Best and Learn From the Worst about which I recently saw an interesting introductory webinar.

Sutton says good bosses find ways to be in tune with their people and understand what it feels like for others to work with them. In his presentation, he summarises it thus:

To be a great boss, you’ve got to be remarkably self-obsessed.  Not for egotistical or selfish reasons, but because staying ‘in tune’ with your people is a hallmark of great bosses.

You can watch Sutton talking about the key themes of his book in the You Tube video below.

Once you’ve watched the watched the video, you may want to ask yourself, how well aware are you of what it feels like to work for you?

 

 

 

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Good Bosses and Bad Apples

Posted by in Employee Engagement, Organisations

Good Bosses and Bad Apples

Following on from my last post about Robert Sutton’s book, Good Boss, Bad Boss, another of Suttons’ observations about good workplace performance is that “bad is stronger than good” and, therefore, that:

It is more important to eliminate the negative than to accentuate the positive.

You may have come across the statistic about positive interactions needing to outnumber negative interactions by at least five to one in romantic relationships and marriages.  Well it turns out that workplaces operate along similar lines.

Sutton draws on previous research, including that of the “bad apple” phenomenon, suggesting that negative people and experiences have stronger impacts than positive ones. As he puts it in his presentation:

Negative emotions, laziness, and stupidity are destructive and contagious.

How would your boss fare in being assessed against Sutton’s criteria? – You can find out here http://goodbadboss.com/ in his Boss Reality Assessment Survey System (BRASS).

If you’re really daring, you could even ask your team to rate you and report back with their findings!

 

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Getting to the ‘WHY’

Posted by in Career, Individuals

Getting to the ‘WHY’

MP900422725-281x300One of the areas to which I insist we allocate sufficient focus with a new coaching client, is  the importance of the “why” in setting any career or workplace goal.

Indeed, the head of an international training organisation I spoke with recently says, “When you know WHY, the HOW will follow.”

So make sure you brainstorm your big objective.

What is it you’re trying to accomplish, professionally (and personally)?

At this step, we’re trying to get to your highest-level goal, so when you name something, ask yourself, “WHY?”

For instance, if you say, “I want to feel more appreciated at work,” then ask yourself, “Why?” You may answer, “Because I think I’ll be more successful in an environment where I feel valued.” Though that may seem like a logical endpoint, don’t stop there. You need to go further.

Next, ask yourself WHY you want to be more successful, and you’ll soon find that there are a variety of possible motivators. You may hear yourself say something like this:

  • Because I KNOW this department can be so much more effective and I can contribute to that.
  • Because I want to acquire enough money and experience to fund a start-up of my own in the future.
  • Because I’m feeling stifled now, and I want to fulfil my potential.
  • Because I know the new product we’re developing will be the best in the marketplace.
  • Because I want to earn more money to pay off debt and provide my family with greater security.
  • Because I want to become the CEO one day and I know I have that capability.
  • Because I want to be able to develop and use my strongest skills more.

Each one of these higher-level objectives is slightly different, and is going to result in a slightly different goal or path to success. Knowing your “WHY” helps you determine your “HOW.”

Keep going until you get to the logical endpoint, state each goal in well-specified, quantifiable terms and you ill find achieving them much easier!

 

 

 

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What Motivates Us

Posted by in Employee Engagement, Organisations

The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us At Work and at Home

“The Surprising Truth…” is the title of this video.  Is it surprising to you?  You can decide for yourself…

If you’ve come across motivation-hygiene theory, some of the ideas of Buckminster Fuller, or intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, the concepts may be somewhat familiar; but the video comes at this from the perspective of economics, rather than psychology.

The presentation also illustrates how higher pay actually leads to a reduction in performance.  And that bad things can result from this.

I have some personal opinions about remuneration that includes a high proportion of performance-related pay, precisely because of the short-termism I have witnessed in some such circumstances.  But take a look and make up your own mind.

The video presentation walks through these concepts in a fun and clear way, and I’m sure you’ll find it well worth the 10½ minutes it takes to watch.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

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