6 Secrets to Building Teams in a Stack-Ranked System
Stuck in a Stack-Ranked System? How to Encourage Collaboration Anyway Bell curves and stack-ranked evaluation systems bring out the worst in your best. Rewarding individual performance drives individual behavior. Yet, most performance management systems do just that....
Collaborative Competition: The Extraordinary Power of Trash Talk
Collaborative competition inspires. Seeing “them” inspires “us.” Competition makes work fun. Unless, it doesn’t. Stay on the right side of trash talk. Create collaborative competition to inspire your team. A New York State of Mind I ran a 2000 person sales team so...
Entitlement Calls For Great Leadership
Entitlement is thirst for leadership. Entitlement builds over years. You can stop it. Selfish words deceive. “It’s not in my job description” “That’s not what the contract says” “My shift is over” “I did what the...Managing Up When You're Down: The Power of POISE
When the going gets tough, managing up gets tougher. Scared stifles truth. Needs stay unsaid. Unfounded worries mushroom in the dark. Unquestioned assumptions breed false conclusions. Your boss can’t know what you’re thinking....
Less is Less: The Problem with Soundbites
I’ve screwed up “less,” by extrapolating to more. I’ve embarrassed myself by jumping to soundbites. Something is wrong somewhere in one location, on one team, with one important customer. Don’t assume the problem is far-reaching. One...
Trolls in Chelsea: How to Manage Meanies
Being agnostic to trolls, I took a day off work for growth and adventure. As I stepped off the train in Manhattan, my phoned beeped of a “tweetup” at the “Black Door.” A Tweet Walks into a Bar I got to the hotel and asked the concierge for...
Words With Teams: A Simply Insightful Teambuilding Exercise
I’m always looking for ways to keep remote teams connected. Remote work drives thirst for daily inspiration and touch points. Sharing words helps. Words uncover meaning. Words inform. Words create community. I emailed my larger...
