The art of responsiveness will never be based on a cookie-cutter approach. If we start with listening, especially when we’re able to apply the DISC Model of Human Behavior to what we hear, we’ll be able to recognize what each individual needs and tailor a response that best serves that need. The art...
Practicing the art of responsiveness requires discipline, especially for a leader working to juggle all that demands their time and attention. Messages can and do come at us from every direction and some of the most critical, the ones that determine how the individual who sent it will feel valued at...
How often have you experienced someone listening to respond (read: recognize when they get to respond) rather than listening to genuinely understand what’s being shared with them? While they do indeed respond immediately, that has nothing to do with The Art of Responsiveness that we’re working throu...
Near the beginning of chapter six of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, titled “Time Hacker’s Handbook,” Daniel Pink challenges readers to “Reply quickly email” and shares this:
“Email response time is the single best predictor of whether employees are satisfied with their boss, acco...
I frequently reference the time where I was responsible for the behavior-based safety process in the manufacturing facility I worked for locally, as well as the support I provided other sites across North America, but I don’t think I’ve ever shared much about my initial exposure to the idea; two day...
Earlier I shared Marcus Buckingham’s comment about love being the most powerful force in business for driving behavior - except he probably spells it behaviour… In that same talk, he said that “love is the precursor to contribution,” and related it to the engagement we can achieve from our employees...
During a phone call with a lifelong friend, I heard one of the most unique combinations of passion and despair that I can remember. He shared how he felt like he was just going through the motions in one aspect of his professional life, grinding his teeth through each project he completed, but const...
Strangely enough, my emphasis on addressing specific behaviors that are in direct conflict with expected performance standards often seem to be interpreted as insistence on throwing the proverbial baby out with that bathwater… Many supervisors, managers, or even casual readers of some of the work I ...
Once we’ve been intentional about providing each individual team member with that crystal clear understanding of how each specific task they’re responsible for ties back to our mission, vision, and even values, we should certainly be seeing them buy in at a higher level. But that’s not always as sim...
One of the most valuable things Cindy and I have been able to do through our Emerging Leader Development program has been reading the immediate action steps that participants detail following each lesson. Seeing how individuals with varying levels of leadership responsibility absorb then apply what ...
Not so long ago, a gentleman who had recently joined a civic organization I’m a part of sent an email to several other members of the group inviting them to catch up over lunch or coffee individually with hopes of getting to know each of them better since he was relatively new to the area. After a f...
Since Cindy and I had the chance to enjoy the 75% of the Stadium Tour we hung around for (we left during the rain delay because it was already past our bedtime and neither of us were all that bothered about seeing Motley Crue anyway), I’ve seen various pictures posted to social media from the VIP me...
