Feel good, get better, and know where you're going In my last post, I told you about the second step to joyful performance management: Observation. Now it's time to share what we learned by giving feedback and action planning. Celebrate Recognition at work is one of the most critical tools for engagement that a leader possesses. Unfortunately, it's often overlooked. I know firsthand that leaders don't intend to forget about praise and celebration. When things get busy and dea

Improvement starts with understanding In my last post, I told you about the first step to joyful performance management: aligned expectations. Now it's time to do what was agreed upon and observe. Observing means viewing the expectations you've aligned on in action. When training leaders, I often found that they felt like they had to observe everything. If you lead a sales team, for example, there's so much you can observe: from initial prospecting interactions through needs

If you lead people, you've been here. You've had the same conversation three times now. Same associate, same issue, same patient explanation from you. And every time, they nod that they understand and they mean it. Two weeks later, you're having the same conversation again. So you start wondering whether you hired wrong, whether they care, whether it's time to have a harder conversation. Before you go there, consider a less comfortable possibility: they may have never known e

When I tell people what I do, helping organizations improve performance through developing behaviors and systems that engage employees and bring more joy to work, there are a few typical responses. The most common is, "So you help companies with the annual review cycle?" Yes and no. Yes, if an organization doesn't have a working yearly goal and review cycle, then yes, I can help with that. Frankly, any HCM can facilitate that type of yearly check-in on long-term goals. No, in

Have you ever made a mistake at work, then felt shame or guilt, or been made to feel less than? Work culture has mistakes backwards. Mistakes are opportunities for growth and learning. The right kind of mistakes even contribute to the bottom line in the long run. This past weekend I was doing some gardening, mostly watering plants and deadheading flowers. I decided to trim back the dead branches of my rose bushes, which are blooming beautifully behind my home. While most of t

Most managers I work with come to me frustrated about an employee. Someone isn't hitting their numbers. Someone keeps making the same mistakes. Someone just doesn't seem to care. And the first question I always ask is: Have they ever actually done what you're asking them to do? The answer, more often than people expect, is no. There's a difference between an employee who can't perform and one who won't, and there's a third category that gets missed almost entirely: an employe

The Joy and Challenges of being a women in leadership

Helping your team stay engaged and joyful through New Years Day. The holidays can be a time of cheer and well-being, but they can also be a time of stress and loneliness, let alone all the disruptions at work! Everyone wants to be festive, but the reality is the business keeps running, personal emergencies and illnesses still happen, and the world and all it's crazy happenings keep coming. It's enough to make anyone a little grinchy. In 2022 Newsweek reported that 56% of A

As a leader, it can be tempting to blame poor or average performance on the team... it's not the team, it's the leader.

Today is National Give Something Away Day. Those that don't know me well might not realize that I am a giver. I love to create something and give it to someone I care about. This comes in many forms. Often, it's food, (don't worry this is not a life story/recipe post), a knitted gift like a hat or sweater, or in the case of my business, it's education and skills. On National Give Something Away Day, I want to give you the gift of Joy at work (and home and everywhere in bet