Business LockerRoom
November 2014
November 2014
“Fired Up or Burned Out”
by Kelly Riggs
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Category Archives: Connection Culture
Corporations: Lessons from a College Football Halftime
Enthusiasm and energy will be on full display this Saturday as the #6 TCU Horned Frogs football team host the #7 Kansas State Wildcats at 6:30 pm EDT on Fox. During halftime, TCU will celebrate the 10th anniversary of “Frogs for the Cure” which began in 2005 when TCU athletics partnered with Susan G. Komen Greater Fort Worth to sponsor the first ever pink-out halftime presentation at a university football game.
How to Keep Remote Employees Enthused, Energized and Engaged
By Michael Lee Stallard and Colton Perry. As seen on SmartBlog on Leadership and Fox Business.
A 49-year-old father of two hits his alarm clock at 6:30 a.m., starts a pot of coffee and prepares for his daily commute. For the past three years, Bill Lewis has worked for a large company based in the heart of New York City; even though his home in Texas is nearly 2,000 miles from the office, Bill’s daily commute only takes him a few steps. Along with a rapidly growing percent of America’s workforce, Bill Lewis is a telecommuter, a remote employee. He completes his daily assignments from his front porch, sends e-mails from a coffee shop down the street, and holds conference calls in his living room.
In the past 10 years, this type of work environment has become one of the fastest growing trends in the corporate world. According to the Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey, it is estimated that telecommuting rose 79% between 2005 and 2012, and with the constant evolution of communication technology, this trend shows no signs of stopping. More and more companies are turning to remote employment as a means to lower costs and lock in skilled workers. It seems like a winning recipe, except for one large downside; technology can never fully replace the intangible benefits of human connection.
Is It Ever Wise to Swear at Work?
By Michael Lee Stallard and Katie Russell
You discover a careless error your administrative assistant made in printing a proposal you need to present to a potential new client in a few hours. Should you swear to express your frustration?
How about when you are speaking to the people you lead who are clearly not giving their best efforts?
How about if you are a woman in a male-dominated culture and you want to fit in? Would cursing be wise in that situation?
A recent Quartz.com article argues that in circumstances like these, swearing is ok. We disagree. Let’s look at the rationale presented.
Celebrate Your Organization’s Culture Through a Blog
#50 Create a Blog to Celebrate Your Culture
Create a blog or intranet site where colleagues can post positive examples of people who live out the core values of your organization. This provides employee recognition, encourages everyone to bring the values to life, and spreads positive examples and practices. For example, see the “Nuts About Southwest” blog at www.blogsouthwest.com.
This is the fiftieth post in our series entitled “100 Ways to Connect.” The series highlights language, attitudes and behaviors that help you connect with others. Although the language, attitudes and behaviors focus on application in the workplace, you will see that they also apply to your relationships at home and in the community.
3 Ways to Improve Your Health and Lifespan Through Work
As seen on SmartBlog on Leadership and Fox Business.
Happiness is good, right? Researchers led by Stephen Cole at U.C.L.A recently made a stunning discovery. They studied the gene expression profiles of people who experienced happiness from seeking pleasure and those who experienced happiness from seeking meaningful purpose in life. While both pleasure and purpose seekers reported experiencing happiness at a conscious level, the gene expression profiles of the two groups’ told a different story.
The profiles of the purpose seekers exhibited low levels of inflammatory gene expression and strong levels of antiviral and antibody genes. The pleasure seekers showed the opposite. Their profiles were consistent with people who are more likely to experience adverse health and premature death.
The 3 V’s of Connection Culture: An Infographic
The Physiological Effects of Connection: An Infographic
7 Best Practices to Boost Employee Engagement
As seen on Fox Business and SmartBlog on Leadership.
What separates the best leaders from the rest when it comes to employee engagement?
Our research shows the best leaders communicate an inspiring vision and live it, value people and give them a voice. Here are seven of the 100+ best practices that leaders can use to engage people.
Article on Pixar’s Culture Featured in Economic Times
Pixar’s leadership team has discovered the secret to consistently creating great films, and it has nothing to do with merely hiring great talent (although they do that too). The secret can be summed up in one word: connection.
An article I wrote on the topic has been featured in the Economic Times, India’s premier daily business publication. Be sure to read Animated Leadership: How Catmull & Co. Created a Culture that Consistently Makes Great Films and share your thoughts in the comments.
What lessons from Pixar’s culture will you apply to your own organization?
This is a radio interview I did with Kelly Riggs of the Business LockerRoom radio show. We talked about the core elements of a Connection Culture and the qualities of great leaders. Listen to the interview clip and let me know your thoughts.