http://www.michaelleestallard.com Insights on Leadership and Employee Engagement Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:44:39 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en http://www.michaelleestallard.com/many-ways-to-connect Several writers at The New Yorker understand how important the force of human connection is to help people thrive.  I've previously written about Ken Auletta's masterpiece "The Howell Doctrine," and, of course, there's Jim Surowiecki's The Wisdom of Crowds.  Two other writers at The New Yorker have made significant contributions ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/malcolm-gladwell-atul-gawande-on-connection [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFAdlU2ETjU[/youtube] Americans are connection deprived. A quarter of Americans live alone and the number of Americans who haven't had a conversation with a best friend over the previous six months has tripled since 1985 to nearly 25 percent of the U.S. population.  This also likely means Americans are running low on ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/one-easy-way-to-be-happier TCU is on a roll.  It has been recognized by U.S. News as one a top 100 colleges in America.   Its athletics' teams are generally among the top teams in Division I college sports.   More recently the Chronicle of Higher Education named TCU as one of the "43 ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/great-leaders-tcus-chancellor-victor-boschini Here's some advice for the new year: improve your relationships.  Why, you might ask? Consider this. Sports Illustrated just named the "Sportswoman of the Year" and the "Sportsman of the Year." (Read the announcement here.) They are, respectively, Pat Summit, head coach of the "Lady Vols" basketball team at the University of Tennessee, and ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/new-happiness-research-concludes-improve-your-relationships This post is a continuance of my prior post on evil in organizational cultures. The "dark triad" -- psychopaths, narcissists and machiavellians -- represents a small part of the population. What unties this group of destructive personalities is that they lack empathy for other human beings and care only about themselves. ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/when-a-psychopath-inhabits-the-c-suite [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsFEV35tWsg[/youtube] In the workshops we teach, we use stories of great leaders in business, government, the social sector and sports who inspired people to do what's right.  This is a best practice to strengthen the positive effects of an organization's identity (i.e. mission, values and reputation). Check out this outstanding TED video ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/best-practice-stories-to-encourage-good-avoid-evil Let me tell you about a new book that I'm recommending to leaders. It makes a great book for your leaders to read together as part of a book group. Human Value is one of the elements of a Connection Culture that I teach leaders to create if they want ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/five-languages-of-appreciation-in-the-workplace If you're interested in employee engagement, take my advice and join the Employee Engagement Network.  It's a terrific resource that includes contributions from many of the more than 4,400 members worldwide. http://www.michaelleestallard.com/the-employee-engagement-network For the second year in a row, 84 percent of American workers intend to actively look for a new job, according to new research by Right Management. Workplace incivility is also on the rise.  According to research presented at the 2011 American Psychological Association annual meeting, up to 80 percent of workers ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/antidote-for-widespread-employee-discontent