http://www.michaelleestallard.com Insights on Leadership and Employee Engagement Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:41:26 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en In this month's Wired magazine, Clive Thompson wrote a fascinating article about PH.D student Benjamin Waber and the research of MIT's Human Dynamics Group.  Bottom line: managers are out of the loop, friendships at work increase group creativity and organizations should be intentional about facilitating connections among people at work ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/mit-research-employee-connections-improve-performance Last Thursday my wife and I attended the premiere of the new documentary Full Battle Rattle produced and directed by Tony Gerber and Jesse Moss. The documentary is about the U.S. Army's billion dollar simulated Iraq in California's Mojave Desert, complete with hundreds of exiles playing civilians and insurgents, terrorist ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/building-connections-in-a-disconnected-iraq I'll be speaking about how Connection Cultures help employees and organizations thrive at Communitelligence's Innovating Employee Engagement Conference held at the Catalyst Ranch. The companies who have representatives speaking at the conference include Google, IBM, McDonalds, Allstate, Lowe's, H&R Block, Servicemaster, Navistar, Aon, CVS Caremark and Sabre Holdings. It's going to ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/employee-engagement-conference-in-chicago-july-31-august-1 Mike Kanazawa has written a terrific new manifesto for changethis.com entitled People Don't Hate Change, They Hate How You're Trying to Change Them.  In it he explains why change programs fail to gain traction.  Mike is the CEO of Dissero Partners.  He is also the co-author with Robert Miles of ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/why-change-programs-never-gain-traction My blog is primarily about Connection Cultures in the workplace and how they increase employee engagement.  Connection is even more important at home.  I've had several friends who were so swept up in their careers that they ignored and lost connection with their spouses. Their lives drifted apart and their ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/staying-connected-with-your-family It's wise to begin your day on a positive note by saying "good morning" to your colleagues at work.  Failing to recognize them is to communicate indifference.  It's also wise to begin every meeting with a positive comment.  Research has shown that beginning a meeting with a positive comment makes group ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/wisdom-in-starting-on-a-positive-note Years ago when I attended a large church in Wheaton, Illinois, I remember the Asgedom family who came from a refugee camp in Sudan.  They were ever present members of our church community.  Mawi Asgedom was a young boy at that time.  I recently learned that Mawi went on to ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/our-responsibility-to-connect-to-the-disconnected-among-us Nelson Mandela recently celebrated his 90th birthday. I'm grateful for this man and the wisdom of his example. When he entered Robben Island Prison he was known for confronting his enemies. When he was released 27 years later, Mandela stunned South Africans with his magnanimous behavior toward ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/forgiveness-as-a-bridge-to-unity Disconnection occurs when an acquiring company and the employees of its newly acquired company define excellence in different ways.  In this month's Atlantic, Mark Bowden writes about this issue in an excellent article entitled "Mr. Murdoch Goes to War." The article, as you might guess from its title, is about how Rupert Murdoch ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/changing-values-at-the-wall-street-journal A friend's email just reminded me of Benjamin Franklin's words to his fellow signers of the Declaration of Independence.  "We must hang together, or we shall surely hang separately," opined Franklin following the Continental Congress approval of the Declaration.  Franklin's words conveyed a literal meaning in that signing the Declaration ... http://www.michaelleestallard.com/life-liberty-and-the-pursuit-of-happiness