Tag Archives: connection

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New Approach to Reduce Dysfunctional Behavior at Work

Untangling the Mind Book CoverAs seen on Fox Business and SmartBlog on Leadership.

Is your boss or a co-worker increasingly irritable, angry, withdrawn or acting in a predatory manner?  Or are you noticing that behavior in yourself? With rising demands in today’s workplace, emotional and behavioral disorders have soared.  In Untangling the Mind: Why We Behave the Way We Do, Ted George, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at George Washington School of Medicine and neuroscientist at the National Institutes of Health, helps us understand America’s surge in emotional and behavioral disorders, including those we see in the workplace.  Grasping “why” we instinctively react in certain ways is the first step in affecting change. 

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Provide Clarity on Critical Actions

Typing

#39 Provide Clarity on Critical Actions

Make sure your direct reports know what you are counting on them to do and when it needs to be completed. The lack of clarity, especially on critical actions, undermines connection. When it comes to critical actions, it’s best to put them in writing.

This is the thirty-ninth 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.

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Connect at Work During Lunch

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#38 Make Lunch and Break Connections – In many workplace cultures today, taking lunch away from your desk may brand you as a slacker.  It’s too bad this is the case since taking time to connect with someone who energizes you is a great way to boost your personal productivity by refreshing and re-energizing your brain. Try it this week.

This is the thirty-eighth 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.

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Maintain Connections…Even When You Disagree

Angry Business Man

#37 Safeguard Relational Connections

Don’t nuke people who disagree with you. If you disagree with someone, say so but do it in a respectful manner. You might even begin your response with “I may be wrong but is it possible that…?” or “It’s just one person’s opinion, and I may be wrong, but I wonder if it could be that….”

If you offended or hurt someone’s feelings, apologize. If someone apologizes to you, give him/her the benefit of the doubt and forgive him/her.

This is the thirty-seventh 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.

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Connect Through Skip Level Meetings

Businessman Conducting a Meeting with His Staff

#36 Hold “Skip Level” Meetings

Hold “skip level” meetings where you meet with the people who report to one of your direct reports. In the skip level meeting, the leader should encourage attendees to share their ideas and opinions about how to improve the business.

To preserve connection with your direct reports, make sure you communicate that you will be hosting these meetings with their teams on a regular basis so they don’t feel that they are being audited. Keep the focus of the meetings on giving people a voice to share ideas for how to improve the business, and debrief with your direct reports so they are in the loop on the feedback shared.

This is the thirty-sixth 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.

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Can Phil Jackson Build “the Yankees of Basketball”?

philjackson

As seen on Fox Business.

Phil Jackson, the New York Knicks’ new president of basketball operations, is nothing if not audacious.  After building two basketball dynasties as a coach of the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers, he accepted the challenge to achieve a three-peat, but this time in the toughest town of all, New York City.  Furthermore, he will try to build more than a great team.  In his new role, he is responsible for building a broader organization.

Will Jackson end his career in a blaze of glory or will the Knicks and New York City reduce him to smoldering ashes?  Despite the obstacles, I’m betting on the former.  And there will be a lesson for CEOs in watching Jackson in action. 

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Connection Tip: Respect Other People’s Time

Business people holding clocks over their faces

#35 Respect Other People’s Time

When you interrupt someone while he/she is otherwise engaged, show that you respect his/her time by saying, “Sorry to interrupt you. Is this a good time to talk?”

Another way to respect other people’s time is not to linger. If the other person is not very responsive, it may be a sign that he/she is busy and is eager to get back to work. Be sensitive to the other person’s responsiveness or lack thereof as a cue. Many people will not explicitly tell you they are busy because they don’t want to hurt your feelings.

This is the thirty-fifth 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.

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Connect at Work: Recruit Best Friends

Two Friends Laughing at Work

#34 Recruit Best Friends

According to Gallup Research, 30 percent of employees have a best friend at work. These employees are seven times as likely to be engaged, they are better at engaging customers, they produce higher quality work and they have higher well-being. People who don’t have a best friend at work have just a 1/12 chance of feeling connected and being engaged.

If you have a best friend who has the competence to fill a role in your organization, recruit him or her.

This is the thirty-fourth 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.

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3 Ways Pixar Gains Competitive Advantage from Its Culture

As seen on Fox Business.

To infinity and beyond: That’s where Pixar Animation and Walt Disney Animation Studios are headed, provided they maintain the type of leaders that have gotten them this far. Ed Catmull, President of Pixar Animation and Walt Disney Animation Studios, describes what he’s learned about leadership and corporate culture in his excellent new book, Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration.

Pixar has been phenomenally successful with the likes of Toy Story, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, and Up, to name but a few of its films. In 2006, Disney bought Pixar to boost its struggling Walt Disney Animation Studios unit. Catmull and John Lasseter, Pixar’s CEO, were appointed to lead the unit as president and CEO, respectively.  With the leadership change, Disney began to produce hits such as Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph.  If any doubt existed that Disney’s magic was back, it was put to rest with the 2013 release of the blockbuster movie Frozen.  Having earned well over a billion dollars in revenue at the box office in its first six months, Frozen became the highest-grossing animated feature ever and moved into the top-10 worldwide highest grossing movies of all time.

The success of Pixar and Disney Animation begs the question: what’s the secret sauce? In a word, it’s “culture,” i.e. the shared attitudes, language and behavior that consistently produce excellence in a given endeavor.  With 70 percent of American workers disengaged today, Pixar and Disney Animation provide a model for engaging and energizing employees by making culture a competitive advantage.

Here are three ways Catmull and his leadership team create a culture that consistently makes great films.

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To Practice Connecting, Volunteer at a Community Service Organization

Volunteers at Soup Kitchen

#33 To Practice Connecting, Volunteer at a Community Service Organization

Want to practice truly connecting with others, but aren’t sure where to start? People are positive and grateful when you volunteer to help at a community service organization. These are safe places to practice connecting and developing the skills to connect without feeling anxious about how potential failures might sabotage your career.

This is the thirty-third 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.