Noël found herself mentally fatigued, burned out, and disengaged from her work. How did she end up here when she felt so energized by this new role just a short while ago? Even before the Pandemic, Noël started feeling discouraged and isolated from her colleagues. …
As we mentioned in our previous post ‘21st Century Teams: The Road Ahead’, a lot of organizations struggle to transform into shared approaches to leading and competing. Despite having a working arrangement where interrelatedness, adaptability, and collaboration are encouraged, remote teams still find trouble finding a …
A star performer, Jamie worked hard to earn a promotion to become the newest appointed leader of a global, virtual product team. A team that was struggling to meet its goals. She had dreams of becoming an exceptional leader who delivers results while looking after …
When Peter Drucker said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” he was, in essence, advocating a cure for mediocrity through better metrics. Unfortunately, he didn’t specify what should be measured. Devan was excited about her promotion from leading a single team in …
Trust worldwide is at an all-time low. But, business goes on and the demand for innovative solutions requires networks of teams. Many of these teams have been forced to work remotely, compounding already complex dynamics and heightening their frustrations. Now, more than ever, cultivating …
In my work with teams, I found that most people describe themselves as “almost always” or “always” inclusive. Yet, too often, I’ve seen those same people demonstrate subtle acts of exclusion and discriminatory mindsets that keep their co-workers off the dance floor. A few years …
Trust is like oxygen. It is an essential element that drives engagement and fuels performance. It fosters inclusiveness and binds a group of diverse people together to pursue a common purpose. Too often, leaders take it for granted – until it becomes dangerously low. Then, …
As “working remote” became a hot topic over the past few months, most of the articles and advice understandably focused on establishing processes and setting up communications and team collaboration. Those are important but not enough. While robust technology and processes are essential, it is …
What inspires us to do what we do? From ancient philosophers to modern-day behavioral scientists, many people have sought answers to that question. What makes motivation tricky is that sometimes we know why we’ve decided to do something, but often, we don’t. For a leader, …
If you’re one of the tens of thousands of managers now leading a fully remote team, many of your people likely felt a sense of excitement with the freedom of going virtual. As the weeks go by, that initial excitement often gives way to anxiety …
Here in the Wasatch mountains, 2020 arrived with fresh snowfall and the promise of more powder to come in the first few days of the new year. For those who traveled here for the Christmas and New Year holiday in hopes of an idyllic winter …
Why is it that some people see the potential for extraordinary in others when everyone else sees only the ordinary? I reflected on that question when I included the story of Manhattan (a nightspot in Singapore, not the borough in New York) in my new …
As the weather turns cold here in the Rocky Mountains and snow dusts the peaks of the Wasatch, join me by the fire as I sip an espresso and recount the tale of a team leader’s first encounter with the silent killers of team performance …
One of the less obvious rewards of having written a couple of books is getting feedback and the discussions that ensue. This is, of course, once you get past the initial anxiety or perhaps sheer terror of having years of work cross-examined. On this particular …
Earlier this year, I wrote an article discussing the issues with team leader training in many organizations. In it, I noted that most of the programs are built on 20th-century models and provide a standard prescription for success. More recently, I was invited to speak …
I can still recall the feeling of satisfaction and anticipation that came with my promotion to Senior Product Manager and my first people leadership role. Reading the company announcement that named my new team, and our mission to define the next generation of products to …
In the medical world, “silent killers” are conditions with no obvious symptoms which progress to an advanced stage before someone discovers them. In organizations and on teams, a lack of psychological safety, unconscious bias, and low trust are “silent killers” that slowly drain away energy, …
The past thirty years have seen the proliferation of KPI’s, OKR’s, Balanced Score Cards, and people metrics of all types. Echoing Peter Drucker’s mantra, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”, the underlying (and well supported) premise is that through better data and …
I was reading a recent article from Gallup titled “Why Manager Development Programs Aren’t Working”. What struck me wasn’t the results of their research, but that despite the continual flow of evidence from consultancies and academia that training fails to deliver against expectations companies continue …
One of the many pleasures of living in Singapore is being able to experience an incredible diversity of architectural design. From the sweeping vista of Marina Bay to colonial period buildings like Raffles Hotel, and shop houses dating back to the 1840’s, there is no …
It seems like such a no-brainer that a team should understand why it exists, its raison d’être —and most do, up to a point. In my Team Relationship Management workshop, the first group-exercise is to answer the question: “Why does your team exist?” Seems obvious, …
On a beautiful spring day nine years ago, in an historic district of Salt Lake City, I was teaching an undergraduate business course at Westminster College. The students and I – most of whom were seniors – were having a conversation about careers. One student …
Watch an interview with Dr. Jeb S. Hurley, author of Team Relationship Management: The Art of Crafting Extraordinary Teams. Learn the story behind his new book, the challenges today’s leaders face, and what Team Relationship Management offers today’s team leaders.
My New Book: Available on Amazon on June 15 The stakes have never been higher. Complex problems demanding innovative solutions require the collaboration of the best minds. Yet, too often trust is low, and people are disengaged, putting teams into a downward spiral of mediocrity …
Virtual teams face greater complexity and uncertainty as they strive to overcome the barriers of time, distance, culture, and communications. When successful, virtual teams enable the best talent to come together and amplify energy, competencies, and creativity. However, there are significant challenges to developing highly-effective …
