June, 2012

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10 Ways to Encourage Discouraged People

Leadership Freak

Leaders who lift get further than those who push down. Performace improves when people feel encouraged and declines when they’re discouraged or hopeless. You don’t have to beat up high-performers – they do it to themselves – lift them instead. All successful leaders encourage; they fill people with hope. The added responsibility of encouraging others may [.].

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The Leader’s Guide to Popularity

Kevin Eikenberry

I don’t really watch it, but the tenth anniversary of American Idol’s first show got me thinking about popularity. Millions of people watch this show, and engage with it by voting for the singers they like best. All of the contestants are vying to win the hearts and votes of the viewers. At some level [.].

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Shama Hyder | How Organizations Can Succeed With Social Media

Tanveer Nasser

There's no question that social media is becoming an important channel through which organizations can share and converse with their audience, as well as attract potential new customers for their products/services. But how can organizations successfully navigate this growing field to order to ensure an ROI from their online efforts? That's the basis of my conversation with author and renowned marketing CEO Shama (Kabani) Hyder in this episode of “Leadership Biz Cafe”.

Media 52
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The Most Powerful Thing About You

Leadership Freak

“I have a picture of myself from when I was about two years old. It shows me with a bowed head and stooped shoulders, in despair, peering through sad eyes that wondered what I was doing in this world …” Shirzad Charmine. A surprising quote from a bestselling book titled, “Positive Intelligence,” wouldn’t you think? [.].

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How to Make The Best Benefits Decisions for 2025's Workforce: An HR and Total Rewards Guide

Speaker: Kaitlin Ruby Carroll

Retaining top talent in 2025 means rethinking benefits. In a competitive job market, fertility benefits are more than just offerings - they are a commitment to your team’s well-being. Gain critical insights into the latest fertility benefits strategies that can help position your organization as an industry leader. Our expert will explore the unique advantages and challenges of each model, share success stories from top organizations, and offer practical strategies to make benefits decisions tha

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How to Disarm Your Inner-Critic

Leadership Freak

I live with an inner critic who loves pointing out my faults, failures, and shortcomings. I’m never good enough for that bastard. How about you? “In all my years of coaching, I have never worked with anyone who was not substantially sabotaged by a persistent Judge character… Your Judge Saboteur is your private enemy number [.].

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Secrets to Leading Without Position or Authority

Leadership Freak

Yesterday, I asked an upper-level manager at one of the world’s largest organization how he’d risen through the ranks so rapidly – he lit up and talked collaboration. He’s succeeding because he influences people he can’t boss. Leaders influence without position, title, or rank; they invite loyalty, passion, and commitment. They don’t coerce, pressure, or [.].

Manager 92

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How to See and Cure Sick Organizational Cultures

Leadership Freak

Peter Drucker said, “The purpose of business is to create a customer.” Sick organizational cultures focus on themselves rather than customers. Everything that distracts, dilutes, or diverts from creating customers suggests sickness. Sick organizations: Sink inward rather than reach outward. Stop learning. Struggle to keep things the same. Live in fear.

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The Surprising Power of Stopping to Begin Again

Leadership Freak

The longer you work at something the fewer improvements you make. Gold Medal swimmers work unending hours shaving hundredths of seconds off their time. Not so, when they began swimming. Improvement – at the beginning – is quick and easy; excellence – over the long haul – is slow and hard. Large organizations may have [.].

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A Father’s Day Dream

Leadership Freak

My dad, is a short man who lives in Florida; he’s in failing health. He’s the toughest, smartest, hardest working man I know. Last night I dreamed dad died. In the dream, I was there. I woke boiling with emotion. Emotions don’t know truth from fiction. I’ve been thinking about him since. I haven’t spent [.].

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10 Ways to Find Your Breakthrough

Leadership Freak

Image source Breakthrough moments rise up and grip you by the throat. Resist them and you’re stuck. Navigate them and you’ll achieve new levels of success. Many leaders resist the very thing that most lifts their leadership. The leadership journey includes extended periods of gradual growth punctuated by moments of terrifying, turbulent change – breakthroughs. [.].

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The Diversity Reckoning: Can HR Survive Without New Perspectives?

Speaker: Jeremy York

2024 has tested every organization, and 2025 promises no less - the warning signs are everywhere. If you’re relying on superficial approaches to diversity, you might find yourself scrambling to catch up. Thought diversity - the fuel for new ideas, fresh perspectives, and disruptive innovation - is more than a buzzword. It's a survival strategy. And if you’re not building it into your workplace culture right now , you’re heading for trouble.

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Overcoming the Reason People Don’t Listen

Leadership Freak

Tune into others if you expect them to tune into you. Discouraged or defeated people need strength before they’ll listen to ideas or solutions. Give strength before giving answers or solutions. Six Ways to Strengthen others: Agree with frustrations; don’t explain why. If they feel frustrated they are frustrated. It’s frustrating when you’re told why you’re [.].

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Chin Up Leadership

Kevin Eikenberry

While facilitating a Bud to Boss Workshop this week, one of the participants (thanks, Margaret) used the phrase “chin up” to describe the leader’s need to look further out and keep a broader perspective of a situation. The phrase got repeated within the class a few times, and now I can’t get it out of [.].

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Escape from No-Man’s-Land

Leadership Freak

Transition is the no-man’s-land of “in between” where old hangs on while new is not yet. But, nothing really works. Temptation: The temptation of transition is going back. The pain that drove you to change in the first place doesn’t seem so bad, anymore. At the same time, painful uncertainties about the future rise like [.].

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Dads, Daughters, and Dreams

Leadership Freak

Welcome guest blogger – Becky Robinson. It’s almost bedtime, and my daughters are splashing in the bathtub, all three of them squeezed together. I’m sitting nearby, and we’re talking about dreams for the future. The girls and I have talked about dreams before (Little Girl Dreams), but it’s been a while, and I’m curious to [.].

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Recognition Powers High-Performance — If You Do it Right

Speaker: Radhika Samant and Todd Wuestenberg

Employee recognition has often been deemed a "feel-good" initiative, tied closely to rewards. While we understand its importance, we tend to associate recognition with intangible outcomes like engagement and sentiment, rather than direct impacts on retention and high performance. In today’s workplace, the true ROI of recognition lies in its ability to regenerate tangible, business-driven results.

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How to Invite the Preferred Response

Leadership Freak

Say the right thing the wrong way and you’ll disconnect. Intent to connect, correct, or be useful isn’t useful unless content, tone, and body language fully align. Everything you say invites responses from others. What responses do your communication methods call for? Aggression calls for agreement or disagreement. It’s hard to dialog or discuss with [.].

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Finding Extraordinary Success

Leadership Freak

After the open house ceremony, I looked Doug (far left) in the eye and said, “I was thinking about you as I drove in. The difference between average and extraordinary isn’t power or money – its heart.” “You’re a man with heart. I’m glad to know you.” Heart means: Tender hearted compassion. When I want [.].

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A Business Case for Forgiveness

Kevin Eikenberry

Forgiveness. We all want it. And sometimes it is hard to grant to others. While there are psychological and spiritual reasons why forgiveness is important, that isn’t the focus here. Make no mistake; I am going to try to convince you why forgiveness is important for you and your business though. While I believe the [.].

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The Rule of the Needle

Leadership Freak

* Failing is easy – chase urgencies and neglect priorities. Success is found by passionately doing what matters most. ** The thing that matters most for leaders is building other leaders. If you don’t develop others, you’ll never reach extraordinary. Who: Avoid Model T’s. Before driving a Model T you crank it to get it [.].

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HR Meets AI: The New Way of Keeping Large Workforces Connected and Engaged

Speaker: Miriam Connaughton and Donald Knight

As organizations scale, keeping employees connected, engaged, and productive can seem like a monumental task. But what if AI could help you do all of this and more? AI has the power to help, but the key is implementing it in a way that enhances, rather than replaces, human connection. Join us for an exploration into how industry trailblazers are using AI to transform employee experience at scale while addressing both the potential and the pitfalls.

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Five Ways to Get Good at Mistake Making

Leadership Freak

** The fear of making mistakes doesn’t prevent mistakes it destroys progress and growth. John Wooden said, “I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes.” Challenge: Too many mistakes and you lose credibility. Too few mistakes and you’re dead in the water, you can’t lead. 5 ways to get good at mistake making Don’t make the mistake [.].

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When Restraint Takes You Further

Leadership Freak

Leaders are liars when they say they believe in developing others but don’t display patience. Patience is a gift of trust, humility, and confidence to those who aren’t there yet. Growth implies potential but potential is a “not yet” term. Development, by definition, suggests inadequacy or lack. Developing others demands patience. Impatience, when applied to [.].

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Turnover: A Good Thing

Leadership Freak

A recent conversation with a healthcare executive reminded me that Jack Welch’s management rule of 20-70-10 inevitably increases turnover. 20% of your employees – top performers – are highly rewarded. 70% are being managed up or out. The bottom 10% is terminated or self-terminates. The top reasons people leave your organization include: Perception of limited [.].

Manager 83
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The Revealing Power of Fear

Leadership Freak

I’ve noticed an unsettling and revealing set of questions that my coach, Bob Hancox, asks. What’s most concerning for you? What makes this so important to you? What’s really at stake for you here? These questions crush the tyranny of the urgent and cause me to focus on my fears. Bob never asks me, “What [.].

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The Upskilling Advantage: Transforming Your Workforce For Future Growth

Speaker: Brian Richardson

With a staggering 92% of CEOs prioritizing skill development, and 84% struggling with transformation, mastering upskilling is now more critical than ever. Drawing on extensive research and collaboration with hundreds of leading organizations, discover key hurdles and innovative best practices in workforce upskilling. You'll walk away with a deep understanding of how to build a culture of continuous learning, expert insights into assessing the current skills of your employees, and a strategic too

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Succeeding in Emotionally Charged Situations

Leadership Freak

Image source The only progress you can make in emotionally charged situations is dealing with emotions. Warning: Emotionally charged people may want you to fix things. If you’re able to change frustrating processes or procedures, do it. But, fixing may reinforce negative behaviors. The person who gets what they want after throwing a fit learns to throw more [.].

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The Essential Component of High Performance

Leadership Freak

** When someone asks how they did. I realize I haven’t done well at giving feedback. I’ve been passive not active. I’ve never heard high-performers say, “I get too much feedback.” They crave more. On the other hand, I’ve never met a leader who gave enough. High feedback leaders develop high performance cultures, when feedback’s [.].

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Aspirin for Aneurysms

Leadership Freak

** Aspirin for aneurysms won’t help much. Poorly solved problems return and multiply when pain goes away. The good thing about pain is it motivates our search for solutions. The bad thing about the absence of pain is wrongly thinking problems are solved when they aren’t. Pain drives us toward inadequate solutions when the goal [.].

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Emergency!

Kevin Eikenberry

I sit in meetings, facilitate training, and walk through public places, and it is all the same. The minute someone’s phone beeps or vibrates with a text or email notification, they seem compelled to check and see what is going on. This compulsion leads to a lack of focus and productivity, and well, it makes [.].

Manager 80
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Mastering Remote Onboarding: Proven Strategies for Seamless New Hire Integration

Speaker: Tim Buteyn, President of ThinkingKap Learning Solutions

Join this brand new webinar with Tim Buteyn to learn how you can master the art of remote onboarding! By the end of this session, you'll understand how to: Craft a Tailored Onboarding Checklist 📝 Develop a comprehensive, customized checklist that ensures every new hire has a smooth transition into your company, no matter where they are in the world.

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Stop Barking up the Wrong Tree

Leadership Freak

Leaders who work to extend their influence are barking up the wrong tree. John Maxwell said, “Leadership is influence.” But, gaining influence isn’t about working to get it; it’s about connecting. Stop worrying about gaining influence. Start focusing on connecting. Who enjoys the power to influence? Respected people. Skillful people. Famous people.

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Where Do You Find Happiness?

Kevin Eikenberry

Everyone wants happiness. Some have it, some see it as elusive – they are always chasing it. Perhaps part of the reason is that they don’t have a clear picture of what it is. Today’s quotation gives a definition and an example. perhaps from an unexpected source. Enjoy. “Will and I could hardly [.].

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The Power of the Audience

Leadership Freak

Three of our grandchildren – 2, 6, and 7 yrs. old – spent the week with us. I kept hearing, “Watch this Poppi.” Everyone longs for an approving audience, the standing ovation. Leaders are the audience when: The organization is top down. They are highly respected. Pay and promotions are in their control. They assign [.].

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What Your Employees Really Want (It Might Not Be What You Think)

Kevin Eikenberry

Forget more money and better benefits. We think that is what people need, to which most managers and leaders say – “I can’t give them more” or “That’s out of my hands.” The good news is those aren’t the things that will move the needle. A recent (February and March of 2012) Career Builder survey of [.].

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How To Empower Your Workforce With Modern Fertility Benefits

Speaker: Andrea Wuchiski

In an era where a workforce spans multiple generations, HR managers and Total Rewards leaders face the unique challenge of designing benefits packages that cater to diverse employee needs. This session will delve into how comprehensive fertility benefits can bridge generational gaps, support employees’ health, and enhance workplace satisfaction. Join us for an insightful session that highlights the strategic importance of fertility benefits in today’s competitive job market.