Category Affective Leadership

On-Target On-boarding December 15, 2021 Affective Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Green Solutions, Peer Powered Performance, Training

I originally wrote this for training seasonal employees but I also believe it applies to any nonprofit attempting to on-board a new board member, volunteer or staff. I would now use a digital flash system but the purpose and approach is the same. First it is important to know for a fact that those who say they understand governance also believe they fully comprehend quantum physics. They may really know their stuff but it is better to test first and rather than regret later.

One of the most...

The Real Cost of Leadership Lost December 15, 2021 Affective Leadership, Association Insights, Astonishing Service, Customer Service, Emotional Intelligence, Green Solutions, Peer Powered Performance No comments

There have been a gazillion articles, studies, examples and illustrations but none seem to so succinctly cover a few of the more poignant priorities. If I am to honestly take stock of my twenty plus years as a manager I was, based on today’s standards, particularly pathetic. That is not to say that I was all that sharp at the time but my point is that we live in an entirely different culture...

If you want to really be happy, learn to do less. December 15, 2021 Affective Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Spirit at Work No comments

Lasting change is not the result of some new “to do” on our already too long list. The change we seek is not found in doing more, but surprisingly the secret is found in learning to do less.

If we want to really be happy (and who in their right mind would say they don’t) we need to let go of our compulsion to judge, attack, blame, regret, be right, and most of all our belief that choosing to be unhappy is a necessary even moral obligation...

Hire the Fire December 15, 2021 Affective Leadership, Association Insights, Emotional Intelligence No comments

When I first began studying Vineet Nayar several years ago I was stunned by his hiring process. In most organizations “Meeting the CEO” was more of a “welcome to” instead of a real “inter-view”. In Vineet’s case not only were his interviews real but even after these perspective new employees had completed all the tests, survived multiple interrogations by peers, and supervisors many left Vineet’s office not only unemployed but grateful that together they had made the choice tha...

HR: Humane Resources December 15, 2021 Affective Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Peer Powered Performance, Positive Deviance

Hierarchical designs created before color television

Twenty years ago after creating the new employee “Service Camp” for the Coeur d’Alene Resort I was given the opportunity to move from operations to HR. I loved the possibilities but hated the realities. Too much time limiting liabilities and very little investment in growing resources. (Oh, and I also hated the little office in the back hall.) In the nearly two decades since, I find that for many (not all), little has changed.

There are still far too many resources devoted to protecti...