Category Affective Leadership

Are you struggling with dissatisfied people or a dissatisfying process? December 15, 2021 Affective Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Spirit at Work, Training No comments

I was recently asked to perform an “attitude intervention” for a group of VERY unhappy Federal employees. The process began like a James Patterson novel with all the evidence pointing to a single culprit. Team members consistently used words like hurtful, demeaning, belittling, blame, fear, reprisal, micromanaging, dishonest, inconsistent, unapproachable, controlling, forgetful, favoritism and defensive to describe their work experience...

Is un-succession planning on your to do list? December 15, 2021 Affective Leadership, Diagnostics, Training No comments

According to dictionary.com the definition of succession is “the coming of one person or thing after another in order.” What if the order that made absolute sense in the past is no longer effective or even relevant? How do you select the best successor when you are charting new territory? Maybe un-succession is a better alternative.

To find some new thinking on the subject I reviewed the writings of someone who has been recognized as one of the world’s foremost authorities in thinkin...

Change belongs not to the catalyst but the community December 15, 2021 Affective Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Peer Powered Performance, Positive Deviance

“There are none so blind as those who will not see.”

Contrary to popular belief this phrase popularized by Mathew Henry in his commentary on the Whole Bible (1708) is not a quote from the bible. This kind of misattribution, as I am learning from winner of the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Daniel Kahneman in Thinking Fast and Slow, is not at all uncommon. We are all thoroughly convinced of many, many connections that are not true.

One such misbelief that is shared by most p...

Are you a Champion for Change? December 15, 2021 Affective Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Peer Powered Performance

There are always payoffs for the lies we tell ourselves and the easiest to maintain are those we share with others which carries the appropriate scientific title of “Bandwagon Effect”. The Bandwagon that I had worked hard to be part of was that of the Charismatic Champion of Change. The fallacy was that regardless of my mastery of the topic or skills as a professional communicator that change does not happen from the top down or outside in but must be generated by champions from within.

Th...

Is “Understanding” your Enemy December 15, 2021 Affective Leadership, Emotional Intelligence

The last several years I have been hooked on the “Dans” – Pink, Kahneman and Ariely. They all seem to come around to something Malcom Gladwell shared in an interview for The Costco Connection. He said “my last three books in particular have made me suspicious of the way that all of us as human beings react to the world.” He went on to say “The assumptions we carry around in our heads aren’t very good. Our first impressions of things can sometimes be really terrible.” His new...