engagement tagged posts

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...

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...

Change doesn’t have to be painful December 15, 2021 Affective Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Spirit at Work No comments

The challenges facing government employees are HUGE but the solutions don’t need to be painful. Change is only hard when we are unwilling to let go of the past. We all have this weird need to justify the “rightness” of past behavior.

Who we have been and what we have done has nothing to do with who we are now unless we choose to chain ourselves to our history.

We are not our actions; we are that which acts and
we act based on our best awareness AT THAT TIME.

If we hold on to the past we...

Undisturbable December 15, 2021 Affective Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Spirit at Work, Training No comments

The Heart of Authentic Performance

“There is nothing so empowering, so liberating, so energizing as to be one’s self.”

There is also nothing so wasteful, no cause of human misery so universal or as pervasive as the feeling of being trapped. We live in a culture where unfulfilling jobs and unsatisfying relationships are the norm. The insidious drain of dull dissatisfaction has left the masses unengaged, unmotivated and uninspired...

Misunderstanding Millennials December 15, 2021 Affective Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Peer Powered Performance

I had previously written about the divergent views of that HR professionals have of Millennials and the internal perspective GenY’s have of themselves. Today I add an additional piece to the puzzle based on the research of Stewart D. Friedman, Wharton professor and author of “Baby Bust,”

First the author points out that as opposed to most generational comparisons that contrast the perspectives of a group of 40 year olds and one at twenty this is a longitudinal study that compares the outlook...