A woman engineer—equally, if not better qualified than her male counterparts—was told she couldn’t meet with clients because they “expected” a male engineer. A highly competent black secretary was fired during a layoff even though two white secretaries received constant complaints from their bosses and spent most of their time creating chaos. The excuse given…

Discovering the Facts about Generational Differences in the Workplace Jennifer J. Deal, a researcher at the Center for Creative Leadership who studied 3,000 corporate leaders and more than 5,000 employees, found that generational differences did not rule the workplace. Instead, any differences in attitude pointed directly back to differences in organizational roles and power. Where…

Let’s consider a case history: The company has asked two departments to computerize their paper files. In department A, the change goes smoothly with everyone pitching in to help. In department B, the process drags out, chaos ensues, and everyone starts pointing fingers. What motivated team A, but not B? The right incentives. The first…

When your team has a common vision, communicates well, receives training and mentoring, and reaches its goals, you have seen the benefits of team development. As part of a team development program, team building helps cement the connections between team members—if it is done well, with attention to the true concerns of the team. If…

Perhaps the first and best way to build a team is to start from the basics of hiring practices. You can then move on to communicating with your team to meet their needs and the company’s needs and use SMaRT leadership to build and maintain a high-functioning team. Through the use of technology, by asking…

There is no more perfect example of the stress response than conflict. Think about what you’ve learned so far about the fight-flight-freeze response (don’t know what I’m referring too, go here now). Can you imagine how it mirrors people’s reactions to conflict? People with the fight response come out aggressive right away and, almost as…

Why Knowing Your Stress is Important Unless you know you have a problem, how do you know you need to deal with it? What would be your first steps? How much of one thing would you need over another? The honest answer is, you wouldn’t. You’d be taking a shot in the dark hoping something…

Among professionals in all careers, stress occurs 64% of the time, with 77% experiencing burnout, predominately from lack of support or recognition, unrealistic deadlines or expectations, and long hours without a break (1). Among employees in general, 40% have considered quitting because of burnout, especially burnout due to unfair treatment (2). They are also 23%…

I’m often met with eye rolls when I ask business professionals if they have created an environment that meets their energy profile—an environment that inspires and energizes them throughout the day. The truth is, not many people can relate to this paradise. On the contrary, most professionals work against their grain, natural talents, and instinctive…

Organizational psychologists have long assumed that innovation and creativity are linked. Research published in the Journal of Business Venturing questioned that link and confirmed it, “especially at the individual level.” Surprisingly, the researchers found that larger firms with “moderate levels of uncertainty avoidance” were more likely to develop a strong creativity and innovation link than…