Thousands of love songs portray sad stories of the fire going out in a romantic relationship. Business teams face the same danger. Members of a team can become too familiar and stuck in patterns of doing the bare minimum when it comes to teamwork. Similar to the song “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers Anymore,” the feeling that occurs when the thrill is gone is usually felt by all involved.

If your team fails to maintain a connection amongst its members, performance suffers. As a leader, you have the power to influence how connected your team remains over time. Follow these seven tips and you will lead your team around or even through the rough spots involved with staying connected. (more…)

As a kid sitting in the very back of my parent’s station wagon on road trips, I must confess I have uttered those famous words, “are we there yet!?” more than once. I learned the hard way to stop asking that question when my dad would threaten, “I will stop this car!” I stopped asking, but I still did not understand where we were along the journey. As a leader, you benefit greatly when your team understands where you are trying to go as a group. When your team understands and believes in the intended end result, they will not have to ask you “are we there yet”? These seven tips are sure to help you create a vision that inspires. (more…)

We have all heard someone say, “you’re not the boss of me!” in rejection to a demand placed on them. I bet that phrase was born out of the good ol’ days when employees did what they were told because the boss “said so!” This worked for a while, but then organizations discovered employees were even more productive when fear and intimidation were NOT the only sources of motivation. (more…)

Seven Tips for Dealing with Cross-Departmental Issues It feels good to say those words - “you’re not the boss of me!” Translated, this means - you can say whatever you want, because I am not going to listen anyway, so there! Such a powerfully defiant thing to say. Have you ever said it? I can tell you from first hand experience, it feels good! I can also tell you from first hand experience that hearing those words does not feel good. The attitude that accompanies those words has damaged many organizational relationships. If there always seems to be an “edgy” feel between your departments or teams, these seven tips are for you. (more…)