How to Create a Happy Ending for You and Your Team

2016 was the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.  Leaders can learn a lot about how to create a year with a “happy ending” from Shakespeare.

What does it really take for a leader to create a happily ever after at work? Is it even possible?

If there is no problem, then there is no story!

Tragedy or comedy, a good story always has a problem to overcome. What makes Romeo and Juliet as… Read the full article >

Perfect Phrases for Communicating Change

Remember what your mother taught you: don’t judge a book by its cover. This book is far more than just a list of phrases. It is a management primer on communicating change based on our 40 combined years of experience leading change and consulting to others leading change in a myriad of organization sizes and industries on 4 continents.

1. Get a handbook with practical methods for handling a wide range of change situations: We have compiled an… Read the full article >

Why the Clamor for Leadership Transparency Is Childish and Unrealistic

Employees in business yearn for transparency. They say that it’s a leadership requirement. Yet being open about what’s really going on is not realistic. Transparency does not and will not ever exist in executive suites around the globe. Here’s why.

There will always be pockets of transparency. For example, a friend of mine runs a successful technology business with 40 employees and has completely open books. He shares all financial information with all employees every two weeks, including… Read the full article >

Why Your Team Is an Optical Illusion

One of the reasons our mind gets fooled with optical illusions, like the picture below, is that there is a .1-second delay between seeing an object and your brain being able to decipher it. While that seems like a short time, it is enough time for your brain to fill in the blanks with what it thinks it sees. Even if it is not really there.


Many leaders do the same thing with their… Read the full article >

Meeting Happiness: Is it Possible?

We spend much of our lives in meetings. That is not bad in itself – we need to collaborate on important matters. Yet, if not run well, these meetings lower morale and reduce productivity. Our recent research of over 300 professionals on happiness and productive teams found that well run meetings are positively correlated to productive teams and happy employees. Here are 3 ways to create it.

3 Ways to Create Meeting Happiness: If you want to create meeting happiness, which creates happy and productive teams, here is what to do:

1. Name it –… Read the full article >