Nobody Bring Me Bad News
Managers by and large want to stay informed. They don’t like surprises and they don’t like to be caught not having the information they need. Yet many managers complain that their staffs don’t keep them informed. Those same managers may unwittingly be sending messages that deter people from speaking up. (Like the song in the [...]
Managing Work Meetings: Lose — But Don’t Lose — the Lesson
Facilitating can be a messy business. Anyone who has spent any time managing meetings has run into those moments when things seem to have gotten out of control. As facilitators or meeting managers these moments can get very uncomfortable, even scary. We tend to assume that we should always know what is happening and be [...]
Good News is Hard to Hear
One of the things that amazes me is the difficulty we humans have with accepting good news. How many times have you found yourself sloughing off a compliment or downplaying an accomplishment? I see this all the time as I coach executives or facilitate conversations. People offer positive comments and the recipients disregard them or [...]