Keeping Remote Teams Engaged

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Nido Qubein on becoming a transformational leader: “Our team knows that the highest order of leadership is to tell the truth. Yet, that is just the beginning. You consciously and intentionally have to bring your business, social, spiritual, and family lives together; each plays a part in who you are as a leader. When you do, your life is like a beautiful song. Its harmony influences others, it can move people, and anyone looking at you will know what kind of person you really are.” Source: Extraordinary Transformation: An Entr…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Joe Davis on engaging the skeptics: “Have you ever been in a room, presenting an idea for change, and someone says, ‘Oh, that will never work’? Or you’ve solicited feedback as you work through your options, and you hear the ‘No, we cannot do that’? Your instinct might be to be defensive or just ignore them, but their perspective and experience, if you can embrace it, will strengthen your position. Asking for more information about why they feel the way they do, and then listening carefully to what they say, can be the best cou…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Michael Doctoroff on conflict: “Conflicts, when properly controlled and resolved, can be a powerful tool for developing creative business plans and objectives. Without conflict, the organization would remain in a happy state of inactivity. In a way, business is built on conflict. Conflict, you might say, is the mother of change. You see a problem and do something to remove it. After it has been eliminated, conditions are no longer the same. Through change, the organization strengthens itself and restores harmony within itsel…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Richard Farson on contradictions: “Contradictory impulses to both succeed and fail can be found in every project, every work team, even every individual. Every management choice, Job offer, or new applicant can appear both appealing and unappealing. Every deal is both good and bad. That is why leadership is essentially the management of dilemmas, and why tolerance for ambiguity—coping with contradictions—is essential for leaders, and why appreciating the coexistence of opposites is crucial to the development of a different way…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Craig Wright on the value of thinking opposite: “The more a person can exploit the contradictions of life, the greater his or her potential for genius. Great artists, poets, playwrights, musicians, comedians, and moralists embed oppositional forces in their work for dramatic, and sometimes comic, effect. Brilliant scientists and mathematicians seemingly do not go in search of contradictions but are comfortable when they find them. Transformative entrepreneurs look for contrarian solutions. If you want to better understand an o…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Jonah Sachs on the expert’s trap: “While expertise can make us enormously efficient at playing an established game, it can also make us slower to realize when the game has changed and less able to respond to those changes. Our expert’s mind, so used to moving quickly and efficiently, tries to fit new information into old boxes so it can use its rapid processing power. ‘Oh, that’s just a new flavor of an old problem,’ our expert brain says. Too often it’s not. After all, most of the problems we face in a world of rapid change h…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Joel Kurtzman on leadership: “The leader is not separate from the group he or she leads. Rather, the leader is the organization’s glue—the force that binds it together, sets its direction, and makes certain that the group functions as one. Good leaders are not outsiders who cheer on a group. They are part of that group, integrated deeply into its fabric and emotional life. Connecting with the group you lead means demonstrating you are part of the group, understand its challenges, can do its jobs, and can stand the pressure and…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Brian Tracy on zero-based thinking: “To simplify your life, zero-based thinking is one of the most powerful strategies you can learn and apply on a regular basis. Here’s how it works. Ask yourself, ‘Is there anything I am doing right now that, knowing what I now know, I wouldn’t get into again if I were starting over today?’” Source: Focal Point: A Proven System to Simplify Your Life, Double Your Productivity, and Achieve All Your Goals II. Donald Miller on creating meaning: “We build lives of meaning by stating an ambitio…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Coach Phil Jackson on compassion: “Compassion for all beings—not least of all oneself—is the key to breaking down barriers among people. Now, ‘compassion’ is a word not often bandied about in locker rooms. But I’ve found that a few kind, thoughtful words can have a strong transformative effect on relationships, even with the toughest men on the team.” (Blog Post) Source: Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success II. Coach Tony Dungy on putting people first: “Instead of asking, how can I lead my company, my team, or my family to a…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Retired Navy SEAL commander Rich Diviney on empathy: “A lack of empathy in any leader obviously is a huge detriment huge detriment. But too much empathy can be just as damaging. It’s hard to be productive if you’re functioning at the whim of other people’s emotions. Empathy is an invaluable tool, so long as it is properly calibrated.” Source: The Attributes: 25 Hidden Drivers of Optimal Performance II. Nikos Mourkogiannis on purpose: “Purpose is preparation for doing what is right and what is worthwhile. As such it creates…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Jack Trout on being a doer: “The best leaders know that direction alone is no longer enough. The best leaders are storytellers, cheerleaders, and facilitators. They reinforce their sense of direction or vision with words and action.” Source: The Power of Simplicity: A Management Guide to Cutting Through the Nonsense and Doing Things Right II. Jack Welch on simplicity: “For a large organization to be effective, it must be simple. Insecure managers create complexity. Real leaders don’t need clutter. People must have the self…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Chris Deaver and Ian Clawson on leading together: “The dark truth of success is that if we make it all about ourselves, our own egos, our individual performance, it eventually breaks down. It won’t have staying power. Most of us have experienced the reality of bosses or corporate cultures that go it alone, pushing agendas on us rather than building with us. Startups know this feeling. People running full speed toward their dreams know this feeling. But it’s fleeting. It doesn’t last if it’s not built with others, co-created.” …

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Writer and theologian C.S. Lewis on what why small choices matter: “Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise imposs…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Bob Rosen on uncertainty: “Uncertainty can become our undoing if we are not open to what’s around the corner, whether new ideas and experiences or the latest resentments or disappointments. During a state of uncertainty, we must learn to be comfortable with being vulnerable. Although the idea may seem counterintuitive, vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable says you are willing to take risks, be an imperfect person, and accept reality, whatever it may be.” Source: Detach: Ditch Your Bag…

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Andrew Kakabadse, Nada Kakabadse, and Linda Davies on leading to learn: “It is clear that successful leadership is never truly mastered as it is an organic service which must be ever refreshed and refined. The changing nature and demands of the follower and the changing nature and demands of the external environment mean that even once the leader has reached a point of maximum provision for their troops in their current state, they must put some serious planning into the next likely situation they will face. There is no rest. …

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee on prisons of our own making: “When we are in a downward emotional spiral, feeling confused, unhappy, or ill at ease, we often end up playing and replaying mental ‘tapes’ that actually accentuate our negative emotions and feelings of hopelessness. When we are feeling down over a long period of time, this self-talk centers on messages that undermine us and, in turn, our power to change bad situations (‘It’s not my fault’ ‘My life will never be really happy’) or messages that weaken our sense of …

HOW do you start your day? Is it hitting snooze 4 times before you reluctantly crawl out of bed, accepting your fate of another day? Or, are you on the other side of the spectrum, waking up at 4 am in order to ‘win the day,’ hitting the gym and grabbing a quick post workout bite before most people are even awake? Maybe you are a night owl work late and take your coffee black at 2 pm. Whatever your daily routine, it may be time to look at it with a fresh pair of eyes and an intention to change something. Most people make the mistake of going big where change is concerned. The quintessential example of this is the night owl, with trouble waking up before 8 am, setting a go…

UNCERTAINTY is dominating business planning. The tariffs announced on April 2 could trigger “a self-induced, economic nuclear winter,” according to hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. Businesses and nations are locked into a complex, international web of trade networks, just-in-time supply systems, currency exchanges, and mutual competition. And much of it is underpinned by the US dollar. Far from the US being “forced to sit on the sidelines as other nations got rich and powerful,” US GDP per capita is much higher than that of any other large country. Consequently, global shocks — perhaps arising from unilateral decisions on international trade, climate change, or a pandemi…

ACHIEVING sustained success hinges on consistent and well-conceived preparation. If you fail to work hard and think hard during preparation, no amount of talent or performance under pressure is going to save you. This is something so simple and easy to understand, yet it’s a shortcoming I see over and over in sports, business, and life. I was the head coach of the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team for 13 seasons. It was a terrific ride that included three visits to the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament, a Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship, and three SEC Coach of the Year awards. Preparation was key to our success. To give a very basic example of the …

IN MY early managerial days, I would often ask my bosses and peers how they learned the skill of delivering bad news. Almost always, their answer was: “You will learn it over time,” “There is no compression algorithm for experience,” or some variation of needing to put in the time. Granted, experience is one of the best teachers, but I have discovered there are tactics that can be learned so you don’t have to navigate without help. Spotting Problems at Work Detection is about how to spot problematic situations that might require you to intervene and deliver bad news. This might include an employee who is not pulling their weight, runaway projects, and so on. As a manag…

THINK back to the last difficult conversation you had. What happened? Maybe you lashed out, got defensive, dodged or overexplained; possibly you lied, got passive-aggressive, or completely shut down, unable to talk. Whatever the reaction, I want you to know that it’s normal. In high-stress interactions, our walls go up, and our armor comes on and we’re ready to protect ourselves in any way we can. Most of the time in difficult interactions, we turn cold. Our bodies tense up, and we’re on the defensive. We start saying things that are hurtful and unhelpful and likely have to repair the situation with multiple conversations to get the issue resolved. This toughness that we…

IT IS ALWAYS a challenge to change the way you think. And success can make it that much harder. In Seduced by Success, Robert Herbold observes that “whether you are talking about individuals, small groups, or large organizations, success generates the risk of falling prey to the mindset of becoming proud, to being very comfortable with your current practices, and to losing your sense of urgency.” Instead of building on your successes, you become complacent, repeating what you have always done. The “legacy of success is too often failure.” As Peter Drucker wrote, “Success always makes obsolete the very behavior that achieved it. It always creates new realities. It always…

ORGANIZATIONS are better managed than ever before. They have been optimized for safety, security, stability, and control. But what we need going forward is dynamic and, yes, inefficient. What is needed now is some deliberate chaos. In The Illusion of Innovation, author Elliott Parker believes that the focus on capital efficiency makes companies less capable of making big innovation bets that progress society because those bets have an uncertain payoff. The problem is that managing for predictability negates learning and progress. They are optimized for the wrong outcomes—predictability, not learning. The result is the illusion of innovation and progress while sacrificing…

STUDIES show that executive mental health is in a precarious state: 55% of CEOs in a recent 2024 study, for instance, self-reported they were having issues with their mental health. Given how private leaders tend to be about the pressures they’re under, imagine how many haven’t come forward. There’s an unspoken truth in high-level leadership: CEOs and executives bear the weight of their organizations alone, whether they admit it or not. No matter how many advisors, direct reports, or leadership partners surround them, they remain the ultimate decision-makers. Most also operate under the assumption that their primary role is to support everyone else — driving growth, ensu…

OUR mindset can either work for us or against us. A mind full of false narratives—false beliefs—will keep us from growing into our potential. Unchallenged, these negative beliefs will become the soundtrack we live by and keep us from moving in the direction of our best selves and change the outcome of our lives. Josh Axe identifies in Think This, Not That twelve mental barriers that obstruct personal growth and hinder success. Each comes with a critical mindshift—think this, not that—to realign our thinking and liberate us from our limiting beliefs. Mindshift 1: Create a Breakthrough by Unlimiting Your Beliefs We all have limiting beliefs like “I am not enough or not g…