by Michael Holland Some people think that just having positional authority – title of Manager, Director, Vice President, etc. – will provide them the authority they need for people to listen to them and follow their directions. But having truly effective authority goes far beyond a title. People want to respect the people they report to. They [...]
by Michael Holland Great leaders portray an image of knowing the outcome of events well ahead of time. They seem to visualize the future and know exactly when and how to turn the motivational dials of the human team machine to exact great performance. For the rest of us aspiring leaders, we have moments of [...]
by Michael Holland Yes, there are some things you gain when you become a manager, but you lose things as well. Make sure you’ve left these behind or they could be impacting your effectiveness: Being one of the “guys” – you can no longer expect to socialize to the same extent or maintain the close personal [...]
by Michael Holland Leadership inspiration is often conveyed through words – both spoken and written. Employees listen, process and then attempt action. Your behavior can add to your inspiring words if you are illuminating the behaviors you truly desire. I guess either way, you will illuminate behavior; your employees will know if your behaviors match [...]
by Michael Holland You’ve heard the noise. The car next to you has a booming base radiating out through its closed windows. You can feel the sound in your car. Is it techno or is it classical or is that a pop beat? Are you moving to the beat? Or maybe you’re looking in disgust [...]
by Michael Holland A recent study showed that paying someone a compliment activates the same reward center in the brain as paying them cash. So what’s the cost/benefit factor of positive feedback? Potentially priceless. You can effectively influence behavior through regular positive feedback. It increases a person’s energy, motivation, makes people more receptive to new [...]
by Michael Holland We’ve all gotten into those conversations where at some point we realize we’ve made some incorrect assumptions. That happens when we are managing an employee’s performance also. As managers, we frequently think we know why a person did what they did, or know what they intended, or draw conclusions about someone’s performance [...]
by Michael Holland About four months into their new role, young leaders struggle as they hit their tipping point with the realization that they have all this “management stuff” to do and they still have “real” work to do. They are executing the same behaviors and habits learned from years as an individual contributor and [...]
by Michael Holland Did you know that what you are saying is not always the message you are sending? There are numerous factors that impact our communication and often create unintended messages and miscommunications as we work with employees. In face-to-face communications our non-verbal communication will have a greater impact on how someone interprets our [...]
by Michael Holland Are you really listening to what people are saying to you? Many people – your employees included – “test the waters” when they are talking with you. They may start out with “safe” topics, or share what they think you want to hear, leaving valuable information below the surface, deciding on how [...]
