Book Review: The Surprising Science of Meetings

I guess that over the past 20 years, I have facilitated over 1,000 meetings. Some went better than others. My favorite book until just recently was Patrick Lencioni’s Death by Meetings. I now have a new favorite book on the topic of meetings. The Surprising Science of Meetings by Steven G. Rogelberg offers a comprehensive Read more about Book Review: The Surprising Science of Meetings[…]

Five Best Practices for Conducting Better 1-2-1 Meetings

How often are you conducting 1-2-1 meetings with your employees? How would you rate the effectiveness of those meetings? How would your employees rate the effectiveness of those meetings? I calculated recently that I have conducted over 7500 1-2-1 meetings with clients in the past 25 years. One day, I expect to hit 10,000 meetings. Read more about Five Best Practices for Conducting Better 1-2-1 Meetings[…]

The Twelve Days of Entrepreneurial Bliss-mas

(You are welcome to sing along)   On the first day of Entrepreneurial Bliss-mas Small Business Matters gave to me; A Huge New Order from my best customer to start the new year (with a large upfront deposit)   On the second day of Entrepreneurial Bliss-mas Small Business Matters gave to me; 2 Great New Salespeople Read more about The Twelve Days of Entrepreneurial Bliss-mas[…]

Book Review: The Progress Principle

What motivates your employees? Authors of The Progress Principle, Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer, conducted a rigorous analysis of nearly 12,000 diary entries provided by hundreds of employees in multiple companies. What they found is that the best leaders can build teams of employees who have satisfying “inner work lives”. They have consistently positive emotions, Read more about Book Review: The Progress Principle[…]

Should You Fire Your Cheerleader?

It depends. A year ago, I wrote an article about terrorists. You may recall that according to the Welch Grid, a terrorist employee gives you above-average job performance and below-average employee behavior. The question then was whether you should fire them. The easy answer was “Of course”. The reality is it’s typically a very tough Read more about Should You Fire Your Cheerleader?[…]