Motivation

Many people make New Year’s resolutions dedicated to making themselves better in some way. Whether it’s to lose weight and get fit; become a better leader; or be a better spouse, parent, or friend.…

Quiet Quitting is trending—on TikTok, in articles and blogs. Definitions vary but tend to include things like (1) worker disengagement, (2) a refusal to go “above and beyond,” and (3) a re-set of…

Recently during a leadership workshop I was facilitating, a participant approached me at a break and told me he wanted more out of his direct reports. He wanted to know why his current approach was…

This is a reprint of a classic blog by Aubrey Daniels, from 2012. The origin of New Year’s Resolutions can be linked to pre-Christian times in Rome, thousands of years ago.  So every year about this…

At Thanksgiving dinner my family does what many families do—we go around the table and share what we are thankful for. Not surprisingly, on the top of our lists are people. Family and friends support…

Many people underestimate the complexity of being a good leader while simultaneously overestimating their own leadership skills. According to Psychology Today, “The Dunning-Kruger effect is a…

All projects and change efforts involve behavioral risk. They require people to start doing some things or to do things differently. When sustained behavior change is a requirement, those responsible…

It is quite likely that even the best MBA programs in the world are missing out on preparing their candidates with the one thing that will ensure they enter the real world with proven, effective…

Based on the positive response to my blog on Increasing Meaningful Behaviors, I thought it worthwhile to extend the discussion. As you now know, values can play an important role in our lives and…

For most of us in the US and for many throughout the world, our lives have been turned upside down by stay-at-home orders. We’ve lost access to many of our favorite places to spend our time.  For me…

It is hard to concentrate right now. Really hard. Kids at home, breaking news lighting up our phones every few hours, concerns over family and friends, supply chain disruptions, stock market worries……

We have all been hearing about the home-schooling struggles of parents of younger school-age kids. The fact that my kids are 17 and 19 is one of the things I feel grateful for during this time of…

Think of discretionary effort as the more in the “I got more” GEICO commercials.  Discretionary Effort is defined as performance that is above and beyond the minimum requirements of a job. More…

“I told you to do it this way.” “Weren’t you in the training where we learned how to do this correctly?” “Why do you keep doing this?” “I thought I was clear about how I wanted this done.” Anyone…

A topic that often comes up while discussing behavioral consequences with leaders is that of self-consequences. In other words, can a person provide consequences to themselves for their own behavior…

Let’s face it, today’s workforce looks very different than those of the past—especially if you're a manager. It is now very common for employee groups to extend across many generations, making it the…

Most of us have had the opportunity to work under great, and unfortunately not so great, leaders. More than likely when you worked with great leaders you delivered high levels of discretionary effort…

About 11 years ago, my father underwent successful open-heart surgery at age 74. The surgeons completed a triple by-pass and valve replacement. My family and I learned that among the many profound…