How can you as a front line supervisor deal with dominant personalities on your team? There are two types of defensiveness people use to protect themselves. Passive defensive, and aggressive defensive. We’re not going to focus on passive defensive, which simply means  the person protects themself by laying low and[...]

How can conflict increase performance? It shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that conflict is usually viewed in a negative way. After all, it can either be destructive or it could create breakthroughs in a positive way. Remember  conflict is totally natural and normal at work. There will be disagreements[...]

How can you as a front line leader help teams solve problems better and unlock greater potential in your team? In our training, we use interactive survival simulations, and it’s fair to say the teams that participate in the training don’t always do as well as they would like. Let’s[...]

How can you as a supervisor become more confident during a disciplinary talk? One of the least favorite parts of being a supervisor is having a disciplinary talk with an employee who has either broken the rules or had unacceptable performance. There are several reasons why leaders don’t look forward[...]

Knowing when to dive in and when to step back is a key skill for any leader. When should you, as the leader, dive in and maybe even micromanage on a short-term basis, and when should you step back and let your team take charge of a situation? Nobody likes[...]

Does your company make promises during the recruiting process that don’t resemble an employee’s actual experience in your company? You may have experienced this yourself. Remember a job you accepted that didn’t reflect the reality of what you experienced after you started the job? It could have been due to[...]

How can you get your newer employees to identify stupid rules? You could make your workplace more appealing and discover opportunities to improve things by tapping into the fresh perspectives that newer workers bring to the workplace. A new person joining your workplace is going to have a totally different[...]

Is it better to listen to your gut, or should you go with what the data says? Your gut is a culmination of all the experiences you’ve had and the emotions that went along with those experiences. Your gut does tell you a lot, and your intuition is important. I[...]

No doubt you’ve learned from your mistakes, but what have you learned from your successes? There is a treasure trove of learning you can get by reflecting on your past successes. You’ve heard the expression, “you learn a lot from your mistakes”, and certainly a lot of your leadership lessons[...]

What are the words that leaders should never say? Let’s look at some of the things that leaders say that they absolutely should not say. Leaders might say things that cause permanent relationship damage in their team or in their relationship with their colleagues or even with their boss. When[...]