Engagement and interpersonal relationships form the core focus of my work with teams. I’m obsessed with dissolving barriers to workplace results and relationships. Morale is often a casualty of things gone wrong.
A workshop participant asked, ‘is there anything I should or should not do when it comes to encouraging positive workplace morale?’
Let’s look at an example to tease out the solution. Consider one of your workplace first day stories. Do you remember what it was like arriving in to a new workplace? What happened in your first interactions? Were they inspiring? Energising? Or cold and depressing?
In my experience, how you start is how you go on. And in this we discover the secrets of morale.
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Read MoreWith all the fresh snow from the ‘Blizzard of Oz’, it seemed every man and their dog was out on the slopes, taking advantage of the extraordinary conditions. This meant long queues for the lifts. If you’ve never skied at a resort before, imagine this: it’s like sheep being squeezed through little channels to funnel towards a shearing shed. At the ski lifts, the action point is where people line up to get on the chair or tow-bar. There is a sheep-dip like turnstile that reads your pass electronically, before you shuffle forward towards the chair. For a four-person lift, there are four turnstiles, the idea being that you go through in a line, all ready for the chair.
Sounds good in theory. In practice, mayhem.
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Read MoreToni Hoffman was a senior nurse at Bundaberg Base hospital. In 2006 she was awarded the Order of Australia medal and the Local Hero Award.
She went through hell. She was the whistleblower on the Jayant Patel case, a surgeon who was convicted of manslaughter and grievous bodily harm. (These charges were later quashed and a retrial ordered. In 2015 he was finally barred from practising medicine in Australia. Her actions likely saved many lives and caused improvement in the hospital’s systems.) She was shunned by her peers, unsupported by the administration. Her health suffered.
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Read MorePeter Gordon is the CEO of Hands Across Canberra, and in our podcast interview he celebrates the power of saying ‘yes’ when people come together to make a difference for others.
I asked, “what does it take to move people from an idea to saying yes”? And he replied, “I wish I knew”.
I’ve been turning it over in my mind. This is what I believe moves people from being impressed by an idea or cause to following through and saying yes to an opportunity to contribute - either with money, time, or expertise.
There are three factors that determine whether someone says No, Maybe or Yes.
These are:
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Read MoreJohn spent the good part of an hour with me complaining about the lack of support from the marketing department. His project was a strategic initiative of national importance. If it flopped, it would be devastating for the company’s reputation. He needed marketing’s help desperately. His frustration was palpable.
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Read MoreI have a google alert that notifies me of any news article that mentions ‘speaking up’. I get at least two articles per day that mention the obstacles, consequences, and the outcomes of speaking up. This is usually against an injustice. From afar, we give a head nod to those who put themselves in the crossfire for a higher cause. We deem them noble and brave.
And we like to think we would do the same.
But would we?
Here are some common reasons clients have told me about why they don’t speak up:
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Read MoreThere are some beautiful amazing people on the planet sharing glorious insights that can help us expand as leaders. Here are a few of them:
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