Behavioural Assessment Tools

Behavioural Assessment Tools

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We can never have too many tools in our management tool kit. One challenge managers face on a day-to-day basis is communication. Am I communicating enough? Am I communicating the right information? Is my messaging clear, transparent, and is it being understood? I see this in every organization that I have had the pleasure to work with. Behavioural assessment tools are key to understanding and helping teams develop into high performing teams. In my travels with my profession, I have…

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Managing Mindfully

Managing Mindfully

When I became a manager for the first time, I had no training in management. It was like magic – poof! You are now a manager. Go forth and manage. So I did. I made mistakes. I bumbled around. I learned. I took classes and got feedback. Let me just say the early feedback wasn’t great. I realized I needed to spend time on my management skills and be mindful of how I managed. So I worked on my blind spots and…

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I Need You to Like Me

I Need You to Like Me

As I listened to my manager ask me if I still liked him after we had a disagreement, I thought, “Wwwhattt? Do I still like you??? What does that have to do with our discussion? We disagreed but you made a decision, so ok. What’s that got to do with liking you?” For some managers, they have a need for their staff to like them. They want to be buddies. They fear disagreements and confrontations because they think they will…

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Knowing My Weakness is My Strength

Knowing My Weakness is My Strength

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“You kinda ran over Joe,” one of my managers’ told me. I thanked the manager for sharing this with me then found Joe and asked him to come to my office. “Joe, I didn’t mean to dismiss your idea. I was just eager to get going on this project. Why don’t you go over your idea with me now?” That might sound like an easy transaction between Joe and I but it was a hard lesson for me to learn….

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Don’t come to me with problems; Come to me with answers!

Don’t come to me with problems; Come to me with answers!

Early in my career, I walked into my manager’s office and preceded to tell him how the approach we were taking for a software problem was the wrong one. I elaborated on how wrong it was – talking for almost 10 minutes, I laid out all my reasons. Rich sat quietly and listened. I finally completed my analysis of why the solution was wrong and looked at him expectantly. He said, “What do you suggest we do?” I hadn’t thought…

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