Team-Building

5 techniques to cure your team’s negativity

February 28, 2013

When teams sputter, conflicts can erupt. As the leader, you can insist that difficult personalities find a way to get along. Encourage diverse teams to look past their differences. Use these strategies to cure your team’s negativity.

Leading teams? Use smart silence

February 19, 2013

When leading teams, resist the urge to overdo it. Some facilitators jump in and play fixer as soon as the group hits a snag. But the team won’t grow if you intervene too soon—or too often.

3 ways to save warring workgroups

February 12, 2013

Some teams struggle to work together. Personalities clash, disagreements intensify and meetings turn into protracted turf battles. When groups become polarized, shake up the status quo. Try these techniques to reverse a downhill spiral so that teams regain their footing.

Hold meetings that lead to action: team management

February 4, 2013

The best meetings don’t happen by accident. For Al Pittampalli, author of Read This Before Our Next Meeting, the key to worthwhile meetings is to distribute relevant material to participants ahead of time, and hold them accountable for reading the content.

Playbook of a basketball king

January 31, 2013
You don’t win, as a coach, more men’s college basketball games than any other without being a phenomenal leader. Duke University’s Mike Krzyzewski is a leader who happens to coach basketball. He knows that his efforts and successes are about others, not about himself …

How to lead by getting out of the way

January 2, 2013

Even though Brad Smith, CEO of Intuit, oversees a workforce of about 8,000 people, he spurs innovation by getting out of the way. Rather than micromanage, he prods employees to think like entrepreneurs launching a business.

4 questions you need to ask your team

December 12, 2012
Intelligent leaders don’t know everything. But they’re smart enough to ask the right questions. Posing sharp inquiries elevates your team’s thinking. Here are four simple ones that effective leaders ask their colleagues.

Guide your teams to attain goals: 3 ways

October 8, 2012
Savvy leaders induce compliance rather than demand it. To lead others in the right direction, articulate a clear goal and set a time­table for attaining it. Let the conversation unfold in three phases:

3 keys to measure staff engagement

September 17, 2012
Engaging your employees enhances the bottom line. How do you measure engagement? Use a system that rates staffers on three behaviors:

Reach your core with a ‘no spin’ zone

September 7, 2012

As president of Usher’s New Look Foundation, Shawn H. Wilson puts a premium on openness and communication. To drive his team toward success, he asks that employees assume a “no-spin” attitude in talking about problems.