by Ginny | Aug 23, 2010 | Practice Leadership
Accenture poll indicates that tough times tend to provide a sense of urgency that can serve to facilitate change initiatives and motivate innovative problem solving.
I firmly believe that once you begin using forces outside of your control to explain poor or disappointing performance, you begin to rationalize that performance and you help the team become more comfortable with it. Here’s one instance where a reaction to outside forces may work to your advantage. An appropriate sense of urgency is critical to your success. According to John Kotter “At the very beginning of any effort to make changes of any magnitude, if a sense of urgency is not high enough and complacency is not low enough, everything else becomes so much more difficult.” Considering that 70% of change initiatives fail, let’s use every advantage we have to move our teams forward.
by Ginny | Aug 7, 2010 | Practice Leadership
One of the most basic findings in psychology is that rewarding a behavior increases the likelihood that it will increase
-People want to be appreciated and recognized
-The praise (and you) must be genuine for it to be credible
-If you praise more frequently, people will be accepting of your corrective feedback
-Don’t sandwich corrective feedback with praise, or your praise will be met with the thought “What did I do now?â€
-If you’re not in the habit of giving frequent praise, announce your intentions to praise people more often so they don’t wonder what’s going on. Tell them you’ve always appreciated them but realize that you seldom put it into words and you want to start letting them know how you feel about their contribution.
Bob Wall’s book Coaching for Emotional Intelligence – The Secrets to Developing the Star Potential in Your Employees
-Ginny Hegarty
by Ginny | Aug 3, 2010 | Team Development
Receiving positive reinforcement is one of the top predictors for success, yet only 39% of employees say their boss does a good job of recognizing and acknowledging their accomplishments. Are bosses falling short or do employees expect too much…? Ghandi challenged us to “be the change you want to see in the world” Imagine what positive change you could start if you began recognizing your boss and your coworkers for the good they are doing. Look for every chance to catch each other doing something great and tell everyone who will listen all about it. I’m willing to bet that you can start a wave of gratitude and appreciation within the practice. Don’t wait for the boss. Leadership opportunities are all around you.
-Ginny Hegarty
by Ginny | Jul 16, 2010 | General
I wrote a few days ago about how impressed I was by the service I received at Cole Haan. It just got even better. My shoes arrived within 2 business days and there was a handwritten note “Thanks for your purchase…I know you’ll love them” Shinning example of going the extra mile…it’s so easy to set yourself apart from the rest. Never underestimate the power of a personal note to extend a service experience and create Raving Fans!
-Ginny Hegarty
by Ginny | Jul 13, 2010 | General
Ben Rosen, Ph.D and Brad Kirkman, Ph.D conducted 15 one-on-one interviews with U.S. coaches of men’s and women’s sports teams, then surveyed 1,987 coaches of team sports. They found 5 recurring themes to building winning teams that are able to overcome unexpected obstacles:
1. Recruit resilient players*
2. Build a team culture
3. Focus on individual and team accountability
4. Develop coping skills
5. Manage the external environment
*Once again, success begins with the “right” team members. How are you recruiting resilient players? The Drake assessment is a critical success tool to identify strong prospects and develop current team members. Contact me for additional information on the Drake Assessment. 610-873-8404
-Ginny Hegarty
