Dave's Library

Collaborative bosses can use curiosity to escape the echo chamber of their own ideas

Recognizing employees for the good work they do is a critical leadership skill – and has an impact on morale, productivity, performance, retention, and even customer satisfaction. Yet, there are a frightening number of leaders who fail to do it frequently or skillfully. Based on an analysis of thousands of 360-degree leadership assessments, the authors show there is a strong connection between employee recognition and engagement. Managers who are rated in the top 10% for giving recognition are much more likely to have employees who report feeling engaged, confident they’ll be treated fairly, and willing to put in higher levels of discretionary effort. The authors also share tips on improving both the substance and delivery of the recognition.

Being seen at work still matters for your career, but there’s a smarter way to boost your profile than pretending you live at your desk

Our work is ever-changing. But the way we collect feedback is stuck in the past.

Renewals -- but no new sales -- of the passes have begun, with a few changes and price increases.

When you’re at your wit’s end with a challenging colleague and it feels like you’ve tried everything, well-meaning friends and coworkers may tell you to “just ignore it” or to “suck it up” and move on with your life. But suppressing our emotions rarely helps. In this piece, the author outlines four tactics that are tempting to try — but often backfire — when dealing with a difficult colleague. Another one to avoid: waiting to see if your difficult colleague will just leave on their own. Your dream that they’ll walk out the door may come true, but there’s no guarantee that the culture will shift or that you’ll get along with their replacement. Ultimately you’re better off trying to create a workable situation with your colleague now. And remember: even small improvements can make a big difference.

An inclusion expert explains why women of color are held back.

The new work calendar isn’t about office or home, it’s about three meeting types and the conditions that serve them best. Transactional gatherings move work forward; relational gatherings strengthen connections; and adaptive gatherings help us address complex or sensitive topics. As transactional gatherings are easier to conduct online, relational and adaptive gatherings have become relatively scarce. Now is a great time to reintroduce and redesign these gatherings, as all had flaws even before the pandemic. The author outlines the best conditions for all three and explains why each needs to have its own space and place.

A leader causing upset among her people is given a coach. They examine what might be triggering people to be upset with her. Learn more.

New research suggests that the highest-performing teams have found subtle ways of leveraging social connections during the pandemic to fuel their success. The findings offer important clues on ways any organization can foster greater connectedness — even within a remote or hybrid work setting — to engineer higher-performing teams. Doing so takes more than simply hiring the right people and arming them with the right tools to do their work. It requires creating opportunities for genuine, authentic relationships to develop. The authors present five key characteristics of high-performing teams, all of which highlight the vital role of close connection among colleagues as a driver of team performance.

Do you find yourself avoiding conversations on disabilities? Worried you'll offend a disabled friend? A disability rights activist shares ways to be a better ally and to destigmatize disability in America.

Many companies suspended reviews during Covid. Now they are paying renewed attention to worker performance—much to the chagrin of some employees.

Working in a coffee bar means working in close quarters with your fellow baristas, managers, and owners. In this daily work we will eventually begin to feel the tension and start to wonder about how we can set boundaries for ourselves so we can…

*They might not actually make you go.

Being a perfectionist does not mean that you are doomed as a manager. Organizational research on perfectionism is starting to provide new insights and practical evidence-based steps for managers and their network to breaking free from their perfectionistic compulsions. Fortunately, perfectionists are likely to be goal-focused and action-oriented and these strategies are aimed at helping them recalibrate their expectations.

Saying no is a skill — and practising it improved our science.

Interpersonal conflicts are common in the workplace, and it’s easy to get caught up in them. But that can lead to reduced creativity, slower and worse decision-making, and even fatal mistakes. So how can we return to our best selves? Having studied conflict management and resolution over the past several years, the author outlines seven principles to help you work more effectively with difficult colleagues: (1) Understand that your perspective is not the only one possible. (2) Be aware of and question any unconscious biases you may be harboring. (3) View the conflict not as me-versus-them but as a problem to be jointly solved. (4) Understand what outcome you’re aiming for. (5) Be very judicious in discussing the issue with others. (6) Experiment with behavior change to find out what will improve the situation. (7) Make sure to stay curious about the other person and how you can more effectively work together.

Your primary task as a leader is to build capability below you — but for new managers, this can be especially challenging. You want to be liked. That’s natural. But remember: Placing performance pressure on your team isn’t cruel. A leader who stretches their people risks the possibility of not being liked in order to give others the opportunity to grow. This means the next time you are tempted to solve a problem for your team member, stop yourself. Turn it into a learning opportunity instead. Don’t play the game — keep the score. As a new manager you may feel like a team captain striving to be the best player on the field. But remember: You’re not the captain, you’re the coach. Your job is to set clear expectations, communicate who is accountable for them, and give them the tools they need to succeed. Ask the right questions. When someone comes to you with a problem, ask searching questions. What do you think is at the core of this issue? Have you thought about alternative approaches? What can we sacrifice without detracting from the overall value of the project? Think about your future. Your goal shouldn’t be to make yourself indispensable to your team, it should be to make yourself redundant. Build a team that can function without you, and then go to the next level and build another one. This is what will ultimately set you apart as a leader, not just a doer.

Given any advice lately? If so, I want you to think about this - when was the last time you asked a powerful question? In today’s episode, I’m diving into one of the most important tools to becoming a better listener and how you can use the…

Pichai is encouraging leaders and parents to tap into the deep well of intrinsic motivation

Managers hoping to coax workers back to offices are trying to lead by example, trading their ocean views at vacation homes for seas of empty desks.

Across industries and incomes, more employees are being tracked, recorded and ranked. What is gained, companies say, is efficiency and accountability. What is lost?

Michael Bungay Stanier has a rich history of powerful podcasts, including the Great Work Podcast, We Will Get Through This, and 2 Pages with MBS. Find the best episodes in one place here on the Best of MBS.

The American Opportunity Survey illuminates how many people are offered remote work, if it's effective, and how people feel about it.

Some Gen Z professionals are saying no to hustle culture. “I’m not going to go extra.”

When trying to launch a female-driven dating app, Whitney Wolfe Herd faced continuous rejection. Now, the Bumble CEO says being underestimated is her superpower.

Hyper-specific and unconventional roles are opening up to match a professional landscape no one has seen before.

It’s better to overcommunicate and sound redundant than to undercommunicate and seem unclear and uncaring.

Even when your brain feels like mush.