Vivid Epiphany » Inspired Workplace

Is Humiliation a Leadership Tool?

Carolann Jacobs — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:49:12 +0000

When I first got my Saint Bernard, Ponca, the biggest behavioral challenge we had was that she beat the other two dogs up. Bloodfang and Knight, the existing members of Team Dog, didn’t understand her boundaries and rules because their rules were different. One rule on Team Dog was that water is an infinite, shared resource because Alpha Dog kept them fully supplied.

You Couldn’t Pay Me Enough to Do This Job

Carolann Jacobs — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:54:27 +0000

Update: Col. McCraw from DPS did respond to my email. The short version is that the mental and physical demands tend to weed out a portion of the new hires, and they are studying other reasons why trainees leave in the first year.

How Powerpoint Dumbs Down Your Organization

Carolann Jacobs — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:15:36 +0000

Powerpoint doesn’t kill brain cells…. people kill brain cells. Much like a gun and its ability to harm, Powerpoint provides a very effective method for making people stupid.

Here’s why – it provides the means and mechanism for dumping (some might call it vomiting) lists of facts (bullet points) all over the audience. This is not an effective way of disseminating information or learning. First and foremost, it’s boring. Boredom shuts down the brain. And, real learning requires involvement in the experience. Which means that it requires an experience.

I’m not a Mule, and Get that Carrot Out of my Face!

Carolann Jacobs — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:45:47 +0000

I love this short video by Dan Pink about what motivates us. As someone who’s mission is to create inspired workplaces, I think this says a lot about why traditional forms of performance management don’t work.

Man (or Woman) Up! Curing the Epidemic of Weak Leadership

Carolann Jacobs — Wed, 05 May 2010 23:15:47 +0000

This morning I was attending the Young Women Executives Forum at the Tower Club, and today’s topic was Conflict Management. This is a topic that I hit with my coaching clients 100% of the time.

How Inimitable Leadership Can Save the Day

Carolann Jacobs — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:09:44 +0000

Last week, I was reading an article on Gallup about how President and CEO Douglas R. Conant’s plan to revitalize Campbell’s Soup included a decade-long effort to improve employee engagement. To give you some background, Conent took over at Cambell’s about 9 years ago. Things weren’t going well. Campbell’s had one of the lowest engagement scores of any Fortune 500 ever.

Creating an Inspired Workplace: Putting Everyone on the In-Team

Carolann Jacobs — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:16:11 +0000

Ever had that experience in which you brought up a really good idea and the group or leader ignored it, only to have someone else bring up that exact same idea and the group met it with excitement?

Managewhich Tip: Process-Focus Ain’t a Bad Thing

Carolann Jacobs — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:37:16 +0000

Photo by Nur Hussein - find the pic on Flickr, the story is hilarious!

We hear a lot about being results-focused and results-driven. Results are important, and somewhere along the way, we’ve lost sight of the importance of the journey.

Managewhich Tips: What is “Too Busy” Saying About You?

Carolann Jacobs — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:25:30 +0000

We’re all busy. And, being busy in our culture can be a badge of honor. Busy = Important.

“Busy” is also where Managewhiches get tripped up.

Case Study 1:
Jennifer was on the receiving end of some “unpleasant” news. Her company was cutting back on hours for its hourly employees and reorganizing some of its work, and everyone was informed that “changes were coming” via mass email. Jennifer’s hours were cut in half (as she discovered by looking in the system for her schedule) and some of her duties were reassigned (as she discovered in an unfortunate incident when she showed up to work and someone else was doing her job).

Managewhich’s Guide to the Annual Review

Carolann Jacobs — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:49:13 +0000

For many middle managers, it’s that time of year again. Fiscal year’s over and review time is upon us. I’m guessing that this is an unpleasant task for most of you, which is a shame.