In his biting satire A Modest Proposal, author Jonathan Swift suggested that poor people in Ireland could ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food to the elite. His satirical hyperbole was meant to mock hostile attitudes towards the poor at the time. Not all were amused by his shocking essay back in 1729, least of all the upper class. In response […]
Unfair Workplace? Time to Flip the Script Read More »
Jane, the Executive Director of a national pediatric cancer research nonprofit, had been losing sleep for weeks over looming funding cuts. She clung to hope that the rumors were wrong and that her team could continue its groundbreaking work, saving thousands of lives. Then, in the middle of a national clinical trial, the unthinkable happened.
Bridging the Divide: Building Win-Win Solutions in Tough Times Read More »
Despite historically proclaiming “unwavering support” for the LGBTQ community, companies are scrubbing all references to DEI, transgender, women, equity and inclusion from their websites. Despite lavishing praise in performance reviews, organizations are unceremoniously terminating employees for “poor performance.” Despite touting how much they respect their employees, employers are forcing employees back to the office full
When Values and Behaviors Collide, Time for a Culture Reset Read More »
“Whoa! What the %^&$ is happening here? Let’s knock it off right now!” Clearly, this is not the best way to call a time out when a meeting spirals out of control, especially when higher-ups are around the table. But remaining silent won’t stop a dysfunctional meeting in its tracks, either. Whether you’re the meeting
Tips for Naming the Elephant in the Room, Safely Read More »
Just because someone has strong principles, they may not have scruples. And someone with scruples may not have principles. It happens more often than you think. Case in point: Marta is a senior ops manager for a Fortune 50 conglomerate. She believes the key to profitability is an unwavering focus on efficiency and shows no
What’s Worse: Principles Without Scruples, or Scruples Without Principles? Read More »
We all know leaders who run away when it comes to handling conflicting viewpoints across their teams. When the stakes are high and the conflict is intense, they can’t get away fast enough. When there’s no escaping, they attempt to circumvent needed discussions with platitudes like these: Can’t we just agree to disagree? (Um, no.
Facilitating Safe Conversations When Viewpoints Collide Read More »
Competing return to office (RTO) policies have been making the headlines. Amazon’s CEO has notified employees that as of January 5, it’s everyone back to the office for everyone every day. Meanwhile, across town, Starbucks’ new CEO just alerted employees that they needn’t come into the office more than three days a week. 79% of
Should They Stay (Remote) or Should They Go (Back to the Office)? Read More »
If senior leaders decide that a change must be made, how important is it, really, that employees buy into it? If it’s mandatory, why pretend that employees have a say in it? If the change is truly urgent, why slow things down to gain consensus? If it’s a done deal, why bother offering a rationale? Leading successful change
Costly Missteps that Destroy Trust During Times of Change Read More »
We were halfway through a two-day project kick-off meeting for a global IT team about to roll out a new mail and messaging system for the company’s 100K+ employees around the world. The execution had to be flawless. The pressure on this team was intense. Huddled around the conference room table were a dozen
Confronting Dysfunctional Behavior Without Completely Losing It Read More »
True story: Ted, a mid-level HR professional for a fast-growing biopharma in my area, assumed the worst when he was ushered into a conference room, the door closing softly behind him. “I’m being laid off, aren’t I?” he asked as he scanned at the grim faces around the table. “No Ted, you’re not. But dozens of people
Tips for Earning Trust During Times of Change Read More »
Great teamwork wasn’t all that easy to come by even when everyone worked together in one place. When the pandemic hit, with people scattering to work from wherever, it took a while for teams to regain their stride, and some never really did. Some teams grew closer as they commiserated from the relative safety and
You call that a team??? Read More »
The dust had finally settled on the company’s latest Return to Office policy. Although it took a lot of cajoling, after a six-month grace period, most employees were back in the office the mandated three days a week. People seemed mostly happy being back together in the same place, making meaningful connections with those they’d
Tips for Conquering the Whiplash of Change Read More »
Sarah slams down her tray and sighs as she settles herself across the table from Jerome, her fellow manager, to gulp down a 10-minute lunch, a rare luxury these days. “I am just so fed up with some of our newest team members, I could scream! If they ask me for feedback one more time…”
Can’t we all just get along (with Gen Z) in the workplace)? Read More »
This was my first cross-cultural training workshop for this process control firm that had recently been acquired by two new parent companies, one German and one French. The language classes offered by the company were helpful to a point, but cultural differences were causing insurmountable problems, leading to mutual distrust, project delays, and rapid attrition.
6 Good Reasons to Take Games Seriously at Work Read More »
The new employee roaming empty halls eager to find someone – anyone—to talk to The CEO who publicly boasts about inclusion before dismantling the DEI team The employee whose manager cancels their 1:1 meetings The team whose members constantly can’t agree on their primary communications channel The remote worker who’s always left out of important
Creating, Restoring Lost Connections in a Hybrid World Read More »
“Our meetings have gone off the rails. No one seems to know how to rein in the loudmouths or to get the quiet people talking. Pretty much everyone leaves our meetings feeling frustrated, mad and really deflated. We need help!” If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. I get emails and posts like this almost
Stop Letting Bad Behavior Derail Your Next Meeting Read More »
“Hybrid work is here to stay” “CEOs predict full return to the office within 12 months” “Return to office mandates not going as planned” Clickbait headlines like these can be really confusing and in many cases, simply not true. Instead of trying to make sense of pundits’ conflicting predictions about hybrid work, here’s a chance
Real-world Strategies for Winning the Hybrid Game Read More »
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill “No one has ever become poor by giving.” – Anne Frank Each year, members of my (very large, extended) family vow to cut back on holiday gifts. (“Let’s do a Secret Santa! Or “Hey, how about a Yankee Swap?”)
(Free) Gifts that Keep on Giving Year-Round, at Work or Home Read More »
Earlier this month, Margie’s company mandated that all employees be onsite at least four days a week, up from three. Some are following the new mandate begrudgingly, while others are ignoring it, for now. Kelly’s company, meanwhile, has announced a permanent “employee choice” policy, where employees and their teams decide where and when they work.
What? So What? Now What? – Today’s Workplace Trends and Why They Matter Read More »
“Fine! Have it your way. Again. You always do.” “Hey, you had a chance to speak up, and you still haven’t told us why you oppose this proposal. We can’t read your mind.” “Has it occurred to you that I’m not the only one who thinks this is a bad idea? Maybe I’m the only one who’s willing to speak out.”
Confronting Conflict with Courage in Remote Teams Read More »
“Hi Nancy, I hope you can help me. We just had to cancel our 2-week-long program kick-off meeting in New York City, and now we have to figure out how to run the whole thing virtually. I’ve been looking all over for someone like you. Can we talk?” Even though I got such emails when
Timeless Tips for Designing and Facilitating Engaging Virtual (or Hybrid) Meetings Read More »
Admit it. You’ve done your share of commiserating about some perfectly awful meetings you’ve had to endure. In fact, you’ve been such a vocal critic of poorly-run meetings that your manager anoints you as the perfect person to facilitate a do-or-die budget planning session with your team, group VP, CFO and a few other high-level decision-makers. If
Overcome the Worst Facilitation Fears of Introverts (and Everyone Else) Read More »
If I ask you whether my presentation that I’ve labored over for weeks was any good, your slight nod after a long hesitation tells me that I pretty much bombed, despite your verbal assurance that “it was fine, really.” I really can’t tell if you are trying to spare my feelings or if you have
Bracing for Giving (and Getting) Difficult Feedback When You Can’t See Eye to Eye Read More »
The cafeteria on the 9th floor is mostly empty as James and Ceci plunk down their trays at a table near the window, out of earshot. They began on the same day six months ago, both newly-minted grads starting their careers in the company’s corporate marketing department, working for different managers. As new employees, they’ve been
Why Coaches Make the Best Leaders in a Hybrid World Read More »
Every day brings new fires Amy has to put out. Yesterday it was yet another corporate policy calling for mandatory office time, prompting employees to ping her throughout the day. Earlier today, two of her top employees let her know they’re thinking about leaving. And she positively dreads her all-hands meeting tomorrow, when she’ll have
What Today’s Managers Really Need to Succeed in a Hybrid World Read More »
No doubt, making go/no-go decisions for billion-dollar projects requires careful consideration, but this was getting ridiculous. Marc’s 20-person Engineering team, scattered across multiple time zones, was on the hot seat for recommending large-scale exploration projects for this European-based global oil and gas leader. For many of these projects, time was of the essence. This was
How Great Facilitation Leads to Better Decisions, More Revenue and Less Waste Read More »
Roger, a newly-hired Chief Development Officer for one of New York’s biggest hospitals, was eager to meet his team. He called an All-Hands meeting for his 65 employees for Monday at 9AM on his first day, with coffee, bagels and fruit set up in the in the executive conference room. His excitement slowly gave way
Before Attempting Big Change, First, Root Out the Dysfunction Read More »
“If you don’t work at the Mothership, you’ll never get ahead. That’s how I see it.” The “Mothership” in this case was the gleaming new HQ building outside of Boston where hundreds of corporate staff members for this growing software company came to work each day. The HQ campus had everything an employee could ever
Why advancement, growth and visibility shouldn’t depend on work location Read More »
Senior leaders from a family-run Boston-area insurance company were frustrated that their 90+ corporate employees were refusing to return to the office full time. “We want to get back to being a family, just like we were before COVID,” they said. Employees and department managers saw it differently. “We’ve proven that we can be even
How shared principles finally got a leadership team unstuck Read More »
This is one of a series of Field Spotlights where I share experiences, tips and observations from company leaders who are fully immersed in the transformation to hybrid. “In the last few years, we’ve acquired three other companies whose products complement ours. Throughout the pandemic, we’ve had to integrate certain operations without being able to
How a Growing Pharma Blends Asynch, Real-time Communications to Boost Productivity Read More »
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Nancy Settle-Murphy
Overcoming Time and Distance to Achieve Exceptional Results
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