Guided Insights

nancy@guidedinsights.com

(978) 263-2545

Menu
Twitter Linkedin
Menu
Menu
Twitter Linkedin

Newsletter: Leadership and management (general)

Overcome the Worst Facilitation Fears of Introverts (and Everyone Else)

Leave a Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

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 »

How Great Facilitation Leads to Better Decisions, More Revenue and Less Waste

Leave a Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

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 »

Flexible, Productive and Collaborative: A Model Hybrid Workplace

Leave a Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

This is part of our ongoing series of Field Spotlight Communiques with senior leaders who share successes, challenges, tips and observations for making a successful transition to a hybrid remote workplace. “Prior to COVID, our employees worked mostly face to face, five days a week. On March 13, 2020, everyone suddenly started working remotely. Today, …

Flexible, Productive and Collaborative: A Model Hybrid Workplace Read More »

The Virtues of Failing Fast, in a Forward Direction

Leave a Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

A friend’s daughter just announced her family’s sudden decision to pack up and move several states away, with no jobs, no residence, three school-age kids, one dog and two cats. My friend is agonizing over whether to try to talk her daughter out of it (“How will you live?  Where will you live? What about health insurance? …

The Virtues of Failing Fast, in a Forward Direction Read More »

Unconscious Bias: Just Because You Can’t See It, Others (Almost Certainly) Can

Leave a Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

There we were. A roomful of mostly white adults from my upper middle-class, fairly liberal Massachusetts town, gathered together in our earnest desire to discover how to be better allies to people of color. Tensions grew as the facilitators led us into uncomfortable conversations designed to help us uncover our hidden biases, layer by layer. …

Unconscious Bias: Just Because You Can’t See It, Others (Almost Certainly) Can Read More »

Easing the Pain of an Abrupt Transition, from Afar

1 Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

“Congratulations! You have a unique set of skills that makes you a perfect fit for another project. So we’re ‘rewarding’ you by moving you over to another manager. This is a fabulous career move, with plenty of opportunities for growth. Of course I’m sad to see you go, but I know you’ll do great.” Such …

Easing the Pain of an Abrupt Transition, from Afar Read More »

How Feedback Can Stunt Growth, Stifle Learning and Encourage Mediocrity

1 Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

Feedback of any kind rarely helps people perform better, no matter how much you dress it up and call it something pretty. In fact, telling people what they need to do differently, however well-intended, actually can block learning and prevent growth. As a result of reading the article The Feedback Fallacy in the March-April 2019 Harvard Business Review, I …

How Feedback Can Stunt Growth, Stifle Learning and Encourage Mediocrity Read More »

Daring Leaders Build Trust by Peeling Away the Armor, Choosing Courage Over Comfort

Leave a Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

How can I build trust, quickly, across my team? That’s the #1 question I get from my clients and students. Before I read Brené Brown’s  brilliant new book, Dare to Lead, I would have hedged, insisting that there are too many variables to give just one answer. But now I realize there is one answer that seems to …

Daring Leaders Build Trust by Peeling Away the Armor, Choosing Courage Over Comfort Read More »

Damage done: Leadership lessons from a fairytale team

Leave a Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

Baseball may not be your thing. And if you’re from certain regions of the U.S., you may not want to hear one more thing about a winning Boston team. (I admit, it can get tiresome.) But please hear me out: The 2018 Boston Red Sox team was the best evah to take the field in Fenway Park, and …

Damage done: Leadership lessons from a fairytale team Read More »

Making the Most of Bittersweet Endings, Tough Break-ups and Brand New Starts

Leave a Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

My twin daughters graduated from high school three days ago, which should really be a time of great celebration. To retain my sanity, I’ve been keeping busy with necessary distractions like planning their party, gearing up for our summer vacation (possibly, one of our last together!), and (thankfully) a barrage of client work. But every …

Making the Most of Bittersweet Endings, Tough Break-ups and Brand New Starts Read More »

How Mindful Leaders Keep Calm Under Pressure, Inspire Better Team Performance

Leave a Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

Judging from your team’s expression of outrage when you made your latest impossible request, you realize you’ve just crossed a red line. While you feel badly, especially since you’ve given team members a barrage of pretty ridiculous demands lately, you really had no choice. Your manager has made it clear (again!) that failure is not …

How Mindful Leaders Keep Calm Under Pressure, Inspire Better Team Performance Read More »

How Mindfulness Keeps You Present, and Why It Matters

1 Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

Imagine this: It’s after 5 PM, and your train is leaving in less than a half-hour. You’re in the middle of saving your final edits to the presentation for the executive team meeting first thing tomorrow, when you hear the unwelcome ping of an incoming IM from your boss: “Sorry for the last-minute change, but …

How Mindfulness Keeps You Present, and Why It Matters Read More »

How to Make Introverts and Extroverts Happy, and How to Drive Them Crazy

1 Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

“We suspect that our team can be a lot more effective if we can do a better job of acknowledging, appreciating and accommodating the introverts among us. We also want to acknowledge what our extroverts need to operate at their peak potential.” That’s the challenge my client recently asked me to help solve for her …

How to Make Introverts and Extroverts Happy, and How to Drive Them Crazy Read More »

Prove You’re Trustworthy – Here’s How, and Why It’s Critical to Make the Effort

1 Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

When I see a provocative headline, I check the veracity with at least two reputable news sources before I accept it as at least a close approximation of the truth. (And even then, many major news outlets often fail to report the really important news, which undermines their credibility, in my book.) I am not …

Prove You’re Trustworthy – Here’s How, and Why It’s Critical to Make the Effort Read More »

How Restorative Justice Concepts Can Make for Healthier Workplace Relationships

Leave a Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

My first offender was a college sophomore who decided that the perfect place to have a party was the vacant home of a friend whose family was on vacation. We’ll never know whether she was being honest when she claimed not to have realized that the friend’s parents weren’t home. But what we do know …

How Restorative Justice Concepts Can Make for Healthier Workplace Relationships Read More »

Great Gift Ideas Everyone on your Team Will Appreciate Now, and Later

Leave a Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

For many of us, the month of December evokes the spirit of giving more than any other time of the year. Not to say we’re not generous of spirit all year round, but it’s typically during the holiday season that we are most likely to affirm appreciation for team members. Finding the right gifts for …

Great Gift Ideas Everyone on your Team Will Appreciate Now, and Later Read More »

Prevent Thoughtless Habits From Squandering Your Team’s Time

Leave a Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

We are scrupulous about managing our budgets, jumping through hoops (and filling out countless forms) to get approval for every expenditure, whether it’s for a $300 printer or a part-time contractor. And yet, even though we may say that time is money, few of us show the same kind of scrutiny when it comes to …

Prevent Thoughtless Habits From Squandering Your Team’s Time Read More »

When it Comes to Giving, Little Things Mean a Lot

Leave a Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

This is the time of year when we turn our thoughts to giving. But for many of us, that’s where we stop. Just because we have noble intentions, it doesn’t mean we automatically get more time in our busy days to be generous to others, when we’re barely keeping our heads above water ourselves. According …

When it Comes to Giving, Little Things Mean a Lot Read More »

From Jaded to Jazzed: Quick Tips for Sustaining Happy, Healthy Virtual Teams

Leave a Comment / Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

Have you ever been part of a team where you’re inspired and energized by your work, really enjoy the people, feel like you’re making some great contributions, and have meaningful opportunities to learn and grow? If you’re lucky, maybe it’s been once or twice. If you work virtually, attaining this kind of “team nirvana” is …

From Jaded to Jazzed: Quick Tips for Sustaining Happy, Healthy Virtual Teams Read More »

Drive Out Distractions and Reclaim Your Time

Leave a Comment / Articles, Newsletter, Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

As I write this month’s Communiqué, I’m completely focused on my topic. I can get this written in about an hour, if no one interrupts me. An email flashes on my screen. What if it’s really important? Twenty-five minutes later (okay, so I read a few emails and replied to three of them); I’m ready …

Drive Out Distractions and Reclaim Your Time Read More »

Magic Numbers for Successful Teamwork

Leave a Comment / Newsletter, Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

People often ask me: What’s the ideal number of people to have on any given team to produce the best results? My answer: It depends. Several factors go into coming up with that magic number, such as: Clarity of goals and objectives, time available to get it right, ability of participants to work face-to-face versus …

Magic Numbers for Successful Teamwork Read More »

Balance Innovation and Expediency for a Supercharged Team

Leave a Comment / Articles, Newsletter, Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

How many emails can I write while “participating” in a weekly review meeting? Which ideas can I repurpose so I don’t have think of new ones? How many calls can I avoid by blasting a group IM? How many minutes can I save by outsourcing dinner prep to the local pizza joint? Yup, for many …

Balance Innovation and Expediency for a Supercharged Team Read More »

When Workloads Are Seriously Out of Whack – 11 Leadership Tips

Leave a Comment / Articles, Newsletter, Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) / By

Say you’re the leader of a team of hard-working professionals who work in different locations. It’s crunch time, and pretty much everyone realizes they need to put aside their personal lives for the next few days (or maybe a tad longer) to meet a critical deadline. Trouble is, you discover that while some people are …

When Workloads Are Seriously Out of Whack – 11 Leadership Tips Read More »

8 Great Year-Round (Free!) Gifts Everyone on Your Team is Guaranteed to Love

Leave a Comment / Articles, Newsletter, Newsletter: Leadership and management (general), Virtual Leadership / By

Give a gift every day for 29 days straight? Yeah, right – as if I have the time (and money), with everything I’m already juggling! But that’s what a colleague just invited her friends to do. When she explained that such gifts can be as simple as starting a conversation with a downtrodden stranger, making …

8 Great Year-Round (Free!) Gifts Everyone on Your Team is Guaranteed to Love Read More »

SUBSCRIBE TO COMMUNIQUÉ – FREE EZINE

Sign Up Today to Get Free Tips for Creating a Level Playing Field Across Your Virtual, Hybrid Team