Min Work Max Life

I don’t like the term ‘change your mind.’

The term ‘change your mind’ has all sorts of negative connotations associated with it.

First, we use it in reference to changing another person’s mind, and that is a difficult, if not an impossible task.

Next, we use it...

How often do you get bad news? What about a surprise or a problem? All the time right?

Did you know that how you reply can make things a lot more difficult?

But, don’t worry, how you reply can make things a lot better too!

You have to be able to think quickly, and for a lot of you, overcome...

Let’s stop saying fail fast and let’s start saying learn fast.

So what happens when you ask somebody: don't think about a pink elephant? What does that person think about: that pink elephant.

So when we go around and we say the catchy phrase of “fail fast” what is everyone...

Have you been hearing and seeing a lot of don’ts, nos, stops, and can’ts recently? Does there seem to be a lot of negative words being used over and over, day after day.

Think about how restricting that is. “Don’t say this!” “Stop doing that!” The walls...

Watch Sarcasm and Anger

Serious situations call for a serious tone, save the sarcasm for another time.

As a leader, you will be speaking to a lot of people.  Employees, teammates, co-workers, upper management, customers, suppliers, and interviewees.  In each and every case, the...

What do you do when there is conflict between people?

Do you walk the other way?  Do you get involved and join in as a heated participant?

This is your time to shine!  As a leader you get to help resolve the conflict.  No more running away, and definitely, no joining in.  You...

Are you serious about listening?  Silence is a key element to listening to your team.

It can be difficult not to give advice.  It can be difficult to sit back and listen, but it is crucial to allow your team to share and address their problems.

Staying silent both audibly and in your...

Never ask a question you don't know the answer to does not mean to not ask questions. You absolutely should ask questions in order to learn, discover, grow, and become a better person, leader, and manager.

What I mean by this phrase is that when you are leading folks, you need to be able to...

Share yourself; be vulnerable; you are not a robot.  You are not just some manager up on this ladder that everyone must look up to. You are a person and your employees know this, so help them understand that and share yourself.

We are not talking about a cheesy get-to-know-me powerpoint...

I had a co-worker stop me one day to give his input on a project he was part of.  He was particularly upset with how things were going in reference to the speed at which the project was moving and the technical problems being so difficult.  The project was of unique difficulty and...

New to leadership?  New manager?  If so, you probably want everything to be perfect, right?

You have your new promotion, and finally, you are able to adjust that process that has been bothering you since the beginning of time.  You have been voicing your concerns and offering...

Eye roll.

Have you ever been given advice and done the old, teenage eye roll? Ever have the eye roll done to you, while offering advice?

Yep.

Here is a trick to eliminate that from happening in the future. A/B test our advice first.

The first thing we should do before giving advice is to make...