Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Tag: management

  • Listen In -> Playing Favorites #2: Favoring Certain People

    You think a certain employee performs amazingly. Everyone else seems to hate them. What gives?

    You may be guilty of playing favorites, and that without even knowing it!

    In this week’s show, Claudia and I take a look at what happens when we play favorites among our team members.

    While rewarding excellence, performance and results is important, some times we favor certain people for their charisma, because we like them, or because we work well together.

    Of course there’s no crime in enjoying working with one person more than another, but what about the unintended consequences to the morale of everyone else?

    Once people form the perception that you are playing favorites, they will begin interpreting your every decision through that lens. And who can blame them?

    It is difficult enough to hear criticism of one’s work when it’s completely warranted, but when we feel that someone else isn’t being held to the same standard, our willingness to improve can evaporate pretty quickly.

    Could you inadvertently be playing favorites?

    Listen in.

    Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.

  • Clippings from Don: Hamster-Brained Bosses

    One of the reasons Scott Adams is so funny is because the situations underlying his humor are so real.

    His article in the weekend Wall Street Journal, “The Perfect Stimulus: Bad Management” is the perfect example.

    If you want a good laugh as you absorb some entrepreneurial insights, then click on over to his article on why bad management is the cornerstone of the entrepreneurial spirit in this country.

    You’ll enjoy great one-liners like, “The primary purpose of management is to kill any hope that staying in your current job will work out for you… Remember, only quitters can be winners, because you can’t do something great until first you quit doing something that isn’t.”

    And my favorite, “I think we all understood that working in a cubicle and being managed by Satan’s learning-challenged little brother was not a recipe for happiness.”

    Sometimes the only way to keep from crying about work is to laugh about it.

    You know I’m here if you want to talk about your situation at work. If we haven’t met yet, sign up for a free 30-minute consultation about your hamster-brained boss.

    Voracious reader friend Don Silver always has an eye out for what interests me. Clippings from Don is a column where I pass on some of these articles, stories and resources to you.

  • Question of the Week

    How often do you find yourself asking employees in retrospect, “How did that happen?” How often do you find yourself asking them during the process, “How is it going?”

    If you discover that you ask the first question more often than the second, how might you become more proactive about finding out what’s going on?

    The Question of the Week is offered to increase awareness of one’s personal leadership practices and encourage experimentation with creative alternatives.

  • My Guest Appearance on “Management Tips”

    wooden-nickel-management-tips-4Nick McCormick, author of Lead Well and Prosper, interviews me on his podcast, “Joe and Wanda on Management.”

    I share my three “Hard Facts of Working with People.”

    If you want your team to come alive and give 110% on the job, they need an opportunity to:

    1. Contribute and make a difference.
    2. Learn and develop.
    3. Connect and belong.

    Listen in and join the conversation.