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AI Needs EI: It’s About the People

AI Needs EI: It’s About the People

In November of 2022 when OpenAI launched ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer), a technology that lets users ask questions and receive humanlike responses, many early adopters and influencers were quick to try it out and use it in their work.

When it comes to technology,  I’m one of those middle-majority adopters. I want others to check it out and work out all the bugs before I get into it. So, I just recently put it to the test, spurred on by a colleague who described how it was helpful to him.

I’d been working on projects for several clients over the past few days, and in addition to researching and developing my own material, I entered various commands to see what it produced. The results were amazing! (more…)

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You’re Not Listening: The 5 Steps to Reconnection

You’re Not Listening: The 5 Steps to Reconnection

Communication is simultaneously one of the most simple and complex activities we engage in as humans. Two or more people can talk about a topic and completely understand each other in one moment, and in the next moment recognize a disconnect has occurred. Colleagues who have trusting relationships will typically recognize this more quickly and get back on track. But often in organizations, leaders with contrasting priorities will continue to move forward without recognizing the growing divide between their work and that of their associates. They focus more on talking than listening. And failure to listen to colleagues ultimately impacts organizational productivity and profitability. (more…)

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10 Leadership Lessons from a Half Marathon

10 Leadership Lessons from a Half Marathon

Several weeks ago, I completed my first half marathon. Making the decision to do it, disciplining myself to train for it, standing in the middle of the street in downtown Detroit at 6:30 a.m. on a chilly morning with anxious excitement waiting for the starting signal, and later working through the physical aches were all new experiences. But my biggest learning wasn’t physical, it was mental.

As I completed mile after mile, I thought about leaders who are contemplating change in their organization. How do they motivate their teams to reach a goal that for some seems impossible, unnecessary, or uninteresting? My 10 leadership lessons from a half marathon may be insightful for them. (more…)

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Falling Leaves: What No Longer Serves Its Purpose?

Falling Leaves: What No Longer Serves Its Purpose?

Several months ago, in mid-July, I noticed an untimely phenomenon in our backyard. A tree that towered high above our two-story home began dropping brown, dead leaves. And while the annual cycle of falling leaves wasn’t uncommon, we were used to it happening in October and November instead.

But the tree had been struggling for a while, and this was the signal that it was truly dead. After dropping all its leaves and some small branches, we finally called a tree service to cut it down and remove it. They had a very efficient process to sever the branches, then chop the trunk, cart away the wood, and even grind the stump with the dirt into the ground. (more…)

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360 Perspective: What Do You See?

360 Perspective: What Do You See?

Recently I sat down and opened a book to read with two young children. They selected a picture book where they needed to find hidden objects on different themes. In some of the pictures, I was the first to find the hidden object and I quietly waited for them to peer at the page and point it out. But at other times, they found it first. I was momentarily surprised because as an adult, I thought based on my expertise and perspective I would “see” it first. It made me realize we had different views on the picture based on our frame of reference and the things we were used to visualizing. Our preconceptions were also different as they also pointed out creative objects and ideas in the picture that I never would have noticed.

It occurred to me that as leaders, we have similar experiences in every aspect of our work lives. (more…)

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Is Your Team Connecting, Whispering or Shouting?

Is Your Team Connecting, Whispering or Shouting?

As a leader, do you know whether your team is connecting, whispering, or shouting? A recent Gallup survey1 identified three categories to describe employees’ engagement at work.

  1. Thriving because they find meaning in their work, engage and listen to others, take pride in their performance and are willing to go the extra mile. Only one in five employees feel connected to their leader and the organization in this way.
  2. Quiet quitting because they’re just doing the bare minimum, are disconnected emotionally, or stressed. Surprisingly three out of five employees are not engaged. They’re whispering about their leader and the things they don’t like in their environment.
  3. Loud quitting because they’re causing harmful crises in the business, lack trust in their leadership, or aren’t fulfilling their role. One in five employees are actively disengaged and symbolically shouting their discontent to those around them.

(more…)

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Is Your Team Murmuring?

Is Your Team Murmuring? 

This is not about team members complaining.

Instead…there’s an intriguing phenomenon among starlings, a small to medium sized bird with glossy black feathers streaked with green and purple. In fall or winter, just before sundown, tens of thousands, even up to a hundred thousand, gather and fly through the sky. And instead of flying straight in a flock like most other birds, they twist and turn continuously, moving band and forth, dancing in elaborate shapes, creating a beautiful and mesmerizing show in the air. This formation is called a “murmuration.” (more…)

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The Power of &

The Power of &

Breaking News! On June 6th the PGA Tour and Saudi backed LIV Golf announced an agreement to merge. For anyone whose head may have been buried in a sand trap, this was a stunning announcement of an alliance between the decades-old organizer of golf in the U.S. and North America, and the year-old start up that paid hundreds of millions of dollars to woo big name pro golfers to defect from the PGA.

The two organizations spent the better part of a year in an acrimonious legal battle that included Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, former PGA golfers, antitrust allegations, and more. The startling agreement “effectively makes the Saudis investors in U.S. golf…” according to the Wall Street Journal.1 (more…)

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Managing Your Triggers

Managing Your Triggers

By now many of us have seen the recent viral video of a CEO in Michigan whose response to an employee’s question during a virtual all employee meeting, was recorded and posted on social media.

Garnering likely millions of views, along with articles in multiple national and local news outlets, it’s been a public relations storm for the company and its employees. This CEO joins the list of other C-suite leaders who have similarly criticized employees or made what was perceived to be insensitive remarks in their frustration over productivity, profits, and pandemic related work habits that they want to change. (more…)

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7 Essential Steps to Team Health

7 Essential Steps to Team Health

One of the many shifts that resulted from the pandemic was normalization of people seeking therapy. The sudden and awkward adjustments to daily life increased the number of people admitting their need for help, and sharing with others that they were doing it. Companies expanded their employee assistance program benefits to include better options for counseling services and more employees took advantage of this. Everyone became more attentive to the need for improving emotional health and interpersonal relationships, connecting with purpose, and learning to invest in their personal growth.

Just as people work on their individual emotional health, self-awareness and relationships with others, leaders are increasing the focus on team health. Team health includes ensuring cohesive relationships between the members of the team; talking not only about strategy and execution, but also about how those discussions take place, and paying attention to team strengths and developmental needs. (more…)

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