The Positive Energy Workplace

Give acknowledgements, not compliments. An acknowledgement speaks to who the person "is" and who they're "being", whereas a compliment speaks primarily to what they "did". "Good job George on getting us ready for that client meeting, you did an awesome job leading it."—is nice... But, "George, I really saw your dedication, courage, and care for the client and what we're all up to and it made a big difference on everyone's experience, ultimately landing us that work."—is way better.

Recently I helped a client get ready for an intense conversation with his team. There'd been some big stuff happening in their division, not all of it great. He had a "state of the union" to deliver as well as some requests. His concern was that if he didn't handle it well, he'd create a mess, not have any clean next steps, waste time, and ultimately demoralize the team. He was nervous.

I get questions from subscribers and participants all the time about random things that relate to leadership, presence, energy, collaboration, dealing with their mom, changing something that they're afraid to change, etc. All sorts of Qs. I try to respond to every single one. Sometimes these Qs inspire articles. Sometimes an exercise. Sometimes a post. You just never know...

Today I thought I'd start sharing some of these in simplest form with the intention that there just might be something gold in here for you. If this is helpful to you, and you like this format, let me know—like it, share it, whatever your fancy—and I'll keep doing it.

I get phone calls almost every week from people who are brilliant, in high positions, making great money, super talented, awesome ... but ... They're not quite having the impact they want to have. For some reason, it's just not happening.

As we move towards 2020, workforce trends will require that leaders hire talent based on their callings, and not just to fill a job.

In order to innovate to the next level in your organization, to attract, cultivate--and keep--top talent, and to inspire and tap into the greatest desires and creativity of your employees, you'll need to address 4 things: their sense of purpose and contribution, their sense of creativity and autonomy, their mindset of collaboration and partnership, and their own personal nourishment and self-care so they can do all they want to do and have the impact they want to have. Here are a couple of ways to tap into this NOW.