Most of us have had at least one opportunity to report to a truly great leader or manager. Great leaders inspire us, challenge us, help us see the big picture and find ways to get the best out of us (sometimes even more than we knew was there ourselves). Unfortunately, many of us have had [...]
We've all been a part of "meetings from hell" - late starting meetings with no agenda that run long and accomplish nothing. If this scenario sounds even a little bit familiar, have no fear. It turns out that science actually offers up some pretty simple and straightforward strategies that can benefit us all.
Sometimes, we humans have a tendency to make things more difficult for ourselves than necessary. We overthink, over-analyze and generally over-complicate the process of solving problems that have simple solutions. That said, simple does not mean easy. In fact, the simpler and more straightforward a solution, oftentimes the greater the mental and behavioral inertia is that has to be overcome. Such is the case of pursuing truly inclusive societies and workplaces. The good news is that that there is a relatively simple (not saying easy) process we can all commit to in order to become more inclusive and cultivate our sense of “us” and “we.” In a word, it’s RESPECT.
In the wake of increasing incidents involving police shootings of unarmed African American males, it seems logical that police forces across the country would benefit from training that addresses the impact of implicit bias amongst officers. But will that make a difference? Skeptics of implicit bias training raise valid concerns about its effectiveness, especially for police officers who are often placed in high-pressure situations in which they may be more likely than other professions to need to rely on quick judgments. The question discussed in the following article is whether or not training can be effective in helping to reduce or eliminate the negative effects that implicit biases can result in.
Using acceptance speeches to further causes is not new. So, it wasn’t particularly surprising that actress Patricia Arquette used her time at the microphone at the Academy Awards last Sunday to implore us all to pay attention to equal rights for all women. Society’s opportunities for improvement, when it comes to the issue of equal rights in the workplace, are well documented. Stacks of studies outline issues including the glass ceiling, pay equality, and maternal wall bias, or discrimination that occurs against caregivers, and particularly working mothers.
Part of practicing respect at work is being willing to invest time in each other for the purpose of increasing our awareness. By getting a better sense of what’s similar in our experiences and what’s unique, we eventually figure out what’s important to each other as well. This “court awareness” dramatically increases both our predictability around each other and our efficiency at getting work done.
Have you ever heard people proudly exclaim that they are color blind? Or, more broadly, that they treat everyone the same? While that sounds great on the surface (think of Golden Rule), the actual premise for that notion is antiquated at best. At its worst, it can be downright disrespectful. Why? Because we are not all the same.
A Code of Cooperation is a document created by people who work together to encourage an emotionally healthy work environment. It accomplishes this by formally establishing common behavioral expectations that can be supported by all. Codes of Cooperation may articulate both behaviors which a group wishes to encourage as well as those to be avoided. They should be created with input from all group members and are most effective when embraced and supported by everyone.
Like most other companies, Legacy Business Cultures has to occasionally update its own business course and practices. Earlier this summer, we made a significant change and transitioned to a majority female-owned, small business.
For almost 20 years, Legacy Business Cultures has proudly sent our “Coffee and Keynote” inspirational quotes every weekday morning to thousands of online subscribers. Last year alone, we sent out over 2 million individual messages sharing wisdom of the ages on leadership, teamwork, personal effectiveness and respect to readers around the world. So I have to admit that I was caught completely off guard on morning when one of our subscribers sent us a rather pointed email message stating that she was very upset with the quotations and was considering unsubscribing from the service.
