At Switch and Shift we are no strangers to defining what leadership in the 21st century needs to be. However, we don’t spend as much time looking at the needed employee growth areas. Thriving organizations don’t rely solely on adaptive and agile manager leaders. They also need employees who also are willing to adapt with […] Read more… Read More»
Welcome to the new home of Theory Y! We’re glad to have you. What is Theory Y, you ask? It’s an eminently forgettable name for a transformative new concept in leading humans. …”New,” that was, in 1960. If you went to business school, you probably had to read excerpts from Professor Douglas McGregor’s seminal book, […] Read more… Read More»
Humanity is ambiguous. Really, what does it mean? After some poking around and reading plenty of vague definitions, I’ve cobbled this together: humanity represents that best parts of being alive as a human being. Alright, so that’s not very clear either. Perhaps its better said with a picture. Below is what Wordflex says humanity is. […] Read more… Read More»
Meaning and meaningful work are not common words in the workplace lexicon. Unfortunately management practices have carefully neutered such needs in a diligent pursuit of efficiency, cost-cutting, and scalability of operations. Viewing work as an extension of one’s passion is the shift management must grasp Don’t get me wrong the above items […] Read more… Read More»
My neighbor Jim is quitting. When Jim took his current job a few years ago, his morale was sky-high. He came in earlier and stayed later than anyone on his team, in order to make a good impression but also because he was eager to deliver extraordinary results. At lunchtime, he made a habit […] Read more… Read More»
What I love about a new year are the expectations and anticipation reserved for something new. We permit ourselves to mentally travel back in time and revisit the old and peer into what worked and what didn’t. Many of us then become resolute to change or continue doing whatever our mental time travel revealed […] Read more… Read More»
This year went by so fast slowly. How it’s possible that we’re nearing the end of 2012 is beyond me. It was a packed year with many peaks and valleys. Certainly a highlight was the genesis of Switch and Shift. Ted and I could not be more pleased with the response to the content […] Read more… Read More»
You’d think it would be a cinch to identify your top posts of the last year for a year-end “Best Of” post, right? Not so fast. As we were discussing our respective lists, we had to decide: are we talking about most-read posts? Most retweeted? Most shared on LinkedIn or Facebook? Most liked on […] Read more… Read More»
My 16 year old son John is becoming quite an accomplished piano player. I love to hear him play, but I confess that I haven’t always felt this way. When he was first learning it sounded more like noise than music. In the beginning, he found a song that we all enjoyed. We encouraged […] Read more… Read More»
Most noteworthy of all, she never asked any questions back. When an employee asked a question, she just answered; that’s it. She never once replied, “Why are you asking?” or “Help me understand where that is coming from.”… Read More»
There’s a more human way to do business.
In the Social Age, it’s how we engage with customers, collaborators and strategic partners that matters; it’s how we create workplace optimism that sets us apart; it’s how we recruit, retain (and repel) employees that becomes our differentiator. This isn’t a “people first, profits second” movement, but a “profits as a direct result of putting people first” movement.