We utilize the DiSC profile by Inscape publishing in several of our team building and leadership development programs here in Denver, Colorado. DiSC provides people with a framework for understanding their own style and how they differ from others. This framework helps team members and leaders elevate their effectiveness regardless of their role.  Here are some applications in which we use DiSC. 

Team building: 

No one likes to hurt someone else’s feelings, but that doesn’t justify providing feedback that’s so fluffy you never actually state the main point.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m not asking you to be ruthless. Use positives, but don’t smother the message with them. The challenge is to make sure the constructive part of your feedback is clear, or else there’s no sense giving feedback!
 

One of the first mistakes new leaders make is to hold back on communication. Usually, this reluctance comes from fear, and it often breaks down into two (bad!) leadership styles:

Leaders who are concerned about losing control often overcompensate by micromanaging and being overly focused on tasks and results. They dole out stingy bits of information on a need-to-know basis, even though their people definitely need to know!

I want to thank you for helping make the debut of, Ignite! The 4 Essential Rules for Emerging Leaders a tremendous success.

At its height yesterday, it ranked #189 out of over 8 million books on Amazon!

I am very excited for the countdown to launch...

Ignite! The 4 Essential Rules for Emerging Leaders will be available tomorrow and we have some special gifts worth over $200 for those who purchase it on Amazon on May 31st.

I am very excited to announce that my book Ignite! The 4 Essential Rules for Emerging Leaders will be officially launched and widely available on May 31st!

In the first part of this article, published in our March newsletter, we talked about 4 challenges mid-level managers face. They are often viewed as "caught in the middle" between the senior leaders above them who impose strategy that they are required to implement, and the team members who work for them that look up for direction and support. The four common and costly challenges I outlined were:

The performance management process in many organizations is irrelevant. Create 12-month/annual goals and then ignore the goals throughout the year.

How about a more agile process instead?

1. Create quarterly or more frequent goals that are aligned with organizational goals.

2. Make the review process more frequent - e.g., quarterly.

3. Update goals throughout the year so that they are in line with the latest organizational and market changes.

Here's one thing every leader must know. People want to know that their contributions matter.

But recognition efforts often fail when the following happens:

By Kyle Lagunas

Apple is running a seriously smooth operation in their retail stores. Each employee has a distinct role to play, understands that role, and does his/her part to deliver the level of service we've come to expect from this powerful brand. All of this requires serious alignment of brand, business goals and people process.

Finding the right people to work in the stores is half the battle. There are things that Apple’s retail arm does particularly well in organizational development--things any organization could learn from: