Despite our best efforts over 75% of people are disengaged or actively disengaged at work. The natural leadership response is to communicate more, when that often just exacerbates the problem. What people are really seeking is context and meaning to navigate the intense challenges of the workplace, not more information, facts and figures.  To truly engage people, we must speak to their emotions; their hopes and dreams, and their fears and worries.

http://www.peterfuda.com/2015/04/16/people-dont-want-more-communication-they-want-meaningful-communication/

Great managers strive to do right by their employees — treat them well, motivate them to succeed, and provide the support and coaching each person needs. This is often easier said than done, especially when it comes to coaching. That’s because coaching takes time, skill, and careful planning. And there are certain types of people who may be particularly challenging for managers to coach. Think about the Eeyore on your team who is pessimistic at every turn, or the person who refuses your advice with a smile on his face. It’s not fair to you or to the employee to give up, so what do you do?

https://hbr.org/2015/04/overcoming-the-toughest-common-coaching-challenges

Think about the last time you had to cope with stress in the workplace. You probably felt anxious, and maybe even a little afraid. But, in all likelihood, you resolved the situation and moved on, and maybe even felt a little wiser for the experience.

Now imagine being burdened by stress and fear for weeks, months or perhaps even years. There are people who have seen or been involved in events that are so harrowing, they are seared into their minds for the rest of their lives. They could be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD for short.

It is possible that, unknown to you, someone on your team could be fighting a private battle with this debilitating condition. For them, the workplace can seem to be a hostile, confusing environment, and your compassion and understanding is vital to helping them be a valuable member of your team.

PTSD is most commonly associated with military veterans who have witnessed the horrors of combat. But anyone who has been exposed to a traumatic event can suffer from it, because of an accident, injury, disaster, or physical or sexual abuse, for example.

In this article, you’ll learn how to identify the symptoms of PTSD, and discover strategies to support your team members and help them succeed in their role.

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/managing-people-ptsd.htm

Does it seem like you don’t have enough hours in the day to get through everything you need to do? With so many competing demands on our time, we can all benefit from learning to ramp up our own personal productivity. HBR recently ran a series called Getting More Work Done. This article summarises the advice and best practices our experts contributed to the series

https://hbr.org/2015/04/what-everyone-needs-to-know-to-be-more-productive

Physicians and nurses are being called upon to lead new health care enterprises — and are assuming a higher level of influence in the business of health care than ever before.

Maximizing the effectiveness of physicians and nurses in these new positions, however, will require different skills than the ones they developed during their clinical training. Having managed or worked with clinical leaders in care-delivery organizations, the pharmaceutical industry, and government, I have observed three skills that are critical to the success of doctors and nurses as they make the transition to management:

https://hbr.org/2015/04/the-skills-doctors-need-to-be-effective-executives

Even if your organization is successful, being too busy isn’t a good thing, because you can’t sustain a frenzy of activity. But it’s much worse if the activities themselves don’t cohere strategically and your company’s performance is suffering as a result.

So, what does it take to build an organization that’s less busy and more coherent? An outsider’s perspective.

https://hbr.org/2015/04/build-an-organization-thats-less-busy-and-more-strategic

Defining a problem is a deceptively simple task – what at first seems to be the problem is often merely a symptom of a deeper problem.The Problem Definition tool works to both open a problem up – presenting it in a way that can be examined from a number of angles – as well as helping to define the wider context and associated issues involved.

http://diytoolkit.org/tools/problem-definition-2/

Change is the only constant. – Heraclitus, Greek philosopher

What was true more than 2,000 years ago is just as true today. We live in a world where “business as usual” is change. New initiatives, project-based working, technology improvements, staying ahead of the competition – these things come together to drive ongoing changes to the way we work.

Whether you’re considering a small change to one or two processes, or a system wide change to an organization, it’s common to feel uneasy and intimidated by the scale of the challenge.

You know that the change needs to happen, but you don’t really know how to go about delivering it. Where do you start? Whom do you involve? How do you see it through to the end?

There are many theories about how to “do” change. Many originate with leadership and change management guru, John Kotter. A professor at Harvard Business School and world-renowned change expert, Kotter introduced his eight-step change process in his 1995 book, “Leading Change.” We look at his eight steps for leading change in this article.

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_82.htm

Do you know what characteristic links many political leaders, top business executives – and even psychopaths?

They share a trait called “fearless dominance.” They are typically great crisis managers, because they remain calm under pressure and are confident taking bold action in the face of daunting risks. They can also be influential and charismatic, and effective in getting the job done.

However, the danger comes if their assertiveness crosses the line into intimidation or even bullying. Someone with a dominant character can monopolize discussions and disregard social norms, which can discourage their colleagues and lower morale.

In this article, we’ll examine the characteristics and behaviors of people with dominant personalities. We’ll discuss what you can do to harness their strengths and moderate their weaknesses, so they can excel as part of your team.

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/managing-dominant-people.htm