A recent BusinessWeek article warns that the employee “quit rate” (employees that voluntarily leave a job), while at a current low, is no more than a response to the unstable economy.  “…Workers’ loyalty [won’t] outlast the recession,” the article says, and layoffs, bonus and benefit cuts and a halt in promotions are all motivators behind the recently reported 25% drop in employee engagement among high performers. Learn More…

We don’t hesitate to tell our kids to reach for the stars: “The world is yours, you can make and do and become anything you want.”  So how come when it comes to our own “grown up” aspirations, we extinguish the stars and instead set limitations? Learn More…

Who started the damaging rumor that tough feedback is easier to take when it’s delivered in a warm and fuzzy package?  Sandwiching difficult feedback (“your work is unacceptable”) between niceties (“but you’re always on time and everyone here loves you”) is what I call the Compliment Sandwich.  It may seem kinder, but it’s guaranteed that the only message being heard is the positive one.  Equally counter productive is using words like “should”, “would”, “ought”, “gotta”, “must” and “try”, all which turn constructive feedback into advice. Learn More…