September 2011

Sep 12 2011

Seven Tips for Managing High Performing Salespeople

Steve Martin (not the actor) recently wrote a great blog in the Harvard Business Review on the Seven Personalities of Top Salespeople.  While I completely agree with him about the successful traits of this breed of worker, as a former sales manager, I also recognize the unique challenges managers face when trying to lead and manage this group. Here are some tips:

 

 

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Sep 07 2011

Behaving Badly

Thinking about the Bad Attitude question also reminded me of another interesting statement from Dr. Gustavo Grodnitzky: Environment has more influence on behavior than personality. In business, environment equates to corporate culture.  His point is that a person who behaves badly at work does so because the corporate culture permits it, not because of their inherent personality. If there were no consequences to bad behavior, why would you stop? My theory is that managers don't address the bad behavior of a team member for a variety of reasons, but here are some of the biggest ones:

 

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Sep 06 2011

Your Employee Has a Bad Attitude. Now what?

 

Everyone has worked alongside a colleague with a bad attitude, but how do you handle it when you’re the manager?

A question about emotional outbursts on Ask Cindy & Laura got me thinking. It’s tempting to label these people and move on, but left unaddressed, they’ll destroy your team’s morale and office productivity.

What constitutes a bad attitude and how do you stop it?

 

 

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Sep 01 2011

Communication in the Multigenerational Workplace

I recently had the opportunity to hear psychologist and consultant Dr. Gustavo Grodnitzky speak about the multi-generational workplace.  What really got me thinking was one of his first statements: this is the first time in history that we have four generations in the workplace at the same time.   That is not such a revelation once you think about the fact that people are living so much longer than they did 100 years ago, but it does make for some very diverse styles in the workplace. Everyone is aware of the much-touted differences between the various generations, but have you given much thought to whether or not you are taking those differences into account in how you communicate with your employees?

 

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