Want to make a big meaningful change? Take itsy bitty actions every day. “Believe in baby steps,” is the mantra of  the psychologist BJ Fogg who developed the breakthrough Tiny Habits® method.   As you take tiny steps, you start changing little by little. These small...

Cooperate versus compete? If you want to encourage greater collaboration with your team and inside your organization, focus on improving cooperation. Forget about competition, unless you want to play games at holiday parties or picnics. Tug-of-war is appropriate in...

“Maybe Marissa (Mayer, the Yahoo CEO) was right,” a client mused to me this week as he showed me his new office. A former two-day-a-week telecommuter, my client has recently joined another tech company. This one  requests that all of its employees work at one of its...

“Just the facts” is an iconic way to operate. Back in the 1950s, the actor Jack Webb made the phrase popular with his portrayal of Sergeant Joe Friday in the classic Dragnet radio and TV series. Sixty years later, some executives still think it’s an appropriate way to...

Celebrating our achievements. Why is it so hard for some of us? Many of the leaders I coach and consult with tell me that they don’t celebrate their individual successes. Their reasons run the gamut of: Celebration doesn’t fit their personality or situation. They...

My apologies to all the leaders who I’ve “SCARFED” over the years. Specifically, I regret my actions that have caused leaders to feel threatened by real or perceived risks to their status.    While listening to this week’s Neuroleadership Institute lecture on status,...

Remember this traditional children’s rhyme? “Sticks and stones may break my bones. But words will never hurt me.” It’s not true. The relatively new field of social neuroscience has been examining both the pain and pleasure of interacting with others—often referred to...

Please don’t drink the Kool-Aid. And definitely not in an echo chamber. Over the past year, I’ve been advocating about the power of peers as an effective and efficient way to work. While peers are potent, they’re not perfect. On the plus side, embracing peer practices...