Essential Archives - Point Above

4 Keys to Get Your Company Culture Back on Track

“Is it too late to improve our company culture?” the Senior Executive leaned into the conference table as he asked. “Well no,” I responded a little slowly. The question caught me off guard. It wasn’t the topic of our meeting invitation, but it was clearly the issue we were brought in for. One thing was clear: The way this company was working… wasn’t working. In less than fifteen minutes of conversation he admitted he was no longer excited about coming to work in the morning, didn’t feel much appreciated while he was there, was finding it difficult to get most of his important work accomplished, and didn’t believe that what he’s doing was making much of a difference anyway. It was early afternoon and he...

5 Advantages of the “No Jerk Rule”

After 20+ years in the corporate world, I’ve dealt with my fair share of jerks. I’ll even admit to thinking that jerks must have just been drawn to my field – they appeared too frequently not to be. But after a few years working as a success coach alongside those in industries as diverse as software development, media production, materials manufacturing, engineering, product sales, and professional services, I can assure you that jerks find work pretty much everywhere. Sometimes these jerks are customers and sometimes they’re “important” clients. Sometimes they’re trainees, sometimes they’re coworkers, and sometimes they’re learned veterans. Perhaps worst of all, sometimes the boss is a jerk. If there is any pattern that I’ve been able to discern it’s this: the more critical a...

Hire “A” Players (and let the others go)

If your goal is to create an exceptional organization of engaged employees – to go out and win the championship – then you have to get one thing right: hiring. The good news is that most (if not all) of your competitors are getting it wrong. Mark Murphy, author of Hiring for Attitude tracked 20,000 new hires and found that 46% of them failed within 18 months. But even more surprising than the failure rate, was that when new hires failed, 89% of the time it was for attitudinal reasons and only 11% of the time for a lack of skill. Which begs the question: Are You Hiring the Right People? Despite such research, most organizations today make hiring decisions based on job skills. Even conversationally…

Why Leaders and Managers Get Engagement Wrong

There is plenty of research supporting what most of us already believe: people disengage with organizations because their leaders and managers create an environment that is… well, hopeless. Even more troubling is the fact that employee engagement in the U.S. is not only low (less than 33%), it’s been relatively static for more than ten years. For all the talk about engagement, for every best-seller and management fad for the past decade, it’s time to admit that what we’re doing isn’t working. How is it that so many leaders and managers get engagement wrong? A Dated Perspective There is no question that the consistently low levels of employee engagement are a failure of management. In my experience, this failure stems from misperceptions around the very…

The Hope Narrative

“Just to be clear, you’re saying that 40% of your employees don’t make it to their third anniversary?” I tried to hide the astonishment in my voice but judging solely by his raised eyebrows, it didn’t appear to work. “For more than 2 years now,” he confirmed. “Two years?” the words came out before I could stop myself. I genuinely didn’t intend to make things worse, but sometimes surprise overwhelms me and it’s difficult to hide. Our meting had occurred innocently enough. I had just finished checking into the high-rise hotel, exchanging a mutual “thank you” with the desk clerk and gathering my overnight bag for the trip to the elevator bank when I heard Ted’s familiar voice calling my name. He was just stepping…

Do You Have A Work Addiction?

During a recent keynote address, I asked the audience the following questions: How many of you would say that the demands and complexities of your workplace have been increasing? This is always greeted with a laugh – one of those “we’re nervous for you, Mr. Speaker, because if you think things are getting easier then you’re talking to the wrong group.” How many of you expect that these demands and complexities will continue to increase? Fewer laughs, but no hands go down. And how many of you feel like your capacity to meet this rising demand will increase at the same rate? Dilemma time. People fidget in their seats a little as the mood turns more uneasy. If your hand falls, you’re admitting that you…