Effort vs. Production — Getting People On the Correct Page

You have to love people who give 100 percent all the time. Athlete’s call it “leaving it all on the field.” There’s nothing left in the tank. You did everything you could to deliver the winning results.

Sometimes people in our organizations give this level of effort, and still fail.

What if a worker tries as hard as humanly possible, but fails on a regular basis? What should you as a leader do?

For Zen Habits Readers…Some Afterthoughts

Welcome to the Zen Habits readers who clicked over after reading my post on Five Strategies For Surviving a Tough Boss.

Since finishing that article I’ve been thinking how the problem could be avoided from the very beginning. Would it be possible to create an environment where your manager would know — right from the start — that you would not be an easy target for unfair treatment or aggression?

There is. Like anything else, it will take some work but…

How Early Scores Help Guarantee Worker Success

You’ve heard the line, “Nothing succeeds like success.” Whether you’re breaking in a frontline worker or a new supervisor, it’s important to make sure that they get a couple of early victories in order to build confidence.

From infancy, encouragement and confidence building is drummed into us. When you attempted …

10 Ideas to Keep Your Boss Satisfied (if not happy)

Got a tough boss? Maybe one who is cold or even mean? Are you frustrated and thinking of giving up? Here are 10 ideas for improving the relationship with your supervisor.

As far as the order of these ideas, after you’ve got the first three figured out you can approach …

Never Accept a Job or Assignment Without Knowing What Success Looks Like

If you’ve ever done the assembly of a complicated holiday gift or a jigsaw puzzle with several hundred pieces, you know that it’s impossible without one thing:

What Assembling a Christmas Gift Can Teach Us About Helping Workers Succeed

If you’ve ever tried to put together a doll house or other holiday gift that had a pile of small parts along with lengthy and often incomprehensible instructions, you have gained the foundation for understanding how to help workers succeed in their job or any project they undertake.