Featured Article #1

Give Lots of Feedback, Right Away!

“Give lots of feedback, right away!” says Nestle, the star of my little book, A Dog’s Advice to Leaders. This phrase is, in fact, her 10th common sense principle she offers to leaders. She’s pretty good at it herself. I have no doubt on her feelings about anything. Here’s a little more of what she [...]

Jo Ellen Roe | March 9th, 2010 | Continued

Featured Article #2

How Do You Recognize Employees?

I have to plan an employee recognition event. I would love to hear about creative ways others have done this to make it more than just the usual event. It’s easy enough to have people stand when recognized or come up for a certificate or award. It’s easy enough to schedule a location, invite people, [...]

Jo Ellen Roe | February 22nd, 2010 | Continued

Featured Article #3

Are You a Good Boss?

This article from CNN Careers (which came to me via Twitter) describes what lots of people think makes a good boss. Not surprisingly, some of the most valued qualities show up as actions:

Showing respect
Being available for consultation
Offering constructive criticism (in a kind way)
Making suggestions
Being flexible
Keeping employees informed

Being available for consultation is an interesting one for [...]

Jo Ellen Roe | February 10th, 2010 | Continued

Featured Article #4

Another Great List

It’s amazing, when you begin looking for them, just how many lists you can find. Here’s one that I found through Twitter: a blog entry on Great Leadership by Dan McCarthy. Here’s the link.
This blog entry takes the Aretha Franklin song R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and uses it to show how leaders can show respect for their employees. [...]

Jo Ellen Roe | February 3rd, 2010 | Continued

Featured Article #5

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

I’ve heard it said that good leaders always take the blame when things go wrong — and they always give credit to those they lead when things go right. I had a recent experience where this did not happen. My boss received a question from an employee. She wrote me an e-mail and asked my [...]

Jo Ellen Roe | January 27th, 2010 | Continued

Featured Article #6

A New Take on Trust

Trust is critcal to all our endeavors, says Roderick M. Kramer (see author info below) in a recent article, Rethinking Trust, in the Harvard Business Review. According to the article, people are prone to trust — and being smart is not the issue. Bernie Madoff, says the author, fooled a lot of very smart [...]

Jo Ellen Roe | January 1st, 2010 | Continued

Featured Article #7

Hatching Is Hard Work

I just read a lovely little story about a baby chick hatching, comparing it to “becoming” in humans, from Twitter. The story came from the Mountain State University School of Leadership and Professional Development. The story includes a short video of a chick hatching — fascinating to watch. Check it out here: http://leadertalk.mountainstate.edu/2009/12/becoming.html
I especially like [...]

Jo Ellen Roe | December 30th, 2009 | Continued

Featured Article #8

Oh 7, I Can’t See You!

My husband bought me a new Sudoku book recently. I’ve worked, so far, 27 “medium” puzzles, and on nine of those, I’ve had to work them twice or three times. Not a particularly impressive record.
I took a look at the errors I was making consistently. One of them stood out. I became so focused on [...]

Jo Ellen Roe | December 15th, 2009 | Continued