In her last guest post, Taking Risks to Grow, Cathy Laffan wrote about the benefits of taking risks, this week she examines compassion and The Responsibility Process™. How do you practice compassion? Do you reserve your compassion for certain people or situations? (more…)

A successful apology signals responsibility and learning, not subordination or shame. Do you know how to apologize so the person you are apologizing to will get it fully and get it the first time? Do you know how to apologize so you are complete and both you and the other party are ready to move to resolution? Not many of...

We all make mistakes -- in our private life and in our professional life. Everyone makes them, no one escapes mistake making, but few people know how to fix mistakes and recover well fast. Here's the secret. Let go of denial, blame, excuses, and castigating yourself to earn their pity. Instead, acknowledge mistakes quickly so you can move to resolution....

In one of my latest posts, I explained why you'd want to Select Team Members for Commitment, Not Skills. This might feel counter-intuitive at first, but if your team comes together over commitment, skills will follow. Another thing that might sound counter-intuitive: teammates don't have to like each other. You'll achieve better cohesion when the group outcome is aligned --...

Trust is a topic people can talk and write about endlessly, but the good news is that there are just a few truly important truths about it that are worth understanding and bringing into our daily practice. The primary determinant of your ability to trust has to do with common misconceptions about our ability to trust others. Trust is confidence....

Sometimes The Most Responsible Response Is No Response When facing a problem, it isn’t always pretty. Things can get heated, voices can rise, and fear rears its ugly head. This results in defensive responses. I have observed this taking place both at home and at work. In writing those words it hit me that the common factor is me. I...

Stand for Something When I kick off product teams, one of the many things I do with them is play a game called Product Tree. Product Tree is a game created by Luke Hohmann (Innovation Games®) where you use a metaphor of a tree to envision the different aspects of a team or product. You start by drawing a big...

The greatest problems people experience at work are not problems within their role, their department, their function, or their organization. It’s solving problems between their role and other team member's roles, between departments, between functions, and between organizations. I call these "Problems Between." The biggest problems--and thus the greatest opportunities to add value--are not in your job role, your department,...

All it takes is one person to invite a group to be a team. One person can ask for shared clarity about the collective task before members assume individual assignments. One person can ask others "What's in it for you to be on this team this time?" One person can request personal promises that support performing as a team. Are...

Most people I talk to are uncertain about how to behave powerfully in shared responsibility situations. Would you like some help with that? When I have the chance to talk with a small group of project leaders, I usual invite their questions, but only if they are also willing to take responsibility for their role in the situation. Here are...