Teams come together for very specific reasons. Some are joined together for a season of a particular sport. Some are built for an important corporate project. But whatever your area of focus or purpose of being part of a team, at the end of your year… or your season… or your project… there should […]
Ryan Buell and colleagues from Harvard Business School did a fascinating experiment in a restaurant to test the effect of cameras on food quality. In one situation, customers were able to see the cooks as they prepared their food. In the other instance, it was the reverse—cooks were provided with video screens showing the diners […]
You don’t have to LIKE the same stuff your teammates do to be great teammates. You don’t have to LIKE the same stuff your spouse does to build a great marriage. The key to unity is DISLIKING the same things! Let me explain. I like tennis. My wife is more into running. And that’s […]
Let’s start by stating the obvious. Marathons are hard. And marathons are far more of an individual challenge than a team activity. So what does running a marathon have to do with you leading your team? A good bit, actually… First, a brief summary of my marathon experience: My wife and I decided to […]
I got an email from a client that asked me for advice about a group of employees. In her words they were “having a hard time working together because they just don’t seem to like each other.” She asked what she could do to help the situation. Basically she was asking the same thing many […]
When I took our dogs on a walk the other day, I noticed something that could definitely help your team. We have one small dog (a cocker-spaniel and poodle mix) and one large dog (a lovable part-hound, part-shepherd mutt rescued from the animal shelter), and our neighborhood is filled with the barking of dozens of other dogs […]
As a team building facilitator, coach, and speaker, I have observed and learned a great deal about teams and teammates over the last 20 years. And one of the powerful insights that I often share at events is how to create team unity. Building a cohesive team requires you to connect people to two very important […]
I had just taken over as head coach of a high school basketball program. From what I had learned prior to taking the job, there were a few talented seniors, and the varsity team had won more than they lost the year before… But the last coach had not done any off season work for […]
The name for this fun five-ten minute ice breaker activity is taken from a commercial that everyone on your team has probably seen at least a dozen times… It’s the “Capitol One Challenge…” But you don’t have to give me credit for the idea! (so punny!) Okay – enough with the bad jokes. Here’s your easy […]
The importance of mission statements struck me when I was still a coach and teacher, because I worked at five different high schools in my career. That wasn’t because I couldn’t keep a teaching job… The moves happened because of coaching positions that came open. Often it was just a better situation, and once it was […]