Go Small: The Secret to Driving Retention, Engagement, and Productivity
Stop thinking so big to transform your team’s culture. John Gottman, a leading expert on relationships, found, after decades of research, that successful long-term relationships aren’t built on big, dramatic gestures. Instead, they thrive on what he calls “small things often”—little actions, repeated frequently, that make the other person feel valued and connected. Things like […]
Being The ‘Perfect’ Leader Hurts Your Connection with Your Team
“You’re just so perfect!” He was 100 feet away in an audience of 300, but his words landed with the force of a thunderclap on my heart. For a moment, it felt like he and I were the only two people in the room. What he intended as a compliment hit me more as scathing […]
Not Everyone Has a “Happy Holiday” Coming up: A Leader’s Guide to Holiday Sensitivity
I learned this lesson back in college, during what is usually a celebratory time of year; holiday break. Finals were over, no homework was due, and the campus echoed with cheers of “Happy Holidays!” and “See you next year!” But beneath the festive facade, I realized a harder truth. On the last day of the […]
Why Your Boring Signs Are Sabotaging Your Culture of Connection™
Want to kill your company culture? Hang another boring sign. I never thought the Cryptography Museum in Washington DC would teach me something about building a Culture of Connection™, but they masterfully transformed what is usually a mundane piece of communication into an engaging message that roped me deeper into their world. Museum walls are […]
Technical Hat Trap: Why Your Leadership Style Might Be Blocking Employee Engagement
This email confirmed what I’ve been noticing through my speaking career: the best speeches don’t just inspire – they fundamentally change behavior. When this HR professional wrote, ‘my mind is still on the technical aspects of getting the job done,’ she perfectly illustrated what I call the Technical Hat trap. It’s a common challenge I […]
Navigating the Tightrope: Balancing Employee Termination and Team Morale
Letting go of an employee feels like cutting off a limb to save the body—painful yet sometimes necessary for survival. When I had to part ways with a cherished team member at Swift Kick Leadership—someone who was not just a colleague but a vibrant part of our company culture—it was like removing the sunniest spot […]
Practical Strategies for Expanding Your Network at Conferences
Just when I was about to give up on becoming a professional speaker, I committed to one final action that changed everything and ultimately the direction of my life. Let me step back a moment. Did you know that a staggering 85% of jobs are filled through networking? Your connections are often the key to […]
More Than Just Words: Creating Core Values That Last
I still recall the moment when my host proudly recited her company’s core values: Integrity, Honesty, Hard Work, Transparency… Her words sounded like a corporate lullaby, leaving me on the verge of nodding off. It wasn’t the words themselves that were the problem; it was their utter lack of depth. When I asked what “Integrity” […]
The Remote Work Engagement Crisis: How Leaders Can Turn the Tide
AI Crashed My Virtual Team-Building Party. I recently found myself staring into the abyss—or rather, a grid of blank Zoom squares. I was hired to inject some life into a remote team struggling with disengagement, so I eagerly anticipated 20 faces ready for connection. Instead, five sent their AI note-takers (rude!), seven hid behind camera-off […]
Is Your Company Culture Rotten to the Core? Here’s How to Fix It:
Is your company culture more toxic than a reality TV reunion? Every company has a culture, whether they realize it or not. It’s the personality of your organization, the shared values and beliefs that shape how people behave. And just like people, cultures can be healthy or the workplace equivalent of that coworker who microwaves […]