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 […]
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 […]
Your Onboarding Process is Broken: Why New Members Are Leaving (And It’s Not Their Fault)
Let’s face it: your onboarding process is a disaster. It’s a sink-or-swim approach that’s leaving new members feeling isolated, overwhelmed, and wondering if they made a mistake by joining your community. Let’s break down what a broken onboarding process looks like. The Cost of a Broken Onboarding Process: Houston, we have a major problem here. […]
Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace
By a show of hands, who here feels safe telling their boss they messed up? Anyone? Bueller? I thought so. Welcome to the world of psychological safety, or as some call it, the elusive unicorn of the workplace. I can’t help you spot an actual unicorn, but I can help you create a workplace where […]
Should You Pay Bad Employees to Quit?
$2,000! That’s how much Zappos will pay you, not as a signing bonus, but to quit your job! That’s right—$2,000 NOT to stay with them. Would you do it? Based on asking groups this question, people usually fall into one of three camps: The first group says, “Heck yeah, I’ll leave here faster than the […]
Starting a Conversation with a Stranger – The C.A.T.S.I. Framework
Three things that intimidate me: If you are like me, I can’t help you with the first two, but for the third one—meeting new people for the first time—I created a clever little strategy to help me not only start a conversation but also build a connection with someone that I’m meeting for the first […]
Onboarding New Member
No one likes being the new kid. You don’t know the rules. You don’t know anyone. The group cliques are already made. Your broken glasses are taped up, and your hand-me-down farm overalls barely fit anymore. Oh, is that just me? Anyways…” Being new to a community is challenging. However, onboarding new members is critical […]
The Ivy Lee Method of Time Management
Have you ever felt your unofficial motto is “I’ll do it later”? If you’re nodding your head, you’re not alone. Time management often feels like squeezing a sleeping bag back into its tiny bag — seemingly impossible. But fear not, because I’m here to guide you through mastering time management and introduce you to your […]