• Kick the Urgency Habit

    Perpetual busyness can propel us through our lives on autopilot, affecting our behavior, decisions, and relationships. When someone asks for my help and I say, “I’d like to help but I don’t have time,” what they hear me saying is, “Helping you is not my priority.” Read on to find out how you can kick the urgency habit.

  • Harnessing the Zeigarnik Effect for Productivity

    Unfinished business—whether it’s an unsolved problem or a draft of an email—has a way of resurfacing at unexpected moments. This is known as the Zeigarnik effect. How can you put the Zeigarnik effect to work for you? Read on to find out.

  • The illusion of effortlessness

    We like performance that looks effortless. Truth is that top performers work hard. They’ve evaluated more business plans, played more scales, sunk more layups, or painted more canvases than the rest of us. They’ve honed their skills through intentional learning and deliberate practice.

  • How to keep the (team) fire burning

    Are things going well for you and your team? Are your projects humming along? If so, congratulations. Would you like to know how to keep it so?

  • Kick the Urgency Habit

    Perpetual busyness can propel us through our lives on autopilot, affecting our behavior, decisions, and relationships. When someone asks for my help and I say, “I’d like to help but I don’t have time,” what they hear me saying is, “Helping you is not my priority.” Read on to find out how you can kick the urgency habit.

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Seven leadership practices that work. We explain the research behind each practice and how you can use it to improve your personal and professional success.

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  • Mental Simulations and Other Ways to Make Better Decisions

    Do you follow a formalized process or framework for making decisions? Probably not. Although many of us are familiar with the decision-making process of understanding the problem, identifying and evaluating alternatives, then choosing the alternative with the highest rating, we usually don't go through all these steps. Instead, we use heuristics, rely on past results, or follow other people's actions.

  • Why Reflection Is Important

    Reflection can help us improve performance through learning while at the same time increasing our sense of well-being. Reflection allows us to appreciate positive experiences. From schoolrooms to boardrooms, reflection is essential for learning, helping us to give meaning to our experience, learn from mistakes and increase purpose-driven action.

  • Create Time Abundance and Have the Time of Your Life

    The only decision we make is how to spend our time. What we choose to do and who we choose to be with at any moment. Everything else in our life stems from this decision. What we achieve. What relationships we build. What skills we develop. We are the sum of what we choose to do with our time.

  • Learning to Have a Difficult Conversation

    Tom Truly is project manager on a project that has recently missed a deadline and lost a key customer. Sarah, the project sponsor, has called a meeting with Tom to discuss progress. She has been under pressure from senior management to “fix” the high-visibility project. Sarah is angry that Tom didn’t inform her in advance about the project issues. Every time she asked Tom how things were going, he answered: “Tip top!”

  • Shake, Rattle and Roll—Volatility Will Make Your Team Stronger

    Volatility, uncertainty and error lead to unpredictable outcomes. This can be a major cause of stress. But volatility will help you if you have options that allow you to profit from the upside without bearing a large cost from the downside.

  • The Positivity Tipping Point

    Do you know your positivity ratio? That’s the ratio of positive emotions to negative emotions you experience over time. Research shows that people who experience at least three times as many positive emotions as negative emotions are more likely to flourish.

  • On Gifts and Giving

    According to Wharton Professor Adam Grant, givers often finish first. Grant’s research shows how givers—people who do more for others than they expect in return—rise in organizations.

  • Mental Simulations and Other Ways to Make Better Decisions

    Do you follow a formalized process or framework for making decisions? Probably not. Although many of us are familiar with the decision-making process of understanding the problem, identifying and evaluating alternatives, then choosing the alternative with the highest rating, we usually don't go through all these steps. Instead, we use heuristics, rely on past results, or follow other people's actions.

  • Why Reflection Is Important

    Reflection can help us improve performance through learning while at the same time increasing our sense of well-being. Reflection allows us to appreciate positive experiences. From schoolrooms to boardrooms, reflection is essential for learning, helping us to give meaning to our experience, learn from mistakes and increase purpose-driven action.

  • Create Time Abundance and Have the Time of Your Life

    The only decision we make is how to spend our time. What we choose to do and who we choose to be with at any moment. Everything else in our life stems from this decision. What we achieve. What relationships we build. What skills we develop. We are the sum of what we choose to do with our time.

  • Learning to Have a Difficult Conversation

    Tom Truly is project manager on a project that has recently missed a deadline and lost a key customer. Sarah, the project sponsor, has called a meeting with Tom to discuss progress. She has been under pressure from senior management to “fix” the high-visibility project. Sarah is angry that Tom didn’t inform her in advance about the project issues. Every time she asked Tom how things were going, he answered: “Tip top!”

  • Shake, Rattle and Roll—Volatility Will Make Your Team Stronger

    Volatility, uncertainty and error lead to unpredictable outcomes. This can be a major cause of stress. But volatility will help you if you have options that allow you to profit from the upside without bearing a large cost from the downside.