Teamwork and Leadership Bloggings

Happy Anniversary! Some of our most popular posts and video posts.

One year ago today we launched our new blog "Teamwork and Leadership Bloggings with Mike Rogers" with the intention of creating a community of people interested in teamwork and leadership in business, family and life. It has been a successful year and enjoyable. The next year will be even better!

It has been fun to reflect back. We had 0 comments for over a month when we started and very few visitors. We now have thousands and thousands of visitors a month and a healthy dose of comments. What a difference a year makes.

This next year we plan to launch a new teamwork and leadership question and answer video feature to the blog, monthly newsletter, more team building activities and a guest post or two.

Here are a several of our most popular posts and video posts this last year. Click on the title to view the post. Did you have a favorite?

Most Popular Posts

Beware Manager and Employers - You better treat your employee's right or else...

8 Important tips to help you waste time in meetings

What does gossip at work have to do with a toothbrush and teamwork?

Most Popular Video Posts

Positive video that every leader in business, the home, church, or wherever must watch.

Things you don't say to your wife. Or boss? Funny Video

Free Inspirational Leadership Video Story

Mike Rogers

Become a fan of our new Facebook Page

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Practical Suggestions - How Leaders Can Keep their Cool During Conflict

Keeping a cool head during conflict can sometimes be difficult. Especially when it is perceived as or becomes personal. If you think there is a good chance there could be unhealthy conflict, here are a few basic tips that have worked for me.

1. Prepare. Think of every question that could be asked and your response to that question. Rehearse your responses out-loud. Rehearsing will help your confidence and calm nerves.

2. Stay relaxed. Keep your own voice calm and steady. Raising your voice will increase the chances of the conflict escalating. Once the conflict reaches this level you will have lost control, which will increase the likelihood that the issue will not be resolved at that moment.

3. Actively listen. Seek to understand first, and then to be understood. Really listen with an open heart. Genuinely consider the others point of view. Ask questions to clarify to ensure you understand.

4. Be firm. Restate what you heard, clear up any misunderstandings, and then stick to your guns. If something makes sense during the conflict, then of course, re-look at your position. However, don't become wimpy either. Being firm is probably one of the most difficult things to do during a conflict, especially when you are really trying to be reasonable.

No matter how you cut it, conflict is difficult. Most people either avoid it or seem to enjoy it (which might be worse than avoiding it). But it is part of leadership.

Do you have other tips for handling conflict that could help our blogging audience? Please share them by commenting below so each of us can benefit by your ideas. Thank you.  

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Mike Rogers

How many IQ points do you drop when muli-tasking? Time Management

How many IQ points do you drop when multi-tasking? The answer (insert drum roll...) - 10 points! That's right, a whole 10 points according to a British study. When people tried to juggle messages through e-mail and/or chat with work they loss the same amount of IQ points as if they had missed an entire nights sleep. And more than double the four points loss through smoking marijuana! And get this, men lose more IQ points than women.

Studies have shown that our brains switch between one activity and another (called executive control). We really don't do two things at once very well. The more complex the task like browsing the web and talking on the phone, or driving and talking on the phone, the more difficult it becomes to switch quickly. Slower switching can mean more than just lack of productivity, it can mean life or death.

So what is the answer - FOCUS. See the following past posts below for some solid time management tips to help you keep the focus. What have you done as a leader in your organization to help create focus?

If you believe someone would enjoy and benefit from this post, please share it. Just hover your mouse over the below "Share/Save" button and you will see lots of options for sharing it with friends including email, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Thanks!

Eat a Frog as Mark Twain Suggested - Perfect Time Management Tip

Time Management - Two Important Things I Learned this Last Week

Time Management – Two Important Things I Learned this Last Week – Part II

Time Management Tips That Could Change Your Life - Part I

Part II - Time Management Tips That Could Change Your Life

Mike Rogers

Resources
CNN Article "E-mails 'hurt IQ more than pot.'" April 22, 2005

Why should leaders tell stories?

One of the best opportunities leaders have to build immediate trust on teams is to tell stories. Great leaders are strong communicators. Some of the best leaders I ever had were great storytellers and communicators.

Why should leaders tell stories? Because stories can convey emotion, humor and learning. They are interesting, captivating and memorable. They can be inspiring, motivational and life changing. People relate to stories and generally love them.   

I recommend leaders strive to tell one story in every meeting that they faciliatate. Make the story relevant and educational. Punctuate every story with learning. Explain to those listening how what you told them relates to something you want them to learn. It is also important that leaders learn how to tell stories. The more effective leaders are at telling stories, the more trust they will create in those they lead. It really works. For a more detailed post from this blog on how to collect and tell stories, click here.

"There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories."

~ Ursula K. LeGuin

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Mike Rogers

Bad Management - Follow up to the Funny Photo Caption Contest

Okay, here are some of my favorite captions from the over 40 that were submitted on the blog and through LinkedIn. Thanks to everyone who took the time to submit one or more. I enjoyed reading each of them.

You may not agree with my final selections, and that is okay. I personally never seemed to agree with the finalists for "America's Funniest Home Videos." There were so many to chose from.

Do you have a favorite? Click here to view each of the funny and creative comments submitted to our blog. Thanks to each of you that make our blog and community such a fun place to hang out.

IT guy "if we had a bigger sink, we could do so much more," Businessman "How do other people wash more with fewer babies?" Financial guy "If we outsourced the baby we could be more cost effective." David Brown

"Did you say on the pot or on the potty" Jeff Jeffreys

"The sooner we can train him, the sooner they can tax him to fund our social security and Medicare..." Patrick Sauer

"Bad Management - Everything is sinking : ( " K.Prudhvi Pathi Rao

"Life after ETrade" Nathan Marsala

"Taking multitasking to new heights" Christine O'Connell

"Don't make a bad decision worse by hitting the garbage disposal switch too quickly." Ed Lamont

"I guess I should be glad they don't have a dishwasher" John Prpich

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Mike Rogers

8 Important tips to help you waste time in meetings

Since most of us need time to waste, I thought it would be beneficial to my blogging audience to provide eight tips you must, must, must incorporate into your meetings. They are legend in most meetings and will help you waste as much time as possible, I guarantee it! 

1. Invite everyone. We all need to time to waste, and you wouldn't want to hurt anyones feelings by not including them. However, be careful about inviting people who might try to accomplish something during the meeting. On the other hand, make sure you invite people who tell good jokes, like to goof around and are generally entertaining.

2. Don't start the meeting until everyone has arrived. Starting a meeting on time would be rude to those who are late. Plus starting a meeting late helps everyone feel more comfortable about being late next time, which almost assures you will start the meeting late everytime.

3. Never, never, never have an agenda. Agendas create structure that can stifle tangents.

4. Leaders should do most if not all of the talking. Since the leader knows best, it makes the most sense that he or she talk the most.

5. Only those with "good" ideas should provide them. Anybody who submits a "stupid" idea should be laughed at, mocked and generally spit upon.

6. Give people freedom to "multitask" during meetings. Let everyone know at the start of the meeting that if they need to do other things such as texting, reading email or answering calls to go right ahead. It will make the meeting all the more productive for everyone.

7. Never make assignments. Assignments mean work will need to be done.

8. Never end a meeting on time. Doing so means you didn't apply items one through seven above!

If you believe someone would enjoy and benefit from this post, please share it. Just hover your mouse over the below "Share/Save" button and you will see lots of options for sharing it with friends including email, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Thanks!

Become a fan of Teamwork and Leadership on Facebook (It’s New)

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Mike Rogers

U.S. Hockey Teamwork - Is chemistry really more important than talent on a team?

Is chemistry really more important than talent on a team? The answer as far as I am concerned is a resounding yes! There is no "dream team" without talent of course. But take away the ability to create chemistry, and it won't matter if you have the very best talent in the land, the only dreaming you will be doing is about what could have been.

You would think that any team with impeccable talent would get perfect results. But there have been a number of loaded teams that refute such a thought. The U.S. 2006 World Baseball Classic team put together some of the best players to play the game including Roger Clemens, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, but couldn't beat Canada, Mexico or South Korea and failed to qualify for the semifinals with a sixth place finish. The 2004 U.S. Olympic basketball team, with arguably the best individual talent of any team in the 2004 Olympics, consisting of a number of NBA stars, finished third. There have been other "dream teams" in business, movies, music etc... that have also not lived up to expectations.

Then there is the "Miracle on Ice" U.S hockey team of 1980. And how about this winter's olympic U.S. hockey team who have already won three games including Sunday's huge victory over talent loaded Canada; on Canadian ice? It is interesting to note that both teams chose players based on chemistry, not talent alone. Both teams opted for team players more than talent.

How do you find players on your team that fit? What are some of the techniques you use to get the right type of team players? We can all learn from you. Please comment below. Thanks.

Mike Rogers

 

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Bad Management - Can you come up with a caption for this funny photo?

This is a sad photo in some ways, but cute and meaningful in other ways. This photo reminds me of some of the stupid things we do as leaders. I am also reminded of how stupid multitasking can be. Let's have some fun with this. Can you come up with a caption for this photo? You can submit a funny or serious caption by using the comment section below. This is a creative group/community. Let's see what we can come up with. It should be fun. I will post the best captions along with the name of who submitted it and their web address (if you have one) next week.

Note: Our community here at Teamwork and Leadership Bloggings continues to grow at a fast rate. I am grateful to each of our loyal subscribers. Drop me a note and let me know what you would like to see or see more of on our blog. After all, it's your blog as much as it is mine. Thanks everyone!

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Mike Rogers

Follow up to the most positive video you ever watched... Stories that have shaped me as a leader and person...

Last week I shared with you a video titled "Validation" and stated that whether you were a leader in business, at home, church or wherever you must watch this video. Here is the post and video - click here. I loved this video and really believe it can change a life. I wanted to share with you, as I promised I would, a couple of stories of positive reinforcement that changed my life. One is serious, the other is, well, kind of silly.

You never know if what you say will literally change someone's life. That person who changed my life 14 years ago with seven simple words was my father.  After showing him a video of a presentation I had done as part of my Master's degree defense he said  "you should think about speaking someday professionally." I hadn't ever thought about that as a career path. I had a great deal of respect for my father and his opinions. He would tell me the truth. Basically he was telling me I was good. That I had a talent. That I was a natural! I believed him, and the rest as they say is history. I speak professionally today and have done so for a number of years. I credit his seven words of positive reinforcement to me as the reason I do what I do today, and I am happier and better for it.

This next example has a little bit of a different spin on the power of positive reinforcement. My wife has regularly told me I am handsome throughout our marriage. Now, I know what I see in the mirror every morning, and it's not even close to prince charming. But because she tells me that I believe she really means it, and I do my best to look my best for her every day. It is important to me. She has literally shaped my behavior as a result. I am not one of those and never will be one of those kind of couch potato, hat toting, unshaven kind of guys. I am too handsome for that!

If you want to shape behavior or make a huge impact on someone's life, provide genuine positive reinforcement. If you want to make lots of friends, provide genuine positive reinforcement. That's why I guess I loved the video so much. Here is a link to it again - click here.

What types of stories do you have to share on the power of positive reinforcement? Has anyone changed your life by a positive word or two?

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Mike Rogers

Should leaders really be held accountable?

Should leaders be accountable for lack of performance on their teams? Can they blame someone else? Can they blame fate?

 

I like to use the analogy of a professional athletic coach (college or pro) when asked this question. If the team does poorly; loses the game or has a losing season, is he or she accountable as the coach? Absolutely!

The coach:

-   selected the players

-   selected the assistant coaches

-   prepared the players for the game

-   inspires the team to play

-   puts the right players in the game

-   develops the right strategies during the game

-   makes critical decisions at game time

-   keeps player motivated during the game

You get the point. Any leader has the same responsibilities and makes the same decisions as above and more. If the ship goes down, the captain better be willing to go down with it. Do you agree? I would like to discuss.   

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Mike Rogers