Anyways, as I was looking back on some of my initial posts when I started XtremeHR, I remembered why I started this blog (which I posted in my first post):

I hope for this blog to be different in that I work to challenge the status-quo.

Now, pushing the status-quo doesn’t always make you the most popular person, but if you can demonstrate results and do it respectfully, people pay attention. Which is why I feel people read my initial work – it more readily challenged the status-quo and everyday thinking. My writing (in my opinion) was definitely much clearer than today and it made you think (again, my opinion).

Fast forward to today…..I simply cannot agree that the content is intriguing nor is the writing 100%. As such, I have done some serious reflection over the past six months regarding this blog and have come to the decision that it is time to call it quits. I am not going to bore anyone with an explanation, however, know this is a good thing. The site and content currently published will continue to exist, but new content will no longer be published.

Please know the past (almost) two years with XtremeHR has been fantastic because it has afforded me the opportunity to meet and get to know so many people in the HR community that I wouldn’t have otherwise. And those connections will definitely continue via Twitter and my contributor blog, Performance I Create, so do know this is not goodbye forever. Heck, you might even catch me at an HR conference every now and then.

I want to thank all of you for your support and conversation through my exploration of the HR blogging community. But it is time to put this one to bed and move forward.

You can still contact me via email, as well at:  chris@xtremehr.com

It’s been real. It’s been fun. Peace.

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Simply Fantastic Books

Sure you have.

This phrase is a statement used both in our years growing up as a child and in our adult lives within the places we work. But how true does this statement really hold true?

Think about it. We hear it time and time again, but how many places do you know where the mentality is still about the collective “I” versus the “TEAM” as a whole? Essentially stating that everyone is out to better themselves through the direction of working as a singular force versus a collective force. Now don’t get me wrong, individual development and progression are important; however, this development and progression can also be obtained through collaboration as a team.

When I have seen organizations attempt to promote this “TEAM” philosophy, many times it seems to be at the line level; looking at the C-suite, it can be spoken, but demonstration many times focuses on the “I”. And this is where I feel many organizational teams begin to fail. Ownership of initiatives, projects, policies, work, whatever, is everybody’s responsibility – including the CEO. Yes, I said it, the CEO.

Understandably CEOs are not able to take part in everything, but they should be an invested partner with the workings of the organization. This includes interacting with employees at all levels with open, honest, transparent communication. Not everything will be open for discussion depending on the nature of the situation, but be honest about it. This will most certainly garner more respect that avoiding it all together.

This philosophy was most recently discussed when I sat in on a #LASHRM12 keynote session led by Mary Ellen Slayter (@RepCapital) with Rose Hudson, CEO/President of Louisiana Lottery Corporation (@LotteryRose), and Hugh Weber, President of the New Orleans Hornets (@HughWeber1) where both Rose and Hugh discussed the CEOs view of the HR leader’s role in the organization today. As Mary Ellen led the conversation between Rose and Hugh, the continued message I heard was that “we” are responsible for driving success together – we are all focused on developing and growing our people to drive engagement and growth; it isn’t just the “HR” group responsible for this.

Wow! HR isn’t the sole party responsible for driving engagement? Not in these two organizations.

Both leaders discussed how they drive the “we” focus and high engagement in their organizations by getting in the trenches. For Instance, Rose explained how she will hop in the car and head up to Shreveport, LA, or Monroe, LA, office to speak with employees or vendors. Rose stated, “this is without an agenda, letting the people talk and ask in person”. She went on to add “I need to be available to everyone, and use the opportunity through casual meetings to let people talk”.

Hugh explained how through all of the changes with the team, he maintains regular communication with his employees. He works to ensure people know what is going on by sharing information and that they hear what is going on from him. There are times in which Hugh stated “we have a weekly meeting where we don’t talk, we answer questions”, but there are also other times where he interfaces with his employees by having an individual conversation with someone versus applying a “one size fits all” approach.

Both approaches from Rose and Hugh are powerful and demonstrate how the “we” or “team” focus can, and does, drive a culture of accountability, determination, and loyalty of a team to succeed together. People understand no one person is above another – everyone equally serves a unified purpose, but at the same time each person can continue to develop themselves personally and professionally.

If you had to reflect on your organizational culture, does it drive an “I” or “We” philosophy?

What is your viewpoint – “I” or “We”? What have been the successes or downfalls?

At the end of the day, keep in mind no one person can achieve everything. It takes a collective group to get there, but it all depends on how you embrace and develop the culture of that collective group as to whether or not we can succeed.

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I am an Outlier

In my post –  My First Day at #LASHRM12 = Freakin’ Rocked! - I explained that the first day brought forth many thoughts for me to include:  excitement, innovation, engagement, refreshment, enlightenment, fun, and information. These thoughts subsequently came about because it has been a while since a conference has offered me an opportunity to think outside of the box around thoughts, work, change, management, leadership, and just the HR practice.

The second day of the conference proved to carry over the opportunity to think outside of the box with another group of fantastic speakers. Here is how it shook out:

We didn’t start the second day off with a keynote speaker, but rather a set of concurrent sessions. And these concurrent sessions actually started at a decent time (8:30 a.m.) – none of that early morning crap where everyone is trying to drag in. The first session I attended was Total Rewards & Motivation: Mistakes, Myths & What’s Working by Laura Wolfe, PhD. Laura provided a vast array of information regarding total rewards, recognition, and motivation, but an interesting exercise presented early into Laura’s presentation resonated with me. Laura had audience members assist passing out pennies, dimes, and nickles to various people in the room. No one really knew what the motivation was around handing out the coins, why they were handing them out to certain people, and what the heck we were supposed to do with the money. As the assistants were handing out the money, you could hear people in the audience saying “I haven’t gotten anything” and it really bothered some people. Me on the other hand, I kept getting money and wasn’t really paying much attention since I was tweeting the content Laura was presenting. Through it all, what I figured was coming was an equitable or fair compensation example, but rather it was did our performance and/or engagement increase or decrease while the money was being handed out. Thus, raising the question:  is money the best and ultimate motivator?

I thought this was a rather interesting example to raise her point around money as a motivator. How many presenters have you seen create a “scratch your head” example? Not many!

After Laura’s presentation, I was wowed by Cathy Missildine-Martin with her presentation on Talent Management: How to Make Your Metrics Work. For those that do not work with me on a daily basis, I am going to let you in on a little secret – I like data. And Cathy delivered on the concept of data/metrics and how we can utilize this information to drive our organizations to increased employee engagement, customer service levels, and bottom line. We discussed topics such as infrastructures needed to deliver on metrics that matter, quality of hire and the metrics involved with measuring quality of hire, other metrics we can utilize to evaluate people performance, and finally, how once we have the data, what do we need to do with it. The engagement Cathy was able to her audience was awesome and it was clearly demonstrated by the amount of knowledge people left with.

Wrapping Cathy’s session, we broke for lunch and networking – the second day’s lunch was a little less dramatic (stay tuned for a future post regarding what happened the first day).

Reconvening from lunch, I moved over to Craig Fisher’s session:  Cool Social Media Tools for Networking and Recruiting. Coming into the session, I thought I was pretty savvy with many of the social media tools out there, but let me tell you – I didn’t know anything. Craig began the presentation by introducing the audience to cool tricks you can incorporate into your LinkedIn profile to improve where you reside in search results in LinkedIn, Google, and other search engines. Additional tools that Craig discussed included:  TwiAngulate, WhoWorks.at, Xobni, Rapportive, Kurrently, Card Munch, Pealk, and much more. I plan on incorporating these tools into my SM toolbox and as I begin to use them, I will let you know how they work out.

To wrap up the day, we attended the last keynote session, Leading at the Next Level with Scott Eblin. For those attendees that did not stay for Scott’s presentation, YOU MISSED OUT! Scott provided some fantastic content around leadership presence and what that looks like from a perspective of managing a team as a leader or managing something that you lead in your organization and some great exercises to incorporate into your day-to-day interaction with people. Plus, he did a headstand for us! Check it out:

Where do you get to see a speaker perform a headstand – #LASHRM12!

All in all, I am honored and privileged that I got to attend #LASHRM12! The conference organizers truly understood their audience in that they organized speakers who could provide applicable information versus selling services/content. This effort is to be applauded and I know all of the attendees walked away with greater knowledge they can apply to their organizations.

With that, thank you for a great time, allowing me to serve on the #LASHRM12 Social Media Team, and be sure to check out the #LASHRM12 swag video:

P.S. If you are still wondering how it was determined who go the money and who didn’t back in Laura Wolfe’s presentation, it was determined based on different activities you  were doing (i.e., playing on your computer/phone, smiling, etc.)

Also, stay tuned for future posts around #LASHRM12 – it provided some great ideas to share and blog about.

So many thoughts come to mind because I can honestly say it has been a while since a conference has offered me an opportunity to think outside of the box around thoughts, work, change, management, leadership, and just the HR practice. This is how good just the first day was!

So you understand a little of what I experienced, let’s break it down:

To kick off the #LASHRM12 conference, Joe Gerstandt and Jason Lauritsen of Talent Anarchy presented us with some awesome content on why just having a quantity of people in your social network doesn’t prove valuable. Sure, you probably know most of your friends on Facebook, but how well do you really know them? When was the last time you sat down and had a live conversation with them? Do you take and make the time to develop your network? Just like anything else, you have to dedicate time to get return on your relationships.

Building on this concept of communication and relationships, Daniel Crosby of Incblot Organizational Psychology directed one of the first concurrent sessions I attended – Changing Change. What a title, huh? Changing Change? Daniel flipped the change model on its side and offered the audience some new thinking on what change management should look like.

Wrapping Daniel’s session, we broke for lunch and networking – there are some truly awesome HR folks here!

Next the conference reconvened at the next keynote session – The CEOs View:  The Role of the HR Leader. Mary Ellen Slayter moderated a panel of two CEOs here in New Orleans comprised of Rose Hudson, President/CEO of the Louisiana Lottery, and Hugh Weber, President of the New Orleans Hornets, discussing their thoughts on HR in the organization. Can I just say Robin Schooling is very lucky to be working with Rose Hudson (this woman rocks it!). There is so much that I can and will be discussing regarding this session over the coming days, but my one teaser for you:  these CEOs get business, HR, and their people. They understand and know their people at the top and the bottom.

Jazzed, excited, and pumped up, I moved on to my next session with Joe Gerstandt of Talent Anarchy. Joe gave the audience a fantastic lesson on diversity and diversity of thought. Many people when they hear diversity, simply think about people. But it isn’t just about people. It is also about how we think, assumptions we make, and how to break those assumptions and thinking to remain open to learn, meet new people, change practices, and drive growth!

To wrap up the day, I attended my last concurrent session with Bill Boorman. If you do not know Bill, take some time to get to know him and what he is about. It is amazing the wealth of knowledge and experience he has to share. Bill provided me with some great conversation into the global space of recruiting, talent, HR, and branding.

All of this was just in day one of the #LASHRM12 conference. I am super stoked to see what day two brings. Now I know this isn’t your typical first blog post of a conference, as I just left you with some teasers of information, but that is the way I wanted it because over the next week I will be giving a break down of all the great information gathered. You just have to stay tuned!

I haven’t watched this show in years, but it is usually something I have on in the background while I am working on the blog or some work stuff. Through my evaluation of the show over the past couple of weeks, I have really noticed one thing:  lack of managerial courage.

What is managerial courage you may ask?

Lominger defines managerial courage as:

• Not being afraid to take negative action when necessary
• Facing up to people problems on any person or any situation quickly
• Providing current, direct, complete, and positive feedback to others
• Letting people know where they stand
• Not holding back anything that needs to be said

Going back to the Celebrity Apprentice, I notice many of these “so called” loud-mouth, not afraid to say anything celebrities are not capable of calling a spade a spade when the opportunity presents itself in the boardroom. When Donald asks someone how another person did, you get people who try to go all around the real issues versus addressing them.

Funny enough, I see this same issue with many leaders in today’s workforce. The manager can talk a good game behind close doors with peers, but when it comes to addressing the issue with the employee, it isn’t addressed or it is addressed at such a high-level no one could determine there was a problem.

Addressing the Skill Gap

Addressing this skill gap with leaders isn’t easy because you cannot just make someone like conflict and able to flip the switch to feel comfortable discussing a conflict with someone else. To aid in developing this skill, here are a number of methods one can utilize:

• Bring solutions; don’t always just say something is wrong and not have a potential solution
• Ensure information is accurate before raising the issue
• Practice your message before delivering to others
• Don’t make it personal – stick to the facts and deliver a message that serves a purpose of helping the individual
• Deliver messages timely and in private
• Address situations – don’t be afraid to disagree with something if it doesn’t make sense
• Be sure to provide a balance of both positive and negative feedback over time

What are You Seeing?

Do you see this skill gap with leaders in your organization? What about managers as a whole?

What are some methods you are utilizing to address the skill gap?

Photo Credit:

Executive Performance Fuel

And it is going to be an awesome time with great presenters, awesome HR pros, and a rockin’ social media team to keep you in the loop just in case you are not able to make the conference. I have the pleasure to be a part of the #LASHRM12 social media team with Shauna Moerke (@HR_Minion) and Robin Schooling (@RobinSchooling). You can keep up with what is going on at the conference via posts here on Performance I Create, XtremeHR,HR Minion, HR Schoolhouse, and the Twitter hashtag #LASHRM12. We might even get some posts from one of our Performance I Create contributors, Buzz Rooney, since she will be attending with us!

I am super stoked to be attending because I get to reconnect with a lot of great HR pros in Louisiana that I know, but it is also a time for me to come home – you can read in further detail why I am attending here.

For those that will be in attendance, I cannot wait to meet you, talk shop, explore social media, and have fun!

See you there!

I get it….companies are not hiring, you don’t have the experience they are looking for, the job doesn’t pay what you used to make or want, or you are over qualified. All valid points – heck, I have been there before. It can get frustrating and discouraging, leaving one in a desperate state to find anything.

However, it is this desperate state to find anything is where I have seen employers get frustrated. Frustrated? Yes, frustrated. Here is why.

Time and time again I see candidates say “yes” to jobs or expectations that are not aligned with their personal and professional expectations. For instance, the job requires 10 – 12 hours per day and the candidate says not problem to this in the interview. The candidate ends up getting hired and three to six weeks in, the candidate now employee, is griping about the hours. “I didn’t know it was going to be so many hours”.

The question I always have is:  was this information presented to you in the interview? Furthermore, I go on to ask:  what changed between when you interviewed and now?

What changed was that you needed a job and you would say whatever was necessary to get the job. I get that people need to work, but taking a job for the sake of getting a paycheck doesn’t always work out. Especially in situations where it doesn’t align for you personally and professionally. If you do not like working 10 – 12 hours per day, do not take a job that requires that much time at work. Instead, go find a part-time gig until you are able to find something full-time – this will at least bring in some income and provide you with potential opportunities to network.

So, if you find yourself in that stage of being desperate for a job, what should do?

1. Be honest with yourself and the expectations you have for a job
2. Don’t settle on something you think you can make yourself like for the sake of getting a paycheck
3. Search for part-time opportunities in your field until you are able to find something full-time
4. When a recruiter asks you if are “ok” with something, don’t lie if you are not; this just pisses people off if you get hired and you think you can get moved around once hired
5. Network
6. Understand you may have to start at the bottom (possibly again)
7. Don’t sell yourself short – be sure to promote your knowledge, skills, and abilities
8. Have a rockin’ resume (if you need some assistance in this department, check out Chris Fields)
9. Reach out to people – social media today makes it easier to get connected with people that are hiring or can get you connected
10. Don’t give up!

I know it is easy for someone who is employed to give you a “duh” list of things to do when you are desperately looking for a job, but again, I have been in your shoes. It isn’t fun, nor easy. If you need someone to talk to or want some guidance, feel free to reach out to me:  chris@xtremehr.com.

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HireXA

That evening, I searched Bon Qui Qui on YouTube and Bon Qui Qui at King Burger popped up. I clicked the link and as the video began to plan, I learned that it was a skit performed on Madtv. If you know me, I greatly appreciate stupid comedy that makes you laugh and this skit made me laugh – just because it is ridiculous. And even though the skit is ridiculous, I have interacted with more and more people who know of Bon Qui Qui. They know of her not from watching the skit on Madtv, but rather via YouTube because someone told them to check it out, like someone told me too.

Funny enough, Bon Qui Qui has spread like wildfire over the years, which has been demonstrated by the hundreds of thousands of hits from viewers. Why might you ask?

Because the character’s creator, Anjelah Johnson, has done a fantastic job creating a comedic brand and buzz through her stand-up comedy. Johnson through her stand-up talks about a variety of topics to include her life growing up, family, Tammy the Vietnamese nail salon manicurist, and Bon Qui Qui. It is silly comedy that people do not get tired of. She is comedian that is on the up and up by way of buzz.

Not thinking much of Bon Qui Qui lately, I was talking to someone the other day and Bon Qui Qui came up. I ended up searching YouTube for Bon Qui Qui to watch the original skit and with this search, a new video came up. The original Bon Qui Qui skit was roughly two plus years old so I was surprised to see a new video – it was a music video by Bon Qui Qui:  I’m a Cut You. The video is again ridiculous, but as I watched I thought Johnson has reengaged her character and ultimately her comedic brand.

Subsequently, the talk about buzz, brand, and engagement got me to thinking:

What kind of buzz do you create?

Do you create a buzz around your brand? What does your influence look like?

Each and every day you have the opportunity to impact others through your knowledge, skills, experience, ideas, questions, etc., but how often do you take advantage of opportunities to make an impact with your personal brand? Within your personal and professional space, do others know who you are or what you can do?

If you have answered those questions and realized you have some opportunity to make an impact with your personal brand, here are some ideas to generate some buzz:

• Get involved – projects both at work and outside of work are a good way for others to get to know you and what you can do. Not all projects are going to be glamorous, but just like it took you time to gain that work experience, it takes time to also develop your brand
• Differentiate yourself – what makes you different from others? What is your niche? Sure, others can also have the same niche, but what makes you different? Is it your personality or your ability to connect with others? Figure it out and use it to your advantage.
• Give to others – not everything is about you. You should focus on how you can assist others….give yourself and the return will happen
• Have fun – have fun with what you are doing!

Now, go out and create some buzz!

NBC has come out with a number of these commercials over the years to include different celebrities and topics, but the message is typically the same in that you can make a difference, influence for the better, and impact others to do the same. As I reflected back on the commercial and the many commercials I had seen over the years, I thought about a PSA for the workplace.

Think about it, how many managers could use a PSA reminder once in a while to reinforce their ability to make a difference, influence for the better, and impact others to do the same? The answer:  a lot.

Through my years in human resources, I have seen many managers focus on documenting performance or behavior versus communicating and coaching – even in some instances zeroing in on a way to impose a punitive result. Why? Because it is easier to document versus coach – it doesn’t require as much effort and it doesn’t require the manager to get involved personally. For instance, take the PSA regarding your brain on drugs. It is direct, hard-hitting, and you either get it or you don’t. There is not much conversation in between. Many messages unfortunately come across like this in the workplace.

Now, there are situations that dictate the need to document the performance issue at hand, the the conversation is direct, and you either get it or you don’t. However, how many times do we run into situations where a manager just went from 0 to 10 with their approach to discuss something with an employee? To provide an example of what I mean going from 0 to 10, take this PSA spoof from Conan:

Conan informs us that if we choose to fight versus walk away, hit the person with a board preferably when they are not looking. Hmm….can you recall instances where employees have been hit when they were not looking? Sure you can. Have these incidents resulted in an escalated discussion or possibly a complaint to HR? I am sure a couple of them have. The key thing to remember when situations like this arise is to refresh the manager or employee of their “the more you know” content they have gathered through experience over the years. Additionally, take this opportunity to have open, honest, and timely dialogue around the issue and how they can impact it for the better.

So let’s say you were in charge of putting together a PSA for your workplace, what would it look like?

If I could publish a PSA for managers in the workplace, it would look something like this – it is more influential than a 0-level PSA, but not as direct and non-emotional as a 10-level PSA:

Would you ever want to face a situation where you felt you were being singled out, written off, disrespected, ignored, or lied to? What about if you were in a situation where you felt like you had to obtain a lawyer to get fair treatment?

No….

Then these are even more reasons to listen to your employees, make a difference, influence for the better, and impact them to do the same in their everyday work.

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Pitch

Last October, I was approached by Jasmin Grimm at Connections magazine to talk about fighting in the workplace. When Jasmine first approached me about the topic, I was a little apprehensive because I wasn’t sure the direction this could go. I know, I know, you want to see an HR professional pushing for fist fighting in the workplace , but that is far from what we produced. Instead, we published a great article that discusses how you can pick a fight in a healthy format, ultimately stretching thinking and productivity.

I am providing the article below, but you can also read it in the October 2011 Connections issue.

Chris Ponder II, XtremeHR.com blogger and regional HR manager with 45 branches under his belt, believes in challenging traditional thinking and status quo. He may have a few tips you can put into practice today to battle it out in the office.

First, before you go around picking fights, what you need to understand is that there are two forms of conflict: healthy and unhealthy. The idea is simple enough, but it’s not easy to discern between the two when you’re in the midst of it.

Here’s how to figure it out: schemas, manipulating for favor, and sabotage may drive unhealthy conflicts. According to Ponder, they provoke clashes, “that people won’t address [which] causes dissension.” They may incite fear of escalation, so folks may avoid tackling the issue entirely. On the other end of the spectrum, these kinds of conflict may cause volatile outbursts or seething resentment that builds over time.

The problem escalates when you realize its human nature to harp on negativity. It sucks energy and impacts performance, said Ponder. And when it’s not dealt with effectively, conflict leaves behind a rumbling discord.

Healthy forms of conflict, on the other hand, drive ideas. They offer key insights into major decisions and birth new ideas. They happen when parties are respectful and are able to compromise when tackling the issue—not the person—in front of them.

This kind of “conflict is good because it encourages us to grow as people as well challenges the way we think,” said Ponder.

Need an example? Let’s say a project manager doesn’t have enough experience to understand the full scope of a project. When you have the right knowledge to challenge their idea, to say this isn’t working and to back it up with data—that’s a healthy form of conflict. Unhealthy conflict, on the other hand, would be if that same project manager didn’t understand the scope of a project and you badger him with false information to impair his ability to do his job.

The hard and fast rule: It’s unhealthy to get personal; it’s healthy to challenge ideas and behaviors. Cognitively we might know this, but we’re still dealing with human behavior so the difference becomes muddled.

Now that we’ve underscored the importance of aiming for healthy conflict, if you’re going to fight, fight right. Here’s how and when to do it.

Communicate up front.

“Give people as much information as you can, otherwise it’ll create situations where people are talking behind the scenes with their own agendas and assumptions, which creates unhealthy conflict for teams,” said Ponder. “Address the issues so healthy conflict can occur. Encourage people to voice their opinions…on a necessary basis…as opposed to just being heard.”

Ask people directly what they think.

“I’ll ask, ‘What do you think of this idea?’ or ‘What’s your take based on your experience?’” said Ponder.

Remember not everyone likes to be put on the spot, so Ponder said to remind others that the conversation isn’t just about two people—it’s about everyone who is working together. When you see someone who is disengaged, reach out and solicit his or her individual feedback. In order to better understand the other party and foster respect, remember to address their feelings.

When you’re countering their argument, “address the issue from the ‘I’ standpoint instead of the ‘You’,” said Ponder. “When we start saying, ‘you’ it makes someone defensive.” If you’re at a stalemate but you need to push an idea forward, try fostering communication by pitting two groups against one another: take one project and divide it in two and see who can come up with the most creative idea. People will have no choice but to talk about ideas—instead of just harping on unhealthy intrapersonal conflicts.

“This allows people to work together and build a team,” said Ponder. “Everyone is at least a little competitive…this really allows people to really try to beat the other team. It’s not about winning—it’s about coming up with the best possible idea.”

Set an example when you’re fighting. It’s not about bullying others into following your example. According to Ponder it’s about showing you’re willing to communicate openly and waiting for others to follow suit.

“We have a tendency—as managers—to sometimes say, ‘I’m the manager and this is what you’re going to do’,” said Ponder. “To foster people and encourage them to move ahead…remove yourself from the title…you’ve got to encourage others by being a part of the team.”

Solicit ideas, encourage feedback, and make others feel like they’re valuable. Exhibit patience. Fighting is tough and you have to remember, if the other party doesn’t want to play nice, “you’ll be pulling a rope and you won’t get anywhere. You’ll just encounter the same issues you had from the get go,” said Ponder.

If at all possible avoid e-mail courage. Yes e-mail and social media are a daily part of our lives, but try not to hide behind e-mail and social media as your only means of communication. It just shows you’re fearful of how the other party will react to you.

“Get up and talk to people,” said Ponder. “Face-to-face communication is still important in life. You still need to be able to talk with people…not everything can be communicated by writing.”

Lastly, get to the point.

Ponder said if you’re pussyfooting around whatever issue you need to discuss, you’ll never get down to the problem at hand. Direct talk is key. Encourage people not to talk about ideas from a what’s-in-it-for-me perspective, but rather, what’s the best solution for the entirety of the problem. Be prepared to throw ideas around and see what sticks. Healthy conflict means there’s participation. People might not agree, but this is good. Besides, if there’s 100 percent consensus, it’s just groupthink anyway.

Fight right and tackle the issue—not the person—in front of you today.

Photo Credit:

Journeytheway