Youre so excited youre practically bouncing off the walls. This ideayour best everis not only going to save the company tens of thousands of dollars this year, its eventually going to be a moneymaker. However, following your presentation, your three colleagues sit staring at you like hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil. You stare back at them in idiotic wonder: Why dont they want what you wantespecially when its so clearly the best thing for the company? Almost everyone has this experience at one time or another, and the reason for it is simple: When you make a presentation instead of...

People are empowered when they are given the authority and responsibility to make decisions affecting their work with a minimum of interference and second guessing by others. Empowerment is an overused and under?practiced term. When people are empowered they bring their minds to work. They are engaged in making decisions that affect their part of the business. They take responsibility for their actions. They work free from the petty bureaucratic hassles that diminish value and waste time. They add value to the organization by embracing the principles of quality and service. They search for ways...

A paper manufacturer with over 300 employees once announced that it was planning to move to more spacious and attractive premises thirty miles down the road. When staff members heard the news, they were very apprehensive. Would transport be provided, so that they would be able to commute easily to the new factory? What would workplace facilities be like in the new place – even if the plant itself would be biggerand brighter, maybe working conditions would be inferior? And what about work schedules? Would some jobs become redundant? Or, maybe the opposite would happen, and they would land...

Ellen was a clerk working for a large insurance company. One day, she spotted a glaring discrepancy in a form she was typing. Through a simple error, two figures had been transposed in a store owner’s policy. In consequence, his store was insured for $165,000 against vandalism but only for $5 000 against fire. Her firstinstinct was to reach for the phone to inform her supervisor of the error, for the sake of the unfortunate store owner. “But wait a minute,” she then thought to herself. “I’m not supposed to read these forms. I’m just supposed to check one column...

Trust is essential. You cant run a business without it. Customers leave. Risk taking evaporates. You find yourself surrounded by naysayers or worse yes men and women. No one dares tell the truth. Departments put up barricades creating fortresses inside your castle. The Warning Signs Employees Leave. When turnover is higher than the industry average, it could be a sign that people lack trust in your organization. While there could be other reasons low pay, a very attractive job market, better day-to-day benefits such as parenting leave consider the possibility that mistrust may be the primary...

Theres a one-word reason most ideas never see the light of day: Resistance. Resistance is often behind the glassy-eyed stares you get following a presentation, the sarcastic put-downs you have to put up with when you describe your vision for a new product or service, and other peoples abrupt departure from the water cooler when you approach, enthusiastic and ready to share an idea. What people are saying to you, either directly or indirectly is, Ive heard your idea and I dont get it, I dont like it, or I dont like you. By understanding the resistance getting in the way of your ideas, you can...