Election Tension: Strategies for Navigating Workplace Dynamics
A few months ago I received a call from the head of HR of a global company who told me about how politics had invaded her workplace and caused a major uproar. It seems that a couple of members of the C-Suite got into a very public political argument in front of a town hall meeting. Afterwards, apologies were made, but it left a very bad taste in everyone’s mouth – to the point where no...
The Very Possible Dark Side to Amazon’s Return to Work Mandate
This past Monday, Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy sent a rather long-winded letter to employees announcing, among other changes, a mandatory “Full-Time Return to Office (RTO)” policy, which will take effect in January, 2025. Basically, he wants to return Amazon back to the days before the pandemic when everyone came into the office five days a week. Citing a previous announcement from February of...
Do You Have The Courage As a Leader to Be Your Own Hero?
In a world filled with stories of superheroes and larger-than-life figures, we often overlook the quiet, everyday acts of courage that define our lives. While we might never don a cape or possess superhuman abilities, the concept of being our hero is within reach for each of us. This heroic journey starts with a fundamental trait: courage. But how does courage relate to being your own hero? To...
Trust in Turmoil: Navigating the Trust Gap in Today’s Workplace
The research is clear: we’re facing an increasing trust gap between leadership and employees in our workplaces. According to PwC‘s recent annual trust survey, there is an 18-point gap between executives who believe their employees trust them (86%) and the employees who actually do (67%). Additionally, there’s a 26-point gap between leaders who say they trust their employees (also...
Handling Political and Social Tensions in the Workplace
Who Should Read This? If you’re part of the C-suite, working in HR, leadership development, diversity, equity and inclusion, learning and development, or organizational and cultural development, this blog post is for you. You’ll find this content particularly useful if you’re looking for: Practical, proactive approaches to mitigate workplace tensions. Real-world examples of what can be...
This Independence Day – Character Matters
Recently I had the honor to meet a former US Army Colonel and current non-profit CEO at a prestigious leadership awards event in San Diego (he won!). Our conversation turned to the coming election, and I wondered aloud if this would be our last time celebrating Independence Day as a functioning democracy. The Colonel paused thoughtfully for a moment and then responded in a way that offered...
INTENT versus IMPACT
Introduction This fundamental concept is one of the core principles of my work and integral to DTG’s approach to dealing with Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) issues in the workplace and marketplace. D&I issues or employee relation issues (among people who are different) typically involve two people or more. The perpetrator or the initiator of the behavior is one party and the target or...
What NFL Coach Andy Reid Gets Right and Wrong About Respect
Last week, I offered my thoughts on the opinions of Harrison Butker, a professional football player with the Kansas City Chiefs, who kicked off a major controversy recently with his address at Benedictine College’s graduation ceremony. Many reasonable, decent, and thoughtful people with all sorts of political and religious leanings considered his address to be ignorant, disrespectful,...Think Before You Kick
Unless you deliberately don’t watch TV, don’t look at the news online, and eschew all social media of any kind, then you’ll find it’s hard to avoid the controversy that the professional football player Harrison Butker kicked off last week with his commencement address at Benedictine College. In a nutshell, he cited his religious beliefs to attack the President, the medical community’s response...