Author: Fred E. Frederickson
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Valuing Employees
How do you best tell an employee that they have value? As a manager that may be the single most important question you can ask, but fortunately the answer is easy: reward them! While the how is easy, the what is not obvious. Just walking up and saying “good job” isn’t enough in today’s world.… Read more
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Employee Morale: It’s not your problem
Many managers think that low employee morale is a problem, or even worse they think it’s their problem. That’s NOT just wrong thinking, it is wrong leadership. Low morale is not a problem, it’s a gift; and a gift that should be shared amongst the entire team. Low morale may actually be the greatest gift… Read more
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Employee Development: A Hammer and Chisel
Michelangelo said “The sculpture is already complete within the marble. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.” As a manager, you are the artist and your employees are the stone, just waiting for the superfluous material to be chipped away by your deft hands. The people reporting directly to… Read more
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Bigfoot is Real
People frequently speak about “the elephant in the room”. A metaphor for issues that everyone knows exist, but refuse to acknowledge. Collective denial allows people to work around the elephant; ignoring the ear shattering trumpet calls, happily stepping in enormous piles of elephant dung, and eagerly inhaling the tangy aroma of vast pools of urine.… Read more
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Employee Retention
Thanks to the Triangle Shirtwaist fire employee retention has moved beyond just chaining the emergency exists closed. Plus, chains and padlocks cost money. Why waste precious capital when there are so many free strategies available. Read on to discover how you can get your employees to chain themselves to their desks for almost nothing but… Read more
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Inspiration!
Famed baseball coach Yogi Berra once said “100% of inspiration is 90% perspiration.” Yogi Berra didn’t actually say that, but it sure sounds like something he would say. And you can too. Confused? Of course you are. That’s because everything you’ve ever learned about inspiring people is wrong. Your team looks up to you, not… Read more
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No I in Team
As the old saying goes “There is no ‘I’ in team”, but that’s just an old cliche dragged out to remind people not to be too full of themselves, right? Why then, would Frederick E. “Fredly” Frederickson, Professor of Leadering and Manageristical Arts trot out that old saw? Because there is truth that must be… Read more
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Stacking 2.0
There you are, your managerial 6-pack glistening under the glorious florescent lights overhead. Your leadership biceps pumped from lifting the morale of everyone around you. You wonder, how can you further apply everything you’ve learned about Managerial Stacking. Welcome to Stacking 2.0! A clever manager can achieve accelerated results by using the secrets of stacking… Read more
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Meeting-nomics: Supply and Demand
Established economic theory states that as the supply of something increases the price (value) of that thing will fall. Similarly if the demand for a thing increases without a corresponding increase in supply the price will rise. Inflation is often explained as too much money chasing too few goods. Having defined these basic terms it… Read more
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When Failure is THE Option
NASA is famous, or infamous, for the saying “failure is not an option.” Few things could be further from the truth, failure is always an option. Frequently it is the easiest option, but did you know that sometimes failure is also the best option? NASA understands this better than most. This is not to pick… Read more