| Hello friend!
All of us here at The Rainmaker Group hope that you and yours had a wonderful holiday season and are off to a great start in 2008!
We've got another great newsletter for you this week. Our lead article examines five signs that the managers in your organization are destroying employee morale.
As promised we've got part four of our five part series on interpersonal conflict in the workplace. This week's topic: a low empathetic understanding of the feelings and emotions of others.
We've also got a QBQ! Personal Accountability QuickNote from John Miller as well as a great article by Marshall Goldsmith as part of our Featured Guru series.
Enjoy!
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step"
-Lao Tzu |
| Five Signs that Management is Destroying Employee Morale |
 The managers of an organization play a huge role in determining the level of morale experienced by its team members.
Every organization has politics of some type or another - it is completely natural. There are both "good politics" and "bad politics." However, it is often the way that an organization's politics are played out that determines the level of employee morale within an organization.
"Good politics" generally encourage a culture that promotes performance excellence and embraces personal accountability. Not surprisingly, organizations that engage in "good politics" typically have team members with high levels of morale and a positive attitude towards their organization.
"Bad politics" on the the other hand promote a culture of favoritism and a protection of the status quo. Anyone who has worked in an organization that embraces such politics can attest to the toxic culture that these actions can create.
To help you take a closer look at your organization's political landscape we have identified five signs that may indicate management is destroying employee morale.
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Five Sources of Interpersonal Conflict - Part 4 - Low Empathetic Understanding |
 Chris Young - Founder, The Rainmaker Group
In parts 1 through 3 of this series we have examined the following causes of interpersonal conflict:
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A fourth cause of interpersonal conflict is one that can be difficult to identify, but undoubtedly causes numerous conflicts in the workplace - individuals with a low empathetic understanding.
It is likely that you've worked with one of these individuals at some point in your career. They are the one's who always have their "foot in their mouth" - the ones with the knack for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.
While we may laugh about these comments at times, these comments and actions frequently cause hurt feelings that lead to conflict in the future.
This type of conflict is caused by individuals with low levels of emotional intelligence - the ability to relate and empathize with others and their feelings. This type of conflict can be one of the most difficult to identify and to overcome.
In part 4 of our series on interpersonal conflict we offer suggestions for identifying this type of conflict as well as what can be done to minimize interpersonal conflict caused by individuals with a low level of empathetic understanding.
Miss a part of our series on interpersonal conflict? Click the appropriate link below to read any installment that you may have missed!
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| Featured Guru - Marshall Goldsmith |
 Marshall Goldsmith is a renowned author of too many books to mention here and business coach to CEOs of some of the largest companies in the U.S. His latest book, What Got You Here, Won't Get you There, recently ranked as the top selling business book by the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Goldsmith has also authored regular feature columns for Business Week and Fast company magazine.
This week we'd like to a feature an article of Goldsmith's appearing in the March 2005 issue of Fast Company magazine that asks the simple, but incredibly important question: Do You Love What You Do?
Goldsmith makes some great points in his article about how important it is to love what you do for a living, especially with many of us working 60+ hour workweeks in a technology driven society where the workplace is never further than a click away.
We couldn't agree more with Goldsmith that life is too short to get trapped in a "professional hell" doing something that you don't love to do.
After reading Goldsmith's article, be sure to take a moment to reflect and ask yourself where your career is, if you are getting what you want out of it, and most importantly, if you love what you do for a living.
Life is too short to spend your time doing something you don't love! |
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QBQ! Personal Accountability QuickNote - Creating a QBQ! Culture |
 This week's QBQ! Personal Accountability QuickNote from QBQ! author John Miller is on one of his favorite topics - Culture.
In this week's article John discusses how asking better questions of oneself and practicing personal accountability will bring about changes in an organization's culture as any culture is ultimately decided by its people.
Remember... all organizations, even the great ones, have room for improvement when it comes to creating a culture of personal accountability.
Creating a culture of Personal Accountability should be a top priority for all organizations. Team members who think and practice Personal Accountability can bring about incredible changes for an organization. The blame game disappears, morale increases, and customer experiences are enhanced all thanks to the power of Personal Accountability.
The Rainmaker Group is proud to offer powerful day long QBQ! workshops instilling the power of Personal Accountability into teams and organizations across the country. For more information about these workshops or to purchase John Miller's books, QBQ! and Flipping the Switch Visit our website at: http://www.personalaccountabilityatwork.com
John Miller is author of QBQ! The Question Behind The Question, the authoritative guide to practicing Personal Accountability. |
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 Important questions for you:Is your organization living up to its full potential?
Is high turnover hurting your bottom line?
Do your team members create the powerful experiences your customers deserve?
Do team members have difficulty effectively communicating with others?
Bring The Rainmaker Group in to your organization and start realizing your organization's full potential. Together, we deliver powerful and motivating keynote speeches, design customized training programs and workshops, help identify barriers to communication, and much more. We don't sell training out of the box, but rather insist on customizing it to your needs! For more info, send an e-mail to info@therainmakergroupinc.com
Or call 1-866-988-7246
About us:
The Rainmaker Group is a People Maximization and Development group located in Bismarck, ND. Our mission is to help those we serve make their difference in the world.
We hope you found this newsletter interesting and informative. If you like what you read, please give us a shout, we'd love to hear from you!
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
- Mark Twain
Sincerely,
All of us here at The Rainmaker Group
1-866-988-7246
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| For More Great Articles and Stories: |
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The Question Behind the Question
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Recommended Reading:
Patrick Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team
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| The Rainmaker Group Experience |
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Start Maximizing Possibility in your organization today! We offer a variety of services to help your organization realize its full potential. Check us out today!
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Recommended Reading:
What Got You Here Won't Get You There
By: Marshall Goldsmith
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| A Rainmaker Group Must Read:
QBQ!
Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life
By: John Miller
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