If we hope to develop high-performing teams, increasing engagement is always at the top of our to-do list.  But sometimes in our efforts to lead, we can get in our own way, and hinder the very thing we are trying to encourage.  Two brief interactions that went very differently illustrate how this can happen, and what we can do if we are serious about increasing engagement on our teams.

Notes and Resources:

• Prefer to read?  Here’s the full post: Increasing Engagement – How to Get People to Open Up
• Find out more about Dale Carnegie’s book How to Win Friends & Influence People or get the book here:  Win Friends
• Here’s a link to a free copy of Dr. Gordon’s study:  The Difference Between Feeling Defensive and Feeling Understood. 
  
  

Quotable:

“When people feel defensive, they want to strikeout; when they feel understood, they want to reachout.  When people feel defensive, they want to do something to the other person; when they feel understood, they want to do something for the other person.”
- Dr. Ronal Gordon

“I made it a rule to forbear all direct contradiction to the sentiment of others.
- Benjamin Franklin

 “Be wiser than other people if you can; but do not tell them so.”
- Lord Chesterfield, to his son

Related posts: 

Culture Course Correction:  11 Ways to Avoid Going over the Cliff

Courage to Lead:  Re-looking the Role of Courage in Leadership

Bad vs. Good:  Why Does the Bad Seem to Outweigh the Good?

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Thanks for listening, and Lead On!