Welcome to Leadology's
Courage-Sparking Corner 

A roundup of content and interviews dedicated to helping you awaken the leader within. 

Improve your manager-employee conversations with this hack
Team Management, New Managers Carrie Skowronski Team Management, New Managers Carrie Skowronski

Improve your manager-employee conversations with this hack

At Team Leadology, we know firsthand just how tempting it can be to cancel those touch points with your team members. We know you think canceling will give some time back to both you AND your employees… but in reality, the cost of postponing 1-on-1s is so much more than the benefit of receiving an extra 30 or so minutes it frees up on your calendar!

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Grow Your Leadership Library with These "Friends of Leadology" Book Recommendations
Leadership Skills, New Managers Carrie Skowronski Leadership Skills, New Managers Carrie Skowronski

Grow Your Leadership Library with These "Friends of Leadology" Book Recommendations

As part of our ongoing efforts to provide valuable resources for leaders of all kinds, we've compiled a list of book recommendations from the "Friends of Leadology" network. These books cover a range of topics related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and personal growth - all of which are essential components of effective leadership development.

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Remove These 6 Corporate Pet Peeves to Improve Your Leadership Language
Workplace Strategies Carrie Skowronski Workplace Strategies Carrie Skowronski

Remove These 6 Corporate Pet Peeves to Improve Your Leadership Language

While attempting to improve relationships and communication within teams, leaders often adopt industry-specific language to convey complex ideas efficiently. Unfortunately, these clichés often miss the mark, creating an even larger gap between managers and their teams. After being featured in Forbes alongside 19 other communication experts, we’ve identified our top six pieces of workplace jargon that leaders should eliminate to refine their leadership language. Read more to delve deeper into these common phrases as we offer our insights on why they hinder effective communication and how to replace them with clearer, more impactful language.

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3 Ways Managers Can ShoW Gratitude to Their Teams on Employee Appreciation Day
Leadership Skills, New Managers Carrie Skowronski Leadership Skills, New Managers Carrie Skowronski

3 Ways Managers Can ShoW Gratitude to Their Teams on Employee Appreciation Day

With Employee Appreciation Day on March 1 this year, it's time for managers to think about how to recognize their team's hard work and dedication. But how can managers make the most out of Employee Appreciation Day and ensure their team feels valued and recognized? In this article, we'll explore three impactful ways managers can show appreciation and recognition to their teams, fostering a culture of recognition and engagement in the workplace

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Help Employees Find Happiness at Work
Team Management Carrie Skowronski Team Management Carrie Skowronski

Help Employees Find Happiness at Work

Finding happiness at work has been a struggle for many of our readers. According to recent studies, new employees are experiencing lower levels of engagement and inclusion than ever before. If you’ve been feeling a bit disconnected at work lately, you're not alone.

In this article, Team Leadology breaks down what it means to be happy at work and how you can spot the employees who need a little help finding it! Read on to learn our simple solutions and take away an actionable strategy that actually works.

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Don't Be a Feedback Scrooge this Holiday Season and Give the Gift of Feedback
Team Management Carrie Skowronski Team Management Carrie Skowronski

Don't Be a Feedback Scrooge this Holiday Season and Give the Gift of Feedback

The holiday season is a time for spreading joy and cheer. And what a better way to do that than by showing appreciation to your hard working team. Careful that the “busy-ness” of the season makes you forget about the importance of positive feedback. As a leader, it's crucial to remember that recognition is not just a once a year thing, but a year-round practice that fosters motivation and productivity. When you acknowledge the wins, improvements and resourcefulness of your employees, you create a culture of recognition.

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Leadology’s Forbes features that will help you improve manager effectiveness at your company
Team Management Carrie Skowronski Team Management Carrie Skowronski

Leadology’s Forbes features that will help you improve manager effectiveness at your company

Over the past decade, we've helped countless clients to reduce suffering at work and increase job satisfaction. Through our Leadology newsletter and blog, we've shared the insights and tools that can make a real difference in your professional and personal life. Now, we’re sharing our best advice as recently picked up by Forbes!

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Going Without Recognition? Why You Should Expect Gratitude in the Workplace
Team Management Carrie Skowronski Team Management Carrie Skowronski

Going Without Recognition? Why You Should Expect Gratitude in the Workplace

With Thanksgiving already just around the corner, one thing is cutting through all of the noise of travel plans, meal preparations, and Black Friday shopping: gratitude. 

While this time of year offers frequent reminders to express our thanks to the most important people in our lives, we recognize that the workplace is an area in which we aren’t always eager to show the same amount of love. In this article, Team Leadology weighs in on why providing recognition to your employees is so crucial, and just how to go about it!

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3 Pitfalls You Should Avoid in the Workplace: Manager Edition
Team Management Carrie Skowronski Team Management Carrie Skowronski

3 Pitfalls You Should Avoid in the Workplace: Manager Edition

Before we dive into the 3 pitfalls you or your managers might be making and should avoid in the workplace, let’s discuss how to recognize whether managers are falling into these habits and why that’s a problem. 

We’re hearing managers express that they are shying away from tough conversations, canceling meetings to give back time to their teams, and taking on more in an effort to help manage their employees' workload. These are only a few of the many examples that our managers are currently dealing with on a daily basis.

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3 Tell-Tale Signs Your Employees Are Suffering From Burnout
Team Management Carrie Skowronski Team Management Carrie Skowronski

3 Tell-Tale Signs Your Employees Are Suffering From Burnout

According to the World Health Organization, burnout is characterized by three persisting symptoms: exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job, and reduced professional efficacy.

While we may pass these things off as fairly common, Gallup research states that, when left untreated, these symptoms have the potential to make severely burned-out workers 63% more likely to take a sick day, and 23% more likely to visit the emergency room.

The sheer prevalence of burnout in the workplace may actually be contributing to its inconspicuousness and, to some extent, normalization. But the truth of the matter is that burnout is an occupational phenomenon, not a medical condition–– meaning, at the end of the day, it can absolutely be prevented with the cultivation of personal work-life balance and the prioritization of wellbeing in company culture.

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Is This the Key to Improving Mental Health in the Workplace?
Workplace Strategies Carrie Skowronski Workplace Strategies Carrie Skowronski

Is This the Key to Improving Mental Health in the Workplace?

Across the globe, a growing number of companies are reporting rising levels of burnout and mental health issues in the workplace, despite taking intentional steps to provide mental health resources and support. While these offerings are incredibly important when it comes to supporting employee wellbeing, they don’t always address the root of the issue– and in some cases, the issue lies with lackluster management.

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How to Keep a Growth Mindset about Negative Feedback in the Workplace
Workplace Strategies Carrie Skowronski Workplace Strategies Carrie Skowronski

How to Keep a Growth Mindset about Negative Feedback in the Workplace

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that workplace leaders are human too, and not immune to giving teams badly communicated– or altogether negative– feedback. If you’ve ever found yourself in a position where you’re receiving poor feedback or feedback that you disagree with, it’s important to keep a growth mindset and ask yourself: what can I still learn from this?

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Receiving Feedback: The *Most Important* Skill I’m Never Asked to Train
Leadership Skills Carrie Skowronski Leadership Skills Carrie Skowronski

Receiving Feedback: The *Most Important* Skill I’m Never Asked to Train

If you’ve been around the Leadology circle for any length of time, you already know that we frequently cover the importance of giving frequent, on-going, and honest feedback. And, although we already have numerous articles covering every angle of recognition, feedback, and connecting 1-on-1, in this article we’re going to talk about how to make it as easy as possible for those around you to give you the gift of feedback.

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