Dr. Francis Eberle Archives - Page 3 of 4

How Collaboration is Like a Chinese Finger Trap

By Dr. Francis Eberle

Imagine you’ve just settled into your office for the morning, coffee in hand, desktop firing up, when two employees blow through the door. Each has a strong, yet opposing, viewpoint about the next steps for a project. And before you know it, you are drawn into playing referee or decision-maker.

This scenario is much like the Chinese finger trap. You are probably familiar with this child’s toy. You put your finger in one end and a friend puts their finger in the other end. The goal for both players is to get their fingers out. As each tries to pull their fingers out, the trap tightens—the more you pull, the tighter the trap gets, increasing the pressure on your finger.

What Are You Missing When You’re Paying Attention?

By Dr. Francis Eberle

Recently I came across a familiar video I had not seen in a while. It has two teams, one in black shirts and the other in white shirts, passing basketballs to each other. As you watch it, you are asked to count the number of passes. Sounds easy, right? If you want to watch the original video, go here.

After you report how many passes you saw, you are asked if you saw the gorilla. And yes, during the video a gorilla strolls into the middle of the action, faces the camera and thumps his chest, and then walks away. When groups of people watched the video for the first time and were asked if they saw the gorilla, about 50% answered no. I have shown this video to groups and seen the same reaction.

How Leaders Can Help Their Remote Workers

By Dr. Francis Eberle

What can we do when it feels like inertia is holding us back? These days, I have noticed during recent video calls that some of the people who are normally high energy seem to have much less energy. Staying motivated when working remotely involves more than just setting up a work area and logging into a video call. The stresses of accomplishing tasks without your colleagues close by, distractions at home, news of the world, fear about safety when going out, and the desire to do something other than sit at home can be exhausting. In addition, some people are also experiencing uncertainty about future wages.

When I first decided to write about motivation, I didn’t want it to be all about working from home because of the COVID-19 virus. Remote work existed before all of this. It’s just more widespread now.

My Team Isn’t Working Together Well

By Dr. Francis Eberle

I have heard some version of this many times from clients over the years. Leaders often tell me that a team isn’t as effective as they once were, team members don’t want to participate, or they need more cooperation so they can move faster.

Many leaders forget that teams are fluid. What I mean is they change over time due to variable factors. These can be things like someone joining or leaving the team, projects changing dramatically, tasks becoming routine, fear about job safety due to changing market forces, or more. All of these dynamics impact the people on a team and their performance.

Teams are more important now than they have been in the past, partly because problems are more complex than they have been in the past. Solving them requires multiple perspectives and experiences.

An Aware Team is an Effective Team

By Dr. Francis Eberle

One of my clients recently asked for help improving the effectiveness of his team. He reported that the team was not readily sharing information, not treating each other with respect, and not pitching in when one member was unable to complete his or her work.

These concerns probably sound familiar. I see them, or some version of them, often in the companies I work with. So how can you overcome issues like this and create an effective team?

The ADP Research Institute recently completed a study of teams, and discovered that the key to increased engagement is not in the perks, but in people. Data continues to report that effective teams have several things in common: a clear sense of purpose, a commonly held notion of what’s important, feelings of psychological safety, and confidence about the future (The Power Hidden Teams, Harvard Business Review 2019).

4 Tips to Manage Email

By Dr. Francis Eberle

I recently had a conversation with a client about email as it relates to work-life balance because her company had formed a committee to work on it. We explored whether her own email habits were impacting her life, and I asked her the following questions to help her gauge her email use:

Does your daily routine include checking email when you wake up?
How many times do you check your email during the day?
Do you have email pop-up notifications on your phone and computer?
Do you check your email right before you go to bed?

If the answer to these questions makes you feel a bit uneasy about your work intruding into your personal life, you are not alone. Email has become the go-to communication tool for work. Its accessibility on smart phones allows us 24/7 participation and connection.

Are Your Assumptions Limiting Your Employees?

Host Dale Dixon interviews Leadership Advisor Dr. Francis Eberle about his unique perspective on understanding and evaluating others. Dr. Eberle shares how being dyslexic impacted his education–and also the way he perceives others. He tells us why assumptions about people are detrimental for a leader, and gives simple tactics to be better at understanding and evaluating others.

If You Are Feeling Lost, Blame It on Your GPS

By Dr. Francis Eberle

Have you ever used a GPS to navigate to a location and found yourself wondering just where you are? How can that be? Having moved several times in a two-year period, I’ve used my GPS more frequently. But when I used it, rarely did I have confidence in where I was. If anyone asked me to reverse my steps without the GPS, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. This is because when I use my GPS I rely fully on it to tell me when to turn and on what street. I occasionally glance at the screen to make sure I’m on the right track, and I don’t pay attention landmarks. The reference points for a return trip are lost because I follow rather than see.

The Dip: A Surprisingly Common Scenario for New Leaders

By Dr. Francis Eberle

I was recently asked how I would coach a highly successful employee who had been promoted to supervise a team. After the promotion, this individual’s performance, and subsequently that of the team, dropped dramatically. He experienced what might be called “The Dip.”

I wish this was an uncommon scenario.

Companies often make the mistake of taking employees who are succeeding in non-supervisory roles and promoting them to management roles—without adequate support for the new function—and expecting them to thrive. Read More

Can I Be a True Leader?

Avoiding Judgments as an Introvert Leader

By Dr. Francis Eberle

This past year three coaching clients taught me to remember that this is a complex question. All of them were already in substantial leadership roles but were questioning whether others perceived them to be leaders, including their supervisors. For me there was no question; it was obvious that they were true leaders. For them it was a different story.

Their confidence in their ability to lead was waning and causing them stress. The company was growing and they wondered if they would fit in the new model. Each of them had a unique personality with firm ideas about their leadership, while exhibiting a more quiet, thoughtful and detailed approach to their work. Read More

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