Pursue What Matters

Motivation. It can be the difference between reaching your most important goals and just getting by. As a leader, it's your job to leverage motivation for the good of the organization. We all know extrinsic rewards like gift cards, company parties, and bonuses have their place, but they only go so far to motivate team members. How do you make someone care about the work, the mission, the culture? There are simple ways to build a change culture that attracts team members who want to work with you, and not only that, but who bring their best gifts with them. Join me on the episode to learn more! Show notes available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/episode-84

Performance improvement and performance reviews, these two things may cause you to shudder. They can both be quite painful at times. But they don't have to be. Too many of us ignore the process of performance improvement at our peril. On this episode I'm discussing principles that will help you better work on performance improvement, as well as make the whole process easier for yourself and your team.  Show notes available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/episode-83

On this episode I'll be reviewing Simon Sinek's bestselling book: Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't. This is a fantastic book, and is a must-read for anyone looking to improve their leadership abilities. Show notes available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/episode-82

We all react to rewards and punishments, whether they be at home, school, or work. Between grades, performance reviews, or pay raises, there are plenty of ways our behaviors are either rewarded or punished. But are you rewarding the wrong behaviors in your team? Join me on this episode as I explore the issues with so many of our rewards systems, and how we can adjust them to be more effective.   Show notes available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/episode-81

As a leader, you manage a lot of overlapping schedules and goals among those you're tasked with leading. Everyone from Marketing to HR has an important role in accomplishing your overall goals, but each of their individual goals, or their "horizons" can get in the way of each other if you're not careful. Horizon conflict is inevitable in every organization, but if not tended well, it can lead to four dangers that can undermine a team's effectiveness. Join me to learn what you can do to prevent these dangers from taking down your team while at the same time honing the unique benefits of the various horizons that will make your organization stronger. Also check out my free resource: Managing Horizon Conflict, which will help you to apply the things I talk about in this episode.  Show notes available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/episode-80  

The research is coming in, and it's telling us that working moms are among the groups hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. While for many of us this isn't surprising, it's still sad to see. On this episode I'll discuss the research and as always, solutions for overcoming this problem.  Show notes and other resources available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/episode-79

We need YOU to lead! Yes you. We need your skill, talent, and especially, your passion for things that others don't feel quite as strongly about. It's your turn to inspire your tribe of like-minded individuals. To help out, I'm reviewing Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin. This incredible book talks about leading in our modern world and how now, more than ever, we have the opportunity to find our tribes, and create meaningful change.  Show notes and other resources available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/episode-78

We all know arrogant leaders, and we know they can be successful. But does anyone actually look up to them? Enjoy following them? With some humility, these highly capable individuals could be incredible leaders. Whether you're at work or home, I hope you'll join me this week as I share with you why humility is so important to great leadership, and how we can all cultivate humility in our day to day lives.  Show notes and other resources available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/episode-77

A few weeks ago I talked about Dr. Russ Harris's book The Happiness Trap, in which Dr. Harris discusses principle of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). This week I wanted to dive in even deeper on ACT and show you how it can help you have an even happier and more meaningful life. Show notes and transcript available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/episode-76

If you're anything like the rest of us, you've probably experienced your fair share of brainstorming sessions that weren't terribly effective. Whether it's bad ideas, poor participation, or team arguments as a result of your brainstorming, we've all experienced less than effective brainstorming. Not to fear, this week I've got some awesome research to share with you about brainstorming, and why you should, or shouldn't, be doing it. Show notes and transcript available at: https://drmelissasmith.com/episode-75/