We all know that AI can improve your performance. It helps you do tasks faster and more accurately, but there's a cost: your ability to recall the information you used AI for decreases. In a similar vein, recording a lecture makes it easier for you to quote the lecture later, but it doesn't help you retain the information shared in the lecture. Only taking notes will really help with that. Using a calculator gets your math done quickly and correctly, but erodes your numbe

Good leaders lead each team member differently, meeting them where they need to be met. Maybe George needs more coaching and Amelia needs more training. A good leader will see that and not try to treat them the same. But great leaders are able to meet their people differently on a task-by-task basis, giving them support where they excel, and training where they're learning. The trick is knowing your people well enough to know where they're excelling and where they're stuc

I've been seeing this a lot in the classrooms I've been in: a manager has a team member who is underperforming (for various reasons, in various ways) and they address it, but nothing changes. They address it again, maybe this time with some consequences (like "we'll have a more serious conversation about this if it continues"), and it continues. They have the serious conversation, and it still continues. Morale is starting to tank because the rest of the team sees them ge

Whether you call it corrective , developmental , improvement , or negative , the feedback you get about something you could have done better is often hard to take. Ideally, it's meant to help you perform better in the future, but some leaders and managers (and spouses and teachers) think they're giving corrective feedback when they're actually criticizing the other person. I don't know about you, but I can feel the difference, even if I can't pinpoint exactly how it's diffe

What's that smell in the air? Leaves falling? Pumpkin-spiced everything? The NYC Marathon runners prepping for the big day? No. It's the approach of Appraisal Season. Review Time. Annual Feedback. And if you haven't had good documentation all year, you're going to be feeling the pinch of bias and forgetfulness when it comes to reviewing your employees' performance over the last year. To help with that, here are some valuable tips for reviewing the documentation you've c

Before diving into this post, ask yourself: Where do you need to be more influential? Is it at work, with your manager, stakeholders, or direct reports? Is it at home, with your spouse, partner, or kids? Or is it in your community, with your friends, neighbors, or fellow members of an organization? No matter where you need to be influential, it's important to know who you're trying to influence and what matters to them . You, like my father, may get all jazzed up about

We've all worked with someone who, for reasons we can't understand, just doesn't do the things they're supposed to do. The filing piles...

In his oldie-but-goodie 1995 book ‘Supermotivation’ , author Dean Spitzer describes 8 desires which drive our inner motivation. While...

Tip number eight of eight - use a predictable template when giving feedback. I've learned and taught a lot about feedback over the...

Tip number seven (of the eight ideas I originally shared ) is to prep your feedback before you give it. Now you might be saying, "Kate,...

Tip number six (out of the eight I originally outlined ) is that to make feedback useful, it has to be delivered while there's still time...

Tip number five (out of the eight originally shared ) is to make sure that giving feedback is not a rare occurrence. When we think about...

Imagine you're about to give some unpleasant critical feedback to someone who is definitely going to have a hard time taking it. What's...

Tip number three (out of the eight I originally outlined ) is that to make feedback useful, it needs to be specific and not a vague or...

Let's say that you want to give your direct report some feedback on the meeting they just ran. You have the idea of the behavior you...

When I was acting, I got a lot of feedback that really wasn't helpful. "You're too tall for this role." "We need someone older." "We...

When I first started managing people, I knew I was going to have to give feedback. I was nervous because the only real first-hand...

In a world of increasingly casual work interactions, it's always a good idea to remember that your boss has control over a lot of things in your professional life, and you don't want your opportunities for advancement or recognition to be undermined by a less-than-ideal relationship with your manager. Here are some tips to consider as you think about your relationship: Pay attention to your interactions With clients, we’re (ideally) on our best behavior. With our bosses, it’s