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Bad bosses - they’re the inspiration for movie comedies, great literature (Charles Dickens and Shakespeare wrote more than a few) and hilarious dinner party stories. But there’s nothing funny about having a bad boss, much less being one. Bad managers drive good employees away, undermine their workplace’s success, and cost their organizations in dollars and lost institutional knowledge when those disgruntled team members move on.

Good managers rally their employees to strive toward a common goal, grow loyalty for their organizations, and get – and retain - the best of the best even in a competitive labor market. We all know them when we see them – but what exactly are the qualities that separate great managers from failed ones?

I am a Predictive Index Talent Management provider and I help clients put the right people in the right seat on their bus. Predictive Index World Wide set out to answer the question definitively in This comprehensive new...

Are you distressed by the many negative news stories we’ve seen about hospice in recent days?  I certainly am.

            From the headlines last week in the Dallas Morning News -  Frisco hospice exec admits overdosing patients ‘to hasten their deaths’ and make more money- to the report out this week from the Office of the Inspector General, Vulnerabilities in the Medicare Hospice Program Affect Quality Care and Program Integrity: An OIG Portfolio, which focused on the very things that are, or are supposed to be the hallmarks of hospice care: pain management, patient AND family support, 27/7 care availability and provision of the 4 levels of hospice care. What did they find? That  “hospices do not always provide needed services to beneficiaries and sometimes provide poor quality care. In some cases, hospices were not able to effectively manage symptoms or...

What does pushing past our limits look like? At this moment in my life, it looks an awful lot like me, standing in the wings of the famous Improv Comedy Club in Los Angeles, waiting to go onstage. And no, I’m not joking – though believe me I will be, and with all my might, when the spotlight hits me.

            What in the world am I doing here!?

            Speaking in front of an audience is one thing. Doing standup is another thing entirely. Will I fly – or will I fall? Whichever it is, once it’s behind me, I know I’ll feel stronger for having done it, because that’s how it’s always worked in my life; every risk has brought some reward, even if it’s just a hard lesson and wisdom. And there are no rewards at all unless you are willing to go out on a limb – or in this case, a stage. The fact is, complacency...

“You have everything we’re looking for - you’re hired!” 

            Have you ever said those words at an interview, only to find yourself wondering, “What was I thinking?” three months later?  Somehow, that “perfect hire” you so enthusiastically took on turned out to be a sub-par employee, and nothing like the candidate that presented so well in the interview. Full disclosure; it’s happened to me, even with the rigorous interview process we had in place.

            The fact is, there are people who are superstars at interviewing.  Masters of the art of conversation, they’re personable, charming and know how to turn questions around so that the interviewer winds up doing all the talking.  Sometimes those people are just what you are looking for, in jobs involving sales, customer engagement, or...

 Hi everyone!

   

What comes to mind when you hear someone described as a “revolutionary”?  An angry bomb-hurling renegade, overturning the established order and setting fire to it? History has plenty of those to show us, some successful and others less so; some with genuinely lofty goals, and others whose stated ideology didn’t match their actions once in power. It’s often hard to know who’s right or wrong in the heat of the moment.  Yet we need revolutionaries to point the way forward. It’s not our nature as humans to embrace change eagerly, and ideas that would have seemed outrageous a hundred or even just twenty years ago took their time becoming mainstream. It takes someone with a vision – and a will – to step up and champion those uncomfortably novel ideas, to stand up to power and most of all, to lead.

Our nation was founded by what might seem an unlikely group of revolutionaries; people who were already blessed for the most...

The days are getting longer and warmer; kids are getting out of school, and the season of family reunions, picnics and long days at the beach are upon us. Relaxed, convivial afternoons will stretch into evenings as families and friends sit together, sharing meals, stories and laughter.  The food will be great, because everyone’s brought their special dish to the party – the salads and casseroles and baked goods that we all look forward to sharing because they’re made with care and seasoned with love. Put together on the table, they make a meal greater than the sum of its wonderful parts – a meal that just couldn’t have happened if one person had been in charge.

            Working together is a lot like that, isn’t it? Although we may be in the same organization, moving in the same direction, we’re still individuals, and each of us brings our particular, unique addition to...

           This month is a very special one for me; I am celebrating my 19th year in business as The Watershed Group, a big anniversary for my “baby” and a good moment to reflect on the adventures I’ve had so far as a startup founder and proprietor.

            I was Executive Director of Hospice of North Central Florida when I realized that it was time for me to make a change. I was frankly terrified to leave a job I loved - but I knew I was not meant to stay there until retirement. I didn’t want to leave hospice work and I didn’t want to move from my hometown, so I thought I would try my hand at consulting. I knew it would be a big leap - I had heard that most consulting businesses fail within the first 18 months – so I kept my nursing license active just in case this gig didn’t work out (I still do!).

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"Does Your Hospice Need Hospice Care?"

Where do you turn for help when your hospice’s health is in question?

Once it begins, the problems can seem to cascade one on top of another. The organization is leaking money, and your market share is atrophying. Your staff is unhappy; anonymous letters of complaint are sent in to your Board of Directors, and your leadership team is splintered and fractionalized, with fingers of blame pointed everywhere but at themselves. A federal audit looms. Patients are being discharged for living too long, while others can’t be admitted because they MIGHT live too long.

Yes, you’re still delivering care, but the burdens on your frontline staff feel onerous, and you’re increasingly seeing the warning signs of burnout. Your staff is saddled with a “new and improved” Electronic Medical Records system that takes five times longer than the old system, with nurses tasked with transcribing unending lists of patients’...

What is the number 1 thing in the world everyone wants?  Can you answer that? What does everyone want so desperately?  I believe that the answer, quite simply, is: MORE.

• They want more success at work.
• They want more happiness in life.
• They want more passion in their relationships.
• They want more money.
• More energy.
• More productivity.
• More meaning.

Everyone wants more of the good things that life has to offer, right?  Well, to get more, we need to activate our full potential.  We need to hit a higher gear and become high performers at whatever we do. We have to become more focused, productive, influential, and successful.

And it’s not always easy. Many people are struggling more than they have to in these areas.

Even though we all have big goals and dreams, many people today are stressed,

overwhelmed, and uncertain about what the future holds.

So, think about YOUR life.  Do you feel you’re being as productive, influential, and successful as you...