Articles by Shawn Murphy

Employee Loyalty Is Not Dead

July 25, 2017 in /by

“Loyalty means leaving when you are no longer motivated,” writes Lee Caraher in her new book The Boomerang Principle. At the heart of Caraher’s quote is the new meaning of employee loyalty. It reflects a significant mindset shift for those of us who believed that loyalty was a one-way commitment. That one-way commitment centered on […]

10 Rules for Recognition That Increase Employee Commitment

June 23, 2017 in /by

Working in the modern world can be hectic. The pace is unrelenting. The expectations are high. The hours are long. And for many, the pay is underwhelming. So, when I hear from managers that they have no time to recognize, or show appreciation for their employees, I cringe. Essentially what these managers are saying is, they’re not […]

3 Powerful Ways to Promote Workplace Optimism

June 1, 2017 in /by

You and your team deserve to enjoy work. The workplace should be a positive influence on people and their lives. Yet for too many it’s just not the case. In one study, 48% of employees frequently feel a lot of stress in their work. This adversely affects their wellbeing. Boutique consultancy Root found that 68% of workers […]

How Executives Intentionally Create a Culture of Collaboration

May 24, 2017 in /by

John is an average person of the workforce. A 4-year veteran, he has worked at the same company since he moved on from the military and graduated with a bachelor’s degree. Now, with newborn twins at home, John’s priorities have changed. While he remains a professional committed to his career and his employer, he now […]

6 Ways to Wake Up and Help Retain Working Women

April 14, 2017 in /by

We’ve got a crisis of competitiveness right under our noses, and heaven knows we’re not making enough progress to solve it. Period. I’m talking about our inability as a collective workforce to retain women as they rise up the ranks in corporate America (or more appropriately as they don’t rise up the ranks). Here are […]

Why We Need Mutually Beneficial Relationships at Work

April 4, 2017 in /by

Business has been and always will be built on the back of relationships. It’s the water that gives life to an eco system. Without relationships, business becomes a solo endeavor. And, therefore, it fails to generate the value its owners and employees aim to create. So, why then, do too many businesses treat the most […]

The Nuanced Truth about True Happiness at Work

February 10, 2017 in /by

We all want to feel good and true happiness is the answer, right? Well, according to Harvard Medical School psychologist, Dr. Susan David, it’s more nuanced than “happiness equals goodness.” In Dr. David’s book Emotional Agility, she writes, “The paradox of happiness is that deliberately striving for it is fundamentally incompatible with the nature of happiness […]

7 Invaluable Leadership Tips That Boost Accountability in the Workplace

January 11, 2017 in /by

Accountability is one of those buzzwords that was quickly recognized in management and leadership circles as an important concept. The unfortunate outcome of a buzzword is it minimizes the importance of the buzz-worthy topic. The concept then quickly becomes misunderstood. Despite the ubiquity of the term “accountability,” it remains a vital input to results and high performance. […]

10 Benefits of Being a Trustworthy Leader

June 21, 2016 in /by

In the digital age, it’s easy to present a persona online that follows a carefully crafted narrative. That story line may be true or have elements of truth. We can be whomever we want online. I know people who appear online to have it all figured out, but offline are a hot mess. The converse […]

15 Writers Shaping How We Think about Leadership

May 19, 2016 /1 Comment/in /by

Leadership is no longer about command-and-control. Barking expectations don’t motivate people. It irritates and diminishes a leader’s effectiveness. After all, leadership is learning how to motivate people to want to do something. So what does leadership look like in the 21st century? These 15 writers have a body of work that can help you adapt to […]

7 Strategies to Get What You Really Want

April 1, 2016 in /by

It turns out that our brains haven’t evolved enough to keep up with our 24/7, always connected society. According to Bob Nease, former Chief Scientist at Express Scripts, our brains are stuck, evolutionarily, in the past. And this makes it difficult for us to choose to take action when pursuing something important. In his new […]

Overcoming the Symptoms of Destructive Management

February 8, 2016 in /by

A problem has been percolating in organizations for some time. Its adverse affects have become common place and too little is being done about it: The problem is destructive management. A Workplace Gasping for Air Today’s workplace is hardly a reflection of our best work. Choking the workplace and creating intolerable work environments are outdated […]

18 Ways to Wow Employees and Create a Workplace They’ll Love

October 28, 2015 in /by

In the basement without windows of a fairly non-descript building in Ann Arbor is a mighty software development company—Menlo Innovations. When I visited Menlo I expected a gloomy environment. Instead when I arrived, the basement was brightly light and electric with conversations. The industrial funkiness of the space was immediately charming. Menlo had turned a […]