Skip to content
Bill Berthel
Predictably Irrational – A Book Review
My niece, who attends Clemson University in South Carolina, shared a required reading from her economics course with several of my family members. Knowing how much I adore human behavior and psychology, she thought this book would be “right up my alley.” And my father-in-law knew I’d enjoy “Predictably Irrational” by Dr. Dan Ariely, the…
Why Your Employees Aren’t Engaged
No, it’s not all leadership’s fault; however, as leaders, knowing WHY they are disengaged and HOW to help them shift to highly engaged is your responsibility. Disengagement, at best, leads to employees leaving your organization. Why do we say “at best”? Because despite the high costs associated with turnover, the costs associated with disengaged employees…
Everyone is a Leader
I was recently approached by a client with a question; he is a high-level leader in a medium-sized organization, and the question was, “Why does everyone think that they can lead?” When I asked for some clarity, he shared a story: “The Operations Department is going through some restructuring. We communicated what we planned to…
The Hidden Life of Trees – A Book Review
I am energized by the outdoors, nature and specifically trees. I need to live near them, and I am fortunate enough to have an enormous, 130-year-old white oak right outside my office window while I write this book review. It sprawls across the road, reaching for our neighbor’s sunlight, while remaining heavily rooted 100 feet…
Autonomy, Teams and Impact
We come together in teams and organizations for many reasons. One over-arching reason is that we can accomplish more together than we can as individuals. We’re often left with the sense that teams are critically important towards greater accomplishments and we are reminded that even the examples of seemingly singular heroes, entrepreneurs and “lone wolf”…
Performance Management that Works
Imagine conducting performance reviews that are not only effective but engaging – reviews that are embraced by every leader and employee in your organization. Impossible? Not in our experience. The key is continual open dialogue. Very different than the typical annual event, effective performance management reviews are less about the paperwork and more about the…
Ego and Teams
Illness was no doubt the final cause Of the whole urge to create; By creating, I could recover; By creating, I became healthy. – German poet Heine imagines God explaining Creation We come together in teams and organizations for many reasons. One foundational reason is that we know we can achieve certain goals with others…
Search Inside Yourself – A Book Review
Like so many of our clients, I have struggled with meditation practices. It can be challenging to learn how to get our minds to quiet down and simply not think, and when we don’t immediately find success, we label our attempts as “failures.” This cycle of disappointment can often prevent us from wanting to try…
The Benefits of Feedforward In Team Performance
Wait – what’s that? “Feed…forward”? Yes. Much more than a buzzword, feedforward more aptly describes what we mean when we suggest feedback is needed in our teams and organizations. It is widely agreed that for individuals, teams and organizations to improve, we must have dialogue around what works and what needs adjustment. We also know…
Performance Management
A cornerstone of continuous improvement philosophy is “we improve and maintain what we measure.” Minimally, measuring the performance in an organization informs leadership of the outcomes of efforts. Much more than that, however, a thoughtful performance management system – developed specifically with and for the organization – will result in a better developed strategic approach…