As parents in the workplace, there is a collective sigh as school buses roll and summer becomes a distant memory. While the past couple of months have had moments of high intensity preparing for vacations, family activities, and arranging child care, the constant pace of school was absent. With August here, the tsunami of lunch prep, homework, school events, and extracurricular activities is ready to crash into your already overloaded work schedule.  Feeling sleep deprived yet?

Too many of today’s workplace teams are struggling because they are moving so quickly to get something done that they aren’t investing time in determining the right work to be accomplished.

Building and maintaining a highly engaged, cohesive team is difficult under the best of conditions. Doing it with four generations in the workplace, a constant need for innovation, and a desire by all employees for greater work/life satisfaction can make it seem impossible!

If you’re looking for a quick way to determine how your time as a leader or manager could be better spent to build a more effective team, ask these seven questions from time to time:

When I introduce Senge’s quote during a leadership discussion, there is always a collective nod of affirmation from those in the room. For too long the business world looked to leaders to simply diagnose problems and fix them. If the problem didn’t get fixed, organizations would find another “mechanic” with seemingly better skills. This was true not only for entire companies, but also for smaller departments and work groups.

Overwhelmed with our schedules and underwhelmed with our sense of accomplishment, we trudge through our days hoping one day things will get better. We rationalize our situation with lots of "When statements" like: 

In a recent survey I conducted with those who subscribe to my content, I found that “how to be more innovative” was one of the topics people most wanted to learn about online. I wasn’t surprised. Identifying creative and more effective ways of doing something are key to gaining a competitive advantage. Finding innovative ways to manage the tsunami of too much to do is also critical to improving work/life satisfaction. But just how does one become more innovative?

This past Sunday I had the honor of attending a special event for the two people you see in the picture. Frank and Dorcus were commemorating 60 years of marriage. Frank was also celebrating his 80th birthday at the event given by their children. While I could write much about their marriage, I’ll focus my comments on Frank since he has become one of my informal life coaches (he just doesn’t know it).

June is Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month. The topic is an especially personal one for me as my mother has suffered from the disease for over a decade. Caring for her has been a challenge since she has only on a few occasions acknowledged having issues with memory or cognitive ability. With the help of friends experiencing a similar journey with their loved ones, resources like The 36 Hour Day, and developing more patience than I ever knew I could possess, it has been manageable. My wife and children have been a tremendous support system as well.

I felt a little like a teenage girl seeing Justin Bieber in public. Okay, maybe not that extreme. But I was excited. I was at the Salt Lake City airport awaiting a connecting flight to Las Vegas. I happened to look up the concourse and saw someone who looked familiar. As he walked closer I realized it was none other than Al van der Beek, one of the members of the musical group The Piano Guys. In previous blogs I've written about how much I enjoy their positive music and the value they place on faith and family. I've even got premium seats for their upcoming concert in Raleigh NC. Now here was one of the members of the group just a few feet away!

When I think of professional athletes, "humility" isn't often the word that comes to mind. I think of self-absorbed individuals who want two things more than anyone else... to win and to make exorbitant amounts of money. I know that's an unfair perspective. It's just been fueled by my casual reading of sports headlines and what I allow news outlets to feed to me. I'll also remember NBA great Charles Barkley saying, "I'm not a role model."

This past Saturday found me in a typical dilemma... too much to do and not enough time. My oldest daughter was home for Easter, my younger daughter wanted to go turkey hunting, and I had numerous things I wanted to get done around the house. While normally I would let the other stuff go to spend time with my family, there were a few things I could put off no longer.

I live and die by being prepared to deliver effective presentations. A few years ago I found an organization that routinely gives me fresh ideas on how to more strongly connect with my audiences... and I've been speaking professionally for over 20 years! Ovation Communication is a communication skills consulting firm that enables clients to deliver their message more effectively. Their  consultants combine their experience as professional actors with their knowledge of the business world to create complete communicators. You can learn more about Ovation at their website. Today's guest post is by one of their fabulous team members, Bridget Bierne.

An article in the Economist entitled, "Why Is Everyone So Busy?" got my attention with the term "Time Poverty." The word "poverty" is one I don't use often because I most often think of those "living in poverty." Listening to my mother and father talk about growing up during the Depression is what I think of when I hear the word poverty. Seeing the conditions that many in the world live in is my visual of the word. So, I wasn't completely comfortable when I began learning more about this term, "Time Poverty."

As one of the 114 million people who watched the Super Bowl on Sunday, I must say that I truly enjoyed the entire event. By halftime I normally lose interest and find myself choosing something else to do, but not this year. The actual game was mesmerizing as it unfolded, and I will forever remember those final minutes in the 4th quarter. Malcolm Butler taught me everything about how to handle a second chance not only in football, but in life.

There it was again. I had experienced it multiple times that day, and it just surfaced again. I was having dinner with a group of consultants, one of whom had moved to the US from Europe a few years ago. In our conversation I asked him if he was surprised by the larger food portions here than in Europe. He said, "Yes, but I've learned to adapt to prevent overeating." At that moment we were each served a very large piece of red velvet cake. Continuing in conversation, I noticed my new friend ate about half of his piece and then pushed it toward the middle of the table. I looked down at my piece, and then did what I too often do... I sighed and then ate the rest of my cake.

I'm not sure whether it's all the texting, tweeting, and other short forms of written communication we engage in, but I see more and more people struggle to clearly articulate their thoughts in writing. Jordan Conrad at WritingExplained.org got my attention with some of his practical tweets about writing, and I was thrilled when he offered to share some of his thoughts about improving our written communication skills. Here are some tips from Jordan:

One alternative to New Year's Resolutions I am seeing more this year is coming up with a word or words to guide your actions and decisions. The word should help clarify choices you make, and have the end result of improving some aspect of your professional or personal life.

This article is probably more of a manifesto to myself than anyone else. At year's end I so often find myself mentally stacking all the "happenings" of the current year into a corner and clearing my mind for all I want to accomplish in the coming year. It's much less painful than trying to sort through the ups and downs of the year and try to make sense of it all.

Yesterday, Alex (my older daughter) and I went to see The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies. It might seem like a strange activity for a 48 year old dad and his 19 year old daughter, but our "journey" with all things Middle Earth has been a truly memorable 10 year experience. It's also taught me much about how one can judge the quality of a day, year, or even a lifetime.