Weekly Round-Up: Being a Collaborative Leader, How to Construct Great Business Stories & The Right Way to Praise Your Team

Welcome to my weekly round-up of top leadership and communication blog posts. As many of you know, each week I read and tweet several great articles and on Fridays, I pull some of my favorites together here on my blog.

This week you’ll see how to construct great business stories, making sure you're a collaborative leader and the right way to praise your team’s accomplishments.  These articles will provide you with tips, strategies and thought-starters from many of the smart folks in my network. So whether you’re a new leader or an industry veteran there’ll be something here for you.

• Are You Really Engaging Your People?
  By Keith Richards (@KRLeadership), Huffington Post Business
  “One characteristic of a highly performing workplace is a culture in which employees are very engaged, involved and empowered. The basic premise is that people should be involved in every decision that affects them. In fact, various business research…”
• Let Your Story Out: How to Construct Great Business Stories
  By Willy Steiner, Executive Coaching Concepts
  “A friend invited me to a storytelling event where she was telling a story for the first time. This was held in the public area of a bar in the city of Chicago. I was fascinated by the different stories and styles of the storytellers, and for the bravery of my friend…”
• Are You a Collaborative Leader?
  By Ken Blanchard, Eunice Parisi-Carew & Jane Ripley, (@SusanMazza) Random Acts of Leadership
  “When people hear the word collaboration, one of two things typically come to mind: what they may lose in the process or what they may gain. Leaders working in a silo believe all the brains are in their office or department. If something…”
• US Employee Engagement Steady in September, at 32% 
  By Amy Adkins, (@onlinefinance) The Financial
  “In the U.S., 32% of workers were engaged in their jobs in September.  While engagement remains higher than it was from 2011-2013, monthly figures have not yet wavered since the beginning of…”
• The Right Way to Praise Your Team’s Accomplishments
  By Anett Grant (@AnettGrant), Fast Company
  “Everyone wants to be part of a winning team. We also want to be part of a team that keeps winning. And one of the best ways to keep your momentum going is to celebrate your accomplishments. One reason why…”

What were some of the top leadership articles you read this week?

-          David Grossman 

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