You need team conflict to have a healthy team. Yes, you read that right. (Actually, you need conflict for any relationship to be healthy.) As psychologist Michael Batshaw says, “Engaging in conflict isn’t going to end the relationship, it’s avoiding the conflict that might.”

Most companies end up structured in a way that is very unintentional. Recently I told a new client that many companies end up with an organizational structure that looks much more like a platypus than the stallion your company needs. They got a chuckle out of this. I soon learned that the nervous laughter was because they had created a very haphazard, platypus-like structure and they knew they had work to do.

Let me ask the leaders a couple questions. Do you find yourself clearly stating what needs to be done in your team? When a team member has an issue, do you tell them the best way to fix their issue? If you are working through a performance concern with a staff member, do you make sure you make the perfect plan to remedy their situation? Sounds like a pretty good description of a nice manager. Unfortunately this “nice” manager isn’t all that effective.

If you want to be a more effective communicator, have more productive meetings, and have people respect you more – skip the verbal hugs. “Sounds good Jim, but what the heck is a verbal hug?” Good question.

A verbal hug is used to soften the blow of a message you believe is going to be difficult to hear. By adding extraneous information that you may or may not believe, you offer a verbal hug, hoping it will make what you are really trying to say more palatable.

This can become problematic because the true message is no longer clear and can be disregarded or not even heard.

I define a business as a group that takes human energy and creates value. Since humans are an integral part of any business, we need to think about their limitations. Actually, as humans, we have a lot of limitations. We can’t run 60 miles an hour, we are not able to teleport, and the one that upsets me the most, we can’t fly.

One that is less obvious but just as much a limitation is that we don’t have the ability to focus for more than 90 days. This limitation is one of the main reasons strategic planning or yearly planning falls short.