Patti Cotton

Executive Coach & Career Strategist

relationships

Why Achieving What You Want May Not Make You Happier

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Why Achieving What You Want May Not Make You Happier
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How Fulfilled Are You?

In our goal-driven society, many believe that achieving certain milestones—landing the dream job, buying a luxurious home, reaching a specific net worth—will lead to lasting happiness.

However, research and psychological insights suggest otherwise.

In fact, the notion that achieving what you want will make you perpetually happier is flawed.

Why is this?

Your “happiness set point” won’t allow it.

Happiness Set Point

The concept of the “happiness set point” is key to understanding why achievements don’t lead to long-term happiness. This idea, stemming from research in positive psychology, posits that individuals have a relatively stable level of happiness that they return to after experiencing highs or lows. This baseline is shown to be influenced by genetic factors and long-term personality traits.

One of the seminal studies in this area was conducted by psychologists Brickman and Campbell in 1971, introducing the “hedonic treadmill” theory. They observed that both lottery winners and paraplegics, after initial spikes in happiness or despair, tended to return to their baseline happiness levels over time.

Subsequent studies have reinforced these findings, suggesting that our life circumstances only account for about 10% of our overall happiness, while 50% is genetic and 40% is influenced by activities and mindset.

Does this mean you can’t change your happiness set point?

Are you doomed to reach what you have experienced in the past as the top of your “fulfillment quotient”?

Quite the contrary.

A CEO’s Experience

John, the CEO of a prominent healthcare facility, had always been driven by his professional goals. With decades of hard work, he transformed a small clinic into a leading healthcare provider in his region. Despite his impressive achievements, John found himself feeling unfulfilled and stressed. His initial excitement and pride over his accomplishments faded quickly, replaced by a constant pressure to achieve more.

When John and I first met, he believed that his unhappiness stemmed from the relentless demands of his job and the pressure to continually expand and innovate. He thought that by reaching new milestones—such as opening more facilities, increasing patient satisfaction scores, and boosting the clinic’s financial performance—he would find lasting happiness and fulfillment.

In reality, John’s unhappiness was not about the goals he had yet to achieve but rather his fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of happiness and fulfillment. He was caught in the cycle of hedonic adaptation, where each new success quickly became the new normal, providing only temporary boosts to his happiness.

John’s focus on extrinsic goals, such as professional accolades and financial success, left him neglecting intrinsic sources of happiness, such as personal growth, meaningful relationships, and self-care.

Expectations play a crucial role in the disconnect between achievement and lasting happiness. And although John was an incredibly intelligent leader, he was under a false impression. Having set high expectations for the outcomes of his goals, he believed they would solve many of his problems and bring greater and more consistent joy. When the reality fell short of these expectations, disappointment set in, and the anticipated happiness evaporated.

Moreover, social comparisons exacerbated this issue. In today’s age of social media, where John constantly saw curated highlights of other successful leaders’ lives, his achievements felt inadequate, leading to dissatisfaction despite having reached his goals.

Fortunately, you can elevate your happiness set point. Fulfillment is not beyond reach.

Reset

As we worked together, John’s journey to greater happiness started with understanding of the limitations of achievement-based happiness. Often, we get so caught up in what we think will make us happy that we lose sight of the “why” – the vision of what this will bring us. Along with this, we can often develop a “rat wheel” mentality of pushing harder toward certain goals and actually derail vision.

For example, John had become somewhat of an automaton as it came to targeting higher and higher stretch goals in both his personal and professional life. When I asked him what enough was, he didn’t know. He had forgotten why he was doing it all. He also operated at a high stress level, attempting to push harder and harder under the false assumption that he would get “there” faster (wherever “faster” was).

It was time to regroup. John had not only lost sight of his personal vision, but he had also developed a false version based on what others expected of him. Once we worked through this, we dove deep into his values. Where was he living these? Where was he not doing so? What were the consequences? And how would his life and work change if he aligned these?

Important shifts in how he operated as a leader and in life were identified. Key steps and conversations were targeted and put into his leadership development plan, so that we could work through these.

Results

John’s stress levels began to decrease with each meeting and move forward. As we reshaped how he showed up as a leader and executed within his role, I developed a daily checklist for him to keep at his desk as a reminder.

Checklist

That checklist is below, with some of my notes behind each, showing how we worked together to help John raise his happiness quotient and experience much greater fulfillment.

  1. Focus on Intrinsic Goals.

John started setting goals centered around personal growth, relationships, and community contribution, which provided more lasting satisfaction than extrinsic goals like wealth and professional accolades. He adjusted how he executed in his leadership role so that he was tapping into key strengths and leading within his values.

  1. Practice Gratitude

Regularly reflecting on what he was grateful for counteracted hedonic adaptation and helped John maintain higher levels of happiness. His family reported that they were experiencing John significantly different – much happier, more engaged.

  1. Engage in Flow Activities

John began to immerse himself in activities that fully engaged and satisfied him, known as flow states, creating deep and lasting contentment. We identified how, within the way he worked, he could also achieve this so that he experienced more vibrancy and energy within his leadership role.

  1. Build Resilient Relationships

Strong social connections are consistently linked with higher well-being. John admitted that he had let this part of his life wither. We worked consistently to revive this, and it provided John with enduring happiness that achievements alone could not.

  1. Practice Mindfulness and Acceptance

From the beginning, I invited John to embrace mindfulness techniques. These helped John to lower his stress, strengthen his focus, and in the longer game, appreciate the present moment, eliminating the perpetual yearning for future achievements.

The pursuit of goals and achievements is a natural part of human ambition. However, understanding that these achievements will not lead to perpetual happiness will allow us to shift our focus towards more enduring sources of well-being. By prioritizing intrinsic goals, nurturing relationships, and practicing gratitude, we can create a more balanced and fulfilling life, where happiness is derived not just from what we achieve, but from how we live each day.

References

  1. Brickman, P., & Campbell, D. T. (1971). Hedonic relativism and planning the good society. In M. H. Appley (Ed.), Adaptation Level Theory: A Symposium (pp. 287–302). Academic Press.
  2. Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want. Penguin Press.
  3. Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., & Scollon, C. N. (2006). Beyond the Hedonic Treadmill: Revising the Adaptation Theory of Well-Being. American Psychologist, 61(4), 305–314.

© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.

Is Your New Executive a Poor Cultural Fit – or Simply Situationally Unaware?

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Is Your New Executive a Poor Cultural Fit – or Simply Situationally Unaware?
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Most often, great new talent will fail, not because they are incompetent, but because they are what we call a “poor cultural fit.”

Such “poor fits” usually don’t last more than 12-18 months. It’s a big loss for the organization and the executive, both in morale and in the investment of money and time.

But more often than not, what is labeled as “poor cultural fit” is really a lack of situational awareness.

Is your new executive a poor fit? Or simply situationally unaware?

When Chris called me, she was completely demoralized.

“Patti, I have an excellent team. We’ve been through crisis and change and are even stronger than before. But I’m incredibly disappointed about my newest hire, Stan. He was the most promising talent when we onboarded him. And what a track record! But he’s not connecting the dots here at the company. He keeps missing the mark. He’s just an incredibly poor fit with our culture!”

“Chris, what are you seeing that tells you he’s a poor fit?”

“Well, he doesn’t seem to grasp the organizational structure when he makes decisions. The other day, he rode right over my top project manager to fast-track one of his initiatives. And even though we approach decision-making in a democratic fashion, he continues to call the shots on things in which he should include others. I guess I’ve hired a racehorse that doesn’t belong here.”

“Chris, is he willful or stubborn? In other words, is he trying to show off?”

“No, Patti – he truly just seems to operate differently, the way I described. Is there anything I can do?”

“I actually think there is, Chris. If my hunch is correct, Stan lacks situational awareness.”

“Explain, please,” answered Chris.

“Stan may simply need to develop a better lens in reading the social and political currents of the organization. Right now, it sounds as though he doesn’t have a good read on your organizational norms – the way you do things there. And he may also not understand the power relationships and how they work at the company.”

“Whatever it is, please help,” said Chris. “The other team members are distrustful of Stan, and his seasoned reports are shutting down.”

Chris arranged for me to meet Stan the next week. I felt sorry for him. He realized he was making mistakes and had become frustrated.

“I’m finding it very difficult to get things done here, Patti,” he said. “I’ve been handed some aggressive goals. and I see what’s possible. But I seem to keep treading on people’s toes, and there are obviously some unspoken rules around here. I’m lost.”

Stan and I talked a bit about his onboarding process.

“Truthfully, I was welcomed at a strategic planning retreat and met all my colleagues. I have meant to get around to meeting each one, learning more about what they do, how things work. But we have some time-sensitive goals, and they are pretty challenging. So, I’ve gotten to know them only through our interactions in team meetings. And, of course, I have a copy of the strategic plan with responsibilities assigned.”

“Who is mentoring you in this first phase of your employment?” I asked.

“Mentoring? No one. Chris says she’s available for any questions. But she’s pretty busy. I’m just pushing through this as best I can. But I’m really not making friends.”

I sat with Chris later and shared my thoughts.

“You have a bright executive. And he’s willing. He knows he’s in trouble. The challenge here is that he doesn’t have someone to walk him through the political and social networks he needs to know in order to get things done.”

“I’ve been pretty busy,” Chris admitted. “He does come in and ask questions from time to time. We talked through his responsibilities with the strategic plan. What else can I do?”

“Have you identified key stakeholders for each of his initiatives and introduced him to them?”

“No,” Chris answered slowly.

“Have you walked through your decision-making process here at the company?” I asked.

“No,” she said. Her shoulders drooped. “Wow. I’ve really messed up this onboarding, haven’t I? I’ve actually set him up for failure.”

“It’s not too late,” I countered. “Let’s sit with him and get a plan together. I don’t think you need to bear the full responsibility of this – but it needs to be orchestrated. I have some ideas.”

A few weeks later, Stan called me to thank me.

“What a difference,” he said. Taking the time to talk through how things work around here, how people get things done – invaluable. Having a couple of colleague mentors to help bounce things off of before I press a button – what a change. I just wanted to thank you.”

“Stan, I’m glad it’s working out,” I said. “You have a lot of contribute.”

“You know, Patti, I guess I should have asked Chris to help me come up with such a strategy. It never occurred to me since I had never encountered such a problem elsewhere. But – lesson learned.”

Lesson learned is exactly what Chris said later, as well.

“We all have our growing edges, Chris,” I said. “You have pushed through another one. You are on your way.”

What about you? Do you have an executive who finds it hard to get the work done?

Do they tread on others’ toes? Are they having trouble connecting the dots? It will be well worth your time to sit with your team member to explore where the gaps are. And be prepared because you may discover that one of the gaps is you.

In addition to resolving the issue, it could be a great opportunity for leadership growth at many levels, including your own.

The Clockwork of Excellent Leadership:   3 Essential Gears

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© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.

Does Your Leadership Need More Social Capital?

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Does Your Leadership Need More Social Capital?
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Do you, as a leader, have the social capital you need to get the job done? Influence with others is paramount to leading.

How can you tell if you have enough? And if not, how do you go about building it?

Sarah, chief operating officer of a hospital, was the newest member of the C-suite. The board had highly recommended her, thinking that her previous experience with change management at another healthcare system would support their vision for growth.

Several months later, however, Sarah had not been able to meet her short-term goals. The rest of the executive team blocked her efforts with every move she made.

Mark, the CEO called me. “It’s as though they are out to get her,” he said. “She has a great plan, and I support that, but the rest of them are stalling her. What do I do?”

“Mark,” I said, “It sounds like she hasn’t taken the time to build up social capital.”

“Social capital?”

“Yes,” I said. “The influence to bring them along. Building relationships with them, developing trust, sharing norms and values so that when she needs something done and you support it, they work with her to accomplish it.”

“Well, great,” Mark said. “I don’t know how she is going to do it, now. One of the board members mentioned this morning that he had supported her candidacy. Evidently, he saw her last week and she updated him. He now thinks the board may have made a mistake in recommending her. Yet she is doing what I’ve asked her to do. Short of pulling power and demanding that everyone comply, what do I do?”

“Here’s the deal, Mark,” I responded. “Power is not as straightforward as you think. If you approach it in that way, Sandra loses all credibility as she hides behind you. And you create resentment on the part of the others – a slippery slope for a team’s commitment to the business.

“Power is complex, Mark. And in this case, it is relational. How Sandra builds her relationships will be key to her success – and to your retaining top talent across the team.”

“Please help, Patti. I can’t afford to lose credibility with my board and my executive team. And I certainly can’t afford to lose top talent. Sandra’s good. I think we just need a leg up.”

Mark then had me attend an executive team meeting, then later introduced me to Sandra, who quietly shared that she felt defeated and ready to quit.

“I guess I jumped in with big plans and didn’t take the time to build relationships, first,” she said.

“You are pretty astute,” I answered. “Watching the dynamics in the executive team meeting was like witnessing a shark frenzy. And you were the bait.”

“In my last position, all I had to do was to video call one of the satellite offices and talk with the director for a few minutes. Their workload might be almost impossible, but we worked well together to shoulder through. It was that way throughout the system.

“I guess I haven’t taken the time to get to know the others. The board gave us a pretty aggressive plan and a tight timeline. I thought the way was paved. But I thought wrong.”

“Let’s talk about what we can do from this point,” I said. “If you are willing, I would like to work with you to turn this around.”

Sandra agreed to give it her all. Then, we got to work.

Six months later, Sandra was on a much different and better footing with her colleagues. And they were on their way to expanding the hospital’s reach as they had needed to do.

What did Sandra do? She learned to apply five things that all leaders must incorporate into their way of leading:

1. Recognize that power is dictated by your interactions with others.

The relationships and alliances you create can be of major support to you when you encounter potential points of resistance. The resources, information, and help you need should be within the circle you forge over time. Important to note is that before people will commit to a stretch demand, they need to trust and know you, and to feel that you have their interests in mind and that you will support them when they need your help. To come to this point, you need to cultivate the relationships carefully, hearing of their interests and needs, and seeing how you can help them.

2. Assess the landscape before you dive in to make big changes.

Look at your long-term goals and objectives, your short-term wins, and any other priorities you have been handed. Who are key stakeholders in the areas that will be touched by the changes you need to make? Who is likely to resist? And why? If you can map out the web of those potentially affected by your efforts, you can then put together a plan to start bringing them along. And it’s true that we “don’t know what we don’t know.” As you begin speaking with those you feel will be affected, as them who else you should include in conversation around the topic. You can quickly build your networks in this way.

3. Gather insights from your stakeholders and invite them to help you co-create solutions.

Respect the history and perspective that others bring and remember that co-creation means that the parties involved will have more buy-in and support you to much greater extent. This will also help you to leverage relationships with others, as you will have advocates “in the field.”

4. Build your power network with intention.

Map out your network, identifying your dependencies both inside and outside the organization. Decide to systematically strengthen these relationships according to those upon whom you rely, those who rely upon you, and who controls various resources and support.

5. Take time for reciprocity.

How can you create value for those who are in your network? Can you connect them with others to help them realize their goals? Can you serve as a co-creator, even if you don’t have a stake in the initiative, but can lend brain trust? Decide what you can do to bring value to your relationships and do this systematically. As transactional as it seems, a spreadsheet to track your power network and the touches that you make with them to build social capital can serve extremely well.

How can you begin to build your own social capital to get things done? Or to strengthen one that has served you to this point? Personal power – influence – is key to leading effectively. Take time to fortify your power network to help you move effectively into the future.

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© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.

Recharge: Unplugging from Work the Right Way

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Recharge: Unplugging from Work the Right Way
Image Credit: Shutterstock

How often do you recharge your phone? My guess is that you recharge it intentionally on a regular basis so that it operates well for you at all times.

When was the last time you recharged yourself as instrument? Staying away from the office on weekends and that occasional vacation may not be restoring your ability to perform.

If you feel like you are slogging through mud, if you notice it seems to take you longer and longer to make decisions or to get the work done, this is a signal that you are not recharging effectively.

Time to switch it up.

A simple pause is not a recharge.

Just as an athlete’s body needs recovery time in between training sessions, your brain needs recovery time from performance to recharge. If it doesn’t receive this and you need to perform, you will begin to notice that your thinking isn’t as sharp as it has been in the past. Your performance-to-results-time is getting longer. It may feel like you are pushing a boulder uphill without relief to get the work done. As a result, your stress levels rise, fueling distraction and fatigue. What’s happening? You have set up a mode of operating that systematically depletes the mental and physical energy you need to accomplish work.

How do you redirect this path from impending burnout to recharge?

First, it’s important to recognize that the more you perform, the more you need to devote time to recovery. Second, what you do with that time to recover counts.

Calendar time to recharge and unplug.

Do you make time to recover? Evenings and weekends are places to start. But let’s look at how you are spending your time during those pauses. You are not recharging if you are doing any of the following at those times:

  • Scheduling or holding calls or meetings
  • Answering or even just checking work emails or work-related texts
  • Thinking about projects and work situations
  • Experiencing poor sleep and inadequate rest due to concern about an aspect of work

If any of the above situations strike home, it’s time to take some steps.

Break up with work on a regular basis.

1. Create boundaries with technology.

Shut your phone off and put the computer away. Consider carrying a dedicated work phone during workdays and leaving it in the office at night. Do these suggestions make you nervous? This may indicate that you suffer from a technology addiction or unhealthy expectations. Identify what concerns you about closing your virtual doors for the evening so that you can address this.

2. Remind yourself that you need your sleep.

Put your phone on sleep mode before you go to bed or put it in another room, so you aren’t disturbed by alerts and brightening lights. This keeps your sleep uninterrupted and free of the impulse to check right away to see if you should take care of something (most likely work!).

3. Empty your mind of work concerns.

Get a work journal. If you begin to think about work, either getting a bright idea or worrying you might forget something, write it down in your work journal. Put your journal somewhere such as in your briefcase, backpack, other where you will feel confident you won’t forget to take it with you when you return to work.

4. Reconcile that work will never be “done.”

Many live with the false belief that “once this project is complete, my workload will slow down or even out.”

Is that really true?

If you reflect back, you’ll realize this thinking is faulty. If you identify with this line of thought, considering reviewing the time you estimate for various tasks and projects, and how you gauge that you are on time as you work to complete deadlines.

Do some time blocking for these various initiatives to make sure you reserve space for work. You may find that you are optimistic, and that you haven’t allowed for unexpected interruptions and breaks. Identify what keeps you from opening up enough space for your work and readjust.

5. Integrate power-boost breaks on workdays.

Once you have preserved your evenings and weekends from work, examine your workdays for meaningful recharge. It’s tough to focus the entire day without pauses that refresh. And caffeine is not the answer.

Where in a typical workday can you break a few times for a 5-minute “brain break”? During these breaks, get up and move about. Connect with a coworker (on a non-work item such as how they spent their weekend). Meditate at your desk. Do something that allows your brain recovery time.

Infuse meaning into non-work time.

Once you have placed boundaries around non-work life, make this time count.

1. Reconnect well with family and friends.

Connecting with others nourishes your life through relationship. Be choosy about the people with whom you spend your time and make it count. Are you enjoying conversations and creating experiences together? Or are you sitting side by side while binge-watching shows without any mutual exchange?

2. Include fun and laughter.

Take stock of whether fun and laughter are well-embedded in your relationships, pastimes, and general philosophy. Intentionally lifting these up in your life makes a big difference in the quality of your exchanges and your outlook.

3. Revisit your larger purpose.

Take regular time to reflect on what you do and why you do it. How does what you do impact the larger picture of not only the business, but of life? Are you making the impact to which you aspire? Does this align with your life vision?

If you can’t answer these questions, it’s time to seek clarity. Your larger purpose + aligned and meaningful work = your legacy. Make yours count.

Recovery time should be intentional and meaningful. More than just a simple battery recharge, this should be a time when you focus on life priorities and meaning.

I often ask my clients what they want to celebrate at the end of their lives. Never has one said that he wants to leave a clean desk behind, no matter what the cost to his relationships, health, and life.

Rather, clients talk about making sure their footprint has been one of forging wonderful relationships, having positive influence on the lives of others, and helping to make the world a better place. If you identify with something along these lines, it’s time to unplug, recharge, and refocus how you approach your work to invite the space in which you can do this.

Starting now.

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”
– Anne Lamott

© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.

How to Retain Your Top Talent

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How to Retain Your Top Talent
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What keeps CEOs up at night?

Lots of things.

But their #1 concern is attracting and retaining great talent.

And many companies do better at attracting this talent than keeping it.

How much are you losing if you can’t figure this out?

That depends. If you need to retain highly complex positions (managers, software developers and such), you risk missing out up to 800% more productivity, because superior talent is up to 8 times more productive (Keller and Meaney, Leading Organizations).

What is the answer?

Make your company so attractive that no one wants to leave.

Here are five ways to do this:

1.  Develop a high-trust culture.

Trust serves as the foundation for all else. Trust is the incubator for healthy communication, collaboration, empowerment, productivity, profitability…in short, all components that support working at highest and best levels.

Does your company lean on “control and monitor” behaviors or heavy compliance?

These are early signs of a problem. How do you begin to turn this around?

It begins with you. Determine how trustworthy you are as CEO, because your company will rate no higher than its leadership. Download the trust infographic and rank yourself – and then ask those closest to you to do the same. Compare. Where do you need to begin developing more trust with your people?

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

​Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

GET THE INFOGRAPHIC

2.  Foster a company-wide growth mindset.

This kind of mindset is the stuff of motivation and innovation.

A fixed mindset reflects a closed attitude. Language includes phrases like, “That idea won’t work,” or “It can’t be done right now.”

Growth mindset attitude and language, on the other hand, will reflect phrases such as “How might this work? How might this be possible?” Failure is seen as a way to learn and not as a reason to stop trying.

If you notice there are just a handful of people always making decisions for everyone else, this is an indicator that you are not fostering a growth mindset in your employees.

Where can you start?

Begin by what is right in front of you – applaud all new ideas. When asking for input, make it a rule that whenever someone volunteers a new idea, that the first person to speak after that must say something positive about the idea, whether they agree with it or not. This sends the message that all people have something valuable to contribute, and it fosters creativity.

3.  Recognize and reward the right things.

Are you emotionally biased toward certain employees and against others?

On a company-wide basis, make sure that your systems and processes for recognition are standardized. Form a taskforce to evaluate this.

And then, have this taskforce identify what should be recognized. Go wide! The way in which you acknowledge things such as caring and supportive behaviors can go a long way; these certainly are influences on business outcomes. And on a personal basis, please take the time to acknowledge contributions and jobs well done. It is free to mention people in meetings to thank them for their efforts – and this kind of approach fosters a caring culture that goes far.

4.  Empower your people.

If you feel your people need higher accountability, it may be your systems and processes and not a lack of talent on their part. Start with the basics. Make sure you have clearly outlined expectations for their role and responsibilities.

Then, work together to agree on top goals and priorities for their area of responsibility. Can you show them how these support company-wide goals? Without this foundation, even the best in talent will operate somewhat hesitantly or begin to get lost in the weeds. Make sure you have agreed on a system of reporting that reflects these goals, and which relieves you from chasing your executives for answers (the latter of which is a real trust-killer). By setting this structure in motion, you will empower your talent to move forward with confidence and perform at their best.

5.  Invest in leadership development at every level.

Learning and development is a key concern for companies world-wide. And company talent seeks opportunities for growth and career development. Providing employees at every level with leadership development opportunities meets both objectives well.

When you invest in this, you foster greater performance and contribution – and you can also more easily identify rising stars. And as your company talent receives this focused support, they will feel recognized by the company, and motivated by their growth and future opportunities within. It is surprisingly cost-effective to implement a company-wide leadership development effort. And the ROI is exponential (Note: Executive coaching typically yields an ROI of 4-10 times the initial investment; training with a group coaching component can yield similar results.)

Retaining your top talent requires a healthy and exciting culture. If your culture needs a “reboot,” please understand that this takes time and effort. The payoff, however, is exponential, being key to current profitability and future success.

© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.