Linda Dunkel's blog

Have you seen the 1970’s film, “The Lion in Winter?” At its heart, the classic movie (available on Netflix, and highly recommended) is a story of lost trust. After years of marriage and nine children, Henry II (Peter O’Toole) has lost his trust in Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katherine Hepburn).

How are high levels of unemployment and an uncertain economy affecting business professionals? Every year since 2008, Interaction Associates has conducted surveys of business professionals in a variety of industries and in different-sized companies. The purpose? To take their temperatures around three critical areas: trust, collaboration, and leadership.

This year, we'll see how the needle has moved over the past 12 months. How are organizations faring? Are leaders optimistic or downbeat? How are employees feeling and behaving?

Several months ago I participated in a two-day offsite planning retreat for Interaction Associates in Chicago at the Chicago office of Gensler, the global design firm noted for advanced innovations in office design. I was struck by many aspects of Gensler’s office design, but mostly I was impressed by how the design actively and consciously supported spontaneous teamwork, fostered regular collaboration, and encouraged engagement across roles and functions. There were very few private offices.

Virtual meetings are here to stay — and so is the challenge of keeping people engaged while they multitask during meetings.

In fact, our recently-conducted business survey points to multitasking in meetings as the top challenge to keeping people engaged and focused — nearly three-quarters of those surveyed say the distractions of people caught up in several tasks at once interfere with meetings and impact their effectiveness.

Business is changing faster than perhaps any other time in recent history. The shifting economy is a prime driver, but so is technology – the rapidly evolving factor in the change sweeping most companies.

Technology innovations are changing what our companies produce and how we get our products/services to market. But technology is also changing how we do what we do.

Interaction Associates has just released the full report on our timely research, Building Trust in Business [26] — containing the highly anticipated survey results from more than 150-companies across the business spectrum. If you are looking to know more about what causes people to trust the institutions of which they are a part, Building Trust in Business has a treasure trove of insights.

How does the lofty sounding notion of human dignity fit into the leadership mix for companies today, regardless of size or type of business?

In an extended internet radio interview, Linda Dunkel explores that important question at a very critical time, with more and more people exploring how to blend what they value with what they do for a living.
Linda also explores important leadership lessons learned at the helm of a dynamic and non-traditional organization — Interaction Associates.

We live in a curious time and certainly in business, this is one of the most challenging economies in anyone’s memory. There are negative indicators everywhere and nearly every company is challenged with adapting to operating amid great, though perhaps not permanent, uncertainty and shifting markets. Approval ratings for leaders and others in positions of authority— in every arena — at a dramatically low point.

A recent Psychology Today article [36] on workplace kindness examines a number of views and demonstrates how the word kindness itself can seem soft to many people in business. Perhaps with a precise definition and some important context, more people would agree that there's strategic value in workplace kindness. Let’s take a closer look.