For decades, in Corporate America, employees were considered to be subordinate to management and there was rarely any push-back with regard to who led and who followed. Thankfully, times have changed. Managers have, for the most part, now discovered how much more successful a business can be when they encourage and cultivate the creativity, perceptions, Read More >
Leadership
Emotional Self-Management for Leaders: a Mission Critical Skill
There was a time when leaders were encouraged to “say what they felt.” The truth is, however, that leaders need to monitor and manage their feelings so that they can effectively respond rather than react. That’s why the “say what you feel” mentality has–thankfully–gone the way of the dodo bird. For better or worse, leaders Read More >
Building Top Teams: What it Takes
If you want to build a top team, forget team building ropes courses or wilderness adventures. These activities do bring people together; they are usually fun and participants feel great afterward. But once people get back into the workplace and encounter real problems to solve, the carry-over learning fades quickly. Building effective teams is an Read More >
Why Great Employees Quit
The cost of hiring new employees can be a drain on your resources. The average recruiting cost per hire varies according to job level and hiring strategies, but the average is 35% of an executive’s first year salary. It makes sense that an employer would want to recoup those expenses by retaining their top talent Read More >
Building High-Performance Executive Teams
In a previous executive briefing titled Building Top Teams: What it Takes, I outlined the five basic conditions executives need to create and provide for ensuring the success of teams: Establish a clear and compelling direction Create an appropriate structure Select the right people Support the top team Provide development While those five conditions are Read More >
What to do When Someone Ticks You Off at Work
Every week in my consulting work advising senior executives on the people side of the business equation, someone invariably will tell me about a colleague or employee doing something that ticks them off. And, I will ask, “Did you talk to them about it? More often than not, they will respond, “Not yet, or, Nope, Read More >
Thinking and Acting Strategically: A Critical Leadership Skill
When hiring or promoting someone into a key executive position, CEOs and board members typically look for candidates with interpersonal effectiveness and the ability to think and act strategically. At the senior level, technical competence is a given. It’s hard to climb the ladder if you are not technically qualified. However, whether you are a Read More >
5 Steps to Building a Vision and Getting Others on Board
Creating a vision as a focus for your organization’s efforts is one of the most important things a company can do. This forward-looking statement provides a clear picture of where the organization wants to be in the future and what it will look like when it gets there. However, a vision is more than just Read More >
How to Create a Collaborative Approach at Work
As an executive, it’s your job to make sure that the team or your employees meet deadlines, provide deliverables, and continue to progress on your company’s goals. To keep things running smoothly, it may seem like you need to know exactly what’s going on all the time in every department. But micromanagement and overbearing leadership Read More >
The Art of Self Management
“Progress has little to do with speed, but much to do with direction” – Unknown You manage small scale projects in between larger, more far-reaching projects. You strategize to integrate the right resources for all of your projects, and you also spend a lot of time managing your subordinates. You are there to encourage or Read More >