Blog
Which Comes First?
In preparation for an upcoming executive education session, I conducted a quick pulse survey earlier this month. I wanted to understand whether the leaders attending my training believe that there is a difference in the importance of career development to their...
Redefine Results by Redefining Career Development
Given repeated rounds of downsizing, reorganizing, right sizing, and all of the other ‘zings’ that have befallen organizations, it’s easy to scan the landscape and come to the conclusion that career development options have shrunk... that they are few and far between...
Management by Talking Around
In the 1980s, MBWA was the rage. It involved the radical notion that leaders could drive better results by stepping out of their offices and engaging with employees and the work flow in a less formal, more impromptu fashion. "Management by walking around" changed the...
Leadership Advice…for the Ages (ALL Ages)
What is it about the human experience that draws us to focus on our differences rather than our similarities? Does it come from our need to simplify the complexities of the world around us? Or is it a survival-based carryover from times when unfamiliar forces were...
Give ‘Em Some Space (For Possibilities)
A significant dimension of leadership is coaching… engaging in conversations that help others make the leap from where they are to where they want (or need) to be. Whether the focus is on correcting a performance problem, expanding capacity, improving relationships,...
No Fair!
Nothing is fair in this world. You might as well get that straight right now. – Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees Babies as young as 15 months grasp fairness, according to Jennifer Welsh in Live Science. So does every employee in your organization. (And...
From Team Building to Team Bonding
How much does your organization spend each year to hire, train, support and bring together the right team? How much time is invested in off-sites, ropes courses, style profiles, and other events designed to build team cohesion and results? How happy are you with the...
The Work of ColLABORation
Done well, collaboration looks effortless. It appears to be a fluid give-and-take, a hand-in-glove partnership among individuals who make it all look natural and easy. But these appearances belie the fact that ‘labor’ is at the center of collaboration… and that most...
Giving Career Development a Fresh Focus
Career development is one of those supervisory responsibilities that frequently drops to the bottom of a manager’s to-do list. And it makes sense. Today’s managers are more time-pressed than ever before. Scary spans of control. Ever-escalating expectations. Demands to...