Good managers often have strong technical expertise and analytical skills. They love to jump into the details and resolve tough problems. Effective leaders resist the quick-fix, I-can-do-it-better-myself temptation. He or she knows such do-it-yourself projects reinforce the upward delegation cycle (“Hey, boss. Here’s another one for you to solve”). This leads to him or her […]
Read post »What does it take to be an inspiring leader? Positive and perky? Pep talks? High fives? I was invited by a hall of fame NFL quarterback to give a leadership presentation to his senior management team in their offices. He was building a very successful national company on a high growth trajectory. As we toured […]
Read post »I’ve just invested research and development time in updating and fusing key components of our workshops and retreats into a new two-day workshop. Periodically we step back and review the latest research, draw from our experience, and enhance our development tools and approaches. The Leading Edge is a new workshop to help leaders struggling with […]
Read post »The leading edge of an airplane wing is critical to slicing through the air and directing airflow around the wing to create lift. Leaders form the leading edge of their teams or organizations. He or she shapes everyone’s energy and behaviors. Highly effective leaders and outstanding leadership teams create powerful lift. Their teams and organizations […]
Read post »Is your team/organization overloaded with many priorities and conflicting activities? Does your team/organization load new projects and goals on top of existing workloads without rigorous “stop doing” pruning to make room for them? These are the two biggest problems emerging over the last few months of work with our Strategic Use of Time Assessment. The […]
Read post »Competency models can provide a central framework for defining the skills and behaviors essential to an organization’s success. A well-built competency model provides a strong support structure for leadership development, talent, and performance management. A robust competency model outlines the behaviors needed to create the organization’s desired culture. But how effective is your competency model? […]
Read post »Luckily, I caught Richard Wiseman in a radio interview late one night on my way home from the airport. When I got home, I immediately looked him up on the Internet and ordered his book. Wiseman is Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. He’s been […]
Read post »A few years ago, I ran into an old colleague I hadn’t seen for a while. Our short conversation confirmed just why I hadn’t seen him in a while. I greeted him with, “Hey Phil. How’s it going?” His response was, “Oh, you know; same crap, different day.” He then proceeded to proudly pile up […]
Read post »Our world has never been in better shape or more prosperous. But you’d never know it by reading the news. “A lot of people look at the news these days and think that the world is falling apart,”. Bill Gates says: “I have a different view. I think the world has never been better — […]
Read post »The comedian Phyllis Diller once joked, “What I don’t like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day.” Hopefully, you’re not in that situation during the Holidays! This is a great time of year to step back to see if we’re caught in the speed trap. As the pace of life […]
Read post »One of my cherished holiday traditions is watching various movie versions of Charles Dickens’ much-loved classic, A Christmas Carol. Once our grandkids become old enough (a major highlight of this year was all three of our kids each had a baby), I’ll be able to watch my favorite version, The Muppet Christmas Carol, with them. […]
Read post »Imagine a large jar filled to the brim with golf balls. Is it full? What if marbles were slowly poured in as the jar was shaken until no more could be added? Now is it full? How about sand being trickled into the jar as it’s vigorously jiggled? When the sand reaches the brim is […]
Read post »Greek mathematician, Euclid, was hired to teach geometry to a young, impatient Egyptian heir to the throne. The prince was an unmotivated student. He especially resisted learning basic formulas and theories before getting into practical applications. “Is there no simpler way you can get to the point?” he asked. “As the crown prince I should […]
Read post »In the past four years the number of books on coaching available at Amazon has grown by 50% — from just under 30,000 to over 45,000. This reflects the growing understanding that effective coaching has a huge impact on individual, team, and organization performance. But this also shows there’s an overwhelming assortment of coaching theories, […]
Read post »“Corporate leadership development programs aren’t working. Less than a quarter of executives at the organizations that have them think they’re effective.” These conclusions are from a report published in the November-December issue of Harvard Business Review. The authors trace the main source of these dismal results to using unproven and ineffective leadership development approaches. The […]
Read post »We did a series of focus groups, interviews, and a feedback survey with a division of a large company to help Eric, the division manager, determine why their culture wasn’t performing at the level he wanted. We found that the shortfalls in the division’s levels of engagement, service, and productivity could be traced to the […]
Read post »In the movie “City Slickers,” Billy Crystal plays Mitch, a middle-aged man in crisis who has lost his direction. He and his friends go to a dude ranch to participate in a real cattle drive and search for the meaning of life. Jack Palance plays Curly, a crusty old cowhand whose job it is to […]
Read post »Is work a four-letter word for many people on your team or in your organization? Is Monday morning the toughest time of their week? Are your team members mumbling “I owe, I owe, it’s off to work I go” as they trudge off to check into their “day prison?” Or do most members of your […]
Read post »I was interviewing a senior executive to prepare for an offsite planning retreat and I asked about the biggest challenges facing the leadership team. He wearily replied it was their unfocused frantic pace of activity. “We have lots of projects, goals, and priorities. We’re constantly making lists and setting action plans. But we seldom see […]
Read post »Aesop, the ancient Greek story teller, tells of an old legend that we were all born into this world with two bags hanging around our necks. A bag in front is filled with what we see in others. The other bag behind our back is filled with what others see in us. That’s why it’s […]
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