Canadian Thanksgiving Day was earlier this month. That holiday Monday was cool with bright sunshine and blue skies. After our traditional Oktoberfest Family Day lunch (Kitchener-Waterloo celebrates their German heritage with the largest Oktoberfest outside of Munich) our family decided to visit a corn maze. It consisted of a series of trails and pathways cut […]
Read post »I’ve been delivering keynotes, webinars, facilitating workshops, and discussing our Strengths-Based Leadership Development System for the past month with many highly experienced HR, Learning, and OD executives. It’s been fascinating to see most of them go through the same struggle I did when I first dug into the compelling research. On the one hand, comments […]
Read post »My last blog announced that my September webinar hosted by the Canadian Society for Training and Development is now archived and available for viewing at The Strengths-Based Leadership Development Revolution. Right after the webinar was broadcast I received this e-mail from a participant: “I had a chance to attend your webinar on The Strengths-Based Leadership […]
Read post »Last week I delivered a 50 minute webinar on The Strengths-Based Leadership Revolution hosted by the Canadian Society for Training and Development. We wrapped it up with 10 minutes of thoughtful participant questions and discussion. This archived webinar is now freely available here. Given the breadth and depth of our Strengths-Based Leadership Development System a […]
Read post »The pace around The CLEMMER Group these days may not be as frenzied as the U.S. presidential race but some days it feels like it! We’re not out on the campaign trail kissing babies or slinging mud at our opponents. But we have been very busy spreading the word about Zenger Folkman’s revolutionary leadership development […]
Read post »As I said to Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman in last week’s Strengths-Based Leadership Development webcast (click on title to view the archived session). How to Be Exceptional: Drive Leadership Success by Magnifying Your Strengths (click on title to read my review) really is an exceptional book. In my 35 plus years of studying, applying, […]
Read post »Last week I received this e-mail from a manager in Toronto: “You were recommended to me by my boss. He is interested in having me take some leadership training specifically on the issue of ‘managing up.’ I see that this is an area you discuss on your website. Would you have some time to discuss […]
Read post »It’s been a long term — and ongoing — goal to make our website at www.clemmergroup.com a high-value destination for practical personal, team, and organizational leadership material that’s worth far more than you’re paying for it! Our steady increase in traffic has been gratifying feedback that we’re on the right track. As you’ve been reading […]
Read post »For the last few decades leadership development has used a linear approach. For example, communication skills training might involve breaking down the key actions of the skill, showing examples of strong communication, practicing key steps of the skill, and getting coaching or feedback. Linear training is effective and will often help a motivated learner get […]
Read post »Derek is the head of a large division. He’s technically brilliant, a great strategic thinker, with strong analytical skills, and tremendous drive for delivering results. Derek’s impressive track record garners respect. He’s fairly personable and most people like him. These are the reasons he’s had a series of promotions and is one of the youngest […]
Read post »In the 19th century “snake oil salesmen” travelled throughout North America selling unproven or fraudulent oils, elixirs, and various cure-all remedies. In 1906 the US Pure Food and Drugs Act began to regulate medicines. This was followed by decades of research into drugs, vaccines, public health regulations, and medical treatments that dramatically reduced and even […]
Read post »360 multi-rater feedback assessments are now used by more than 85% of Fortune 500 companies. They’ve become a foundation of leadership development efforts because they’re like a GPS unit showing leaders their current leadership effectiveness (“you are here”) and mapping a route to increased effectiveness. 360 feedback tools derive their name from getting feedback in […]
Read post »Over the years “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” became a clichéd back-to-school assignment. This September, our response is “what vacation?” and “we were extraordinarily busy!” Our biggest news of the summer was A New Era Begins: Our Strategic Partnership with Zenger Folkman. If you were on summer vacation and missed many of my blogs […]
Read post »“In all our research to predict the satisfied, engaged, and committed employee versus the dissatisfied, disengaged, and uncommitted employee, one variable emerged as the best predictor of the differences. That one variable is, “Who is your immediate supervisor?” ” … leadership strengths as those qualities that are highly valued in most cultures, that are valued […]
Read post »How to Be Exceptional couldn’t come at a better time. We’re standing at a very critical crossroad. Our organizations desperately want and need much stronger leadership at all levels. But a torrent of studies show most leadership development approaches aren’t working. We need a better way. We’re also at the intersection of powerful and revolutionary […]
Read post »It’s both jarring and exciting to learn that I’ve been wrong. Most of my last few decades in the leadership development field I’ve fallen headlong into the trap ensnaring a vast majority of us in this business; focusing on closing organizational or managerial gaps or weaknesses. We’ve used needs analysis or facilitated a gap analysis […]
Read post »The more we learn about Zenger Folkman’s leadership development research and approaches, the more excited we are to be their Canadian Strategic Partner. At risk of sounding like a sleazy late night TV pitch man; Zenger Folkman’s Strengths-Based Leadership Development System is a major revolution in our field. We’ve got a leadership crisis. Our organizations […]
Read post »Over the years I’ve written about how Barrick Gold dramatically improved their safety record. They went from being a typical international mining company with the industry’s sad record of deaths and injuries to one of the leaders in their field. With Courageous Safety Leadership at the center of their major culture change, Barrick reduced total […]
Read post »Another exciting and inspiring Olympic games has come to a close. The Olympic flame has been extinguished until it will be relit four years from now in Rio de Janeiro. Chris Brasher, a British athlete, sports journalist and co-founder of the London Marathon once observed, “There is something in the Olympics, indefinable, springing from the […]
Read post »Insights and inspiration as I attend Zenger Folkman’s Extraordinary Leadership Summit this week in Utah and the world watches the London Olympics: “The highest reward for man’s toil is not what he ‘gets for it,’ but what he ‘becomes by it'” – John Ruskin, 19th century English social thinker, philanthropist, artist, and writer We were […]
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