Nearly 200 years ago farmers in Scotland began dipping or bathing their sheep in a solution of insecticide and fungicide to protect them against parasites, ticks, and lice. Today many organizations practice a form of “development dipping.” Leaders are dunked in a development workshop or learning activity in the hope that something sticks. When dipped […]
Read post »How important are these six skills to leadership effectiveness? Which ones are most effective and should be developed? Innovation: encouraging new ideas and solutions through creative approaches Relationships: developing strong relationships built on trust, respect, and consideration Acumen: acquiring knowledge and skills to be at the cutting edge of business practices Inspiration: motivating others to […]
Read post »Jack Zenger continues to provide deep insights and research on the fast-evolving field of leadership development. This presentation is based on substantial agreement that the objectives for ideal leadership development include acquiring new skills and self-awareness, immediate implementation of these skills, and long-term sustainment of that behavior change. During this Summit keynote address Jack discusses: […]
Watch webinar »How many of these common problems with leadership development apply to your organization: Not tied to organizational strategies. Separating reflection and insight from real work. Development requires behavior change but uses unproven methods Lack of managerial involvement. Lack of measurement. Lack of follow-up and sustainment. Focused on the individual, not on leadership team and changing […]
Read post »Summer is a great time for some much needed R & R. In our hectic 24/7, crazy busy world it’s even more vital we carve out time for recharging and rejuvenating. Leadership teams also need time away from daily operations and everyday distractions to work together in planning and strategy, reflection and renewal, team building, […]
Read post »A key to effective leadership is the ability to build positive relationships with other people. We know that these relationships improve retention, engagement, and discretionary effort but there is a much deeper meaning and importance.
Watch webinar »As outlined in my last blog, step two of “8 Vital Steps for Executive Teamwork and Organization Development” is visioning your ideal culture (or team). For years I’ve used variations of this critical step for team building, culture development, conflict resolution, strategic planning, etc., at Leadership Team Retreats. Many leaders confuse goal setting and visioning. […]
Read post »We’d just finished facilitating a two-day offsite retreat with an international resources company when I came back to my office to find the June issue of Harvard Business Review with a feature article on “The Secrets of Great Teamwork.” The authors — two management and organization behavior professors at Wharton and INSEAD — were reporting […]
Read post »“The learning organization can mean two things, it can mean an organization which learns and/or an organization which encourages learning in its people. It should mean both.” – Charles Handy, “The Age of Unreason“, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, pp 225 “Feedback is the lifeblood of the organization — the exchange of information that lets […]
Read post »Decades ago, in a Harvard Business Review article, “How I Learned to Let My Workers Lead,” the founder and CEO of a food company made this connection between learning and agility, “Learning is change, and I keep learning and relearning that change is and needs to be continuous… change is the real job of every […]
Read post »A few months ago I delivered a webinar on Essential Building Blocks for Leadership, Coaching, and Culture Development (click on the title if you want to view it now). The 45 minute webinar (plus 15 minutes of Q & A) was divided into three main sections: Foundational and time tested frameworks used for years in […]
Read post »My last blog linked to Zenger Folkman’s May 25 webinar on Execution – The KEY to How Leaders Get Things Done with a discussion of knowing versus doing. Common sense often isn’t common practice. “With regard to excellence, it is not enough to know but we must try to have and use […]
Read post »“Belling the Cat,” a tale from the ancient Greek fabulist Aesop, points to the timeless dilemma of knowing versus doing. The story describes a counsel of mice trying to figure out how to deal with “the sly and treacherous manner” that the cat sneaks up on mice and kills them. A young mouse proposed putting […]
Read post »Alvin Toffler, former associate editor of Fortune and bestselling author of books such as Future Shock, The Third Wave, and Powershift advises, “You’ve got to think about ‘big things’ while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.” This is an update of ancient wisdom from the Roman […]
Read post »A study recently published in Organization Science (“Motivational Spillovers from Awards: Crowding Out in a Multitasking Environment”) reviewed the results of data from an attendance award program at one of five laundry plants in the U.S. Midwest. They concluded: “Reward-motivated employees responded positively to the awards by reducing tardiness, but gamed the system to maintain […]
Read post »A sure path to marital unhappiness — if not divorce — is when a newlywed sets out to change his or her spouse. Yet how many performance management discussions are built on the same premise? Too often managers set about trying to “improve” his or her direct report by fixing weaker areas. How enthused are […]
Read post »I’ve used this slide for some time to show a big reason for the 50 – 70% failure rate of organization change and improvement efforts. It shows that many of these common change and improvement initiatives are disconnected and don’t fit together to create a cohesive picture. “Fad surfing in the C Suite” wastes scarce […]
Read post »Antidotes to “6 Dysfunctional Leadership Team Behaviors…“ Make sure everybody in your boat is rowing and not drilling holes when you’re not looking. – Anonymous The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the […]
Read post »Innovation clearly sets organizations apart. It’s key to inventing our future. But how do you cultivate innovation in leaders and teams?
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