Studies show a growing sense of urgency for succession planning. One survey found 92% of respondents felt it was risky not to have a succession plan for key employees but only 25% of companies feel they’ve identified adequate successor candidates and less than half have a process for developing candidates. Other research shows 70% of […]
Read post »“The whole human side is now more important than skills or IQ. Everything we hear from clients is about the human aspects of leadership,” reports Rajeev Vasudeva, CEO of the Egon Zehnder executive recruiting firm. In a feature article on today’s “ultra-tight job market,” Fortune magazine concludes, “across industries, employers are prizing people skills, the […]
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 »Have you ever been stressed out by a bad boss? If it was bad enough you likely found yourself saying “they can’t pay me enough to put up with this.” At the other extreme, have you been part of a team led by an outstanding leader? Did the spirit of we-can-conquer-all, electric energy, and stretch […]
Read post »“Ignorance is bliss,” and “what you don’t know can’t hurt you,” is dangerous thinking in today’s fast changing world. Perceptions don’t improve because they’re ignored. American writer and philosopher, Eric Hoffer, wrote “far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know.” Leaders often rely too […]
Read post »As part of succession planning many organizations are concerned about developing their next generation of senior leaders. Many large companies in well-established industries like financial services, resources, manufacturing, and the like or public sector, education, and healthcare organizations struggle with getting middle and senior managers to embrace leadership development opportunities. We’ve recently published a case […]
Read post »In 2001 only 2 out of 10 people reported that they had a chance to do what they do best every day at work. In 2015 this more than doubled to 5 out of every 10 people. Michelle McQuaid is an honorary fellow at Melbourne University’s Graduate School of Education, holds a Masters in Applied […]
Read post »During one of my workshops we were discussing keys to building responsibility and ownership. One participant told us that he and his wife had their four year old grandson, Tyler, stay overnight at their house. In the morning he came running down the stairs and reported, “Grandma, Grandpa, somebody peed in my bed!” Kids will […]
Read post »A few weeks ago my blog post on “Talent Management: Developing Strengths of Individual Contributors” reviewed 4 key reasons for developing key individual contributors. It also provided links to our white paper “Individual Contributors: Building on Strengths is the Foundation of Success at Every Level“. Some highly professional individual contributors wield great influence and make […]
Read post »The Sochi Olympics show the colossal impact of key individuals on team success or a country’s medal count. Popular entertainers or professional athletes are glaring examples of the outsize impact that key individuals have on the success of a movie or sports franchise. Organizational success often hinges on oversized contributions from pivotal players like software […]
Read post »Organizations too often waste time and money providing leadership development programs that don’t work. Very little of their learning and development efforts significantly improve long term team or organizational results. A major reason for this all too common performance improvement shortfall is lack of follow up. Participants are “sheep dipped” in a workshop or 360 […]
Read post »A highly productive component of The Extraordinary Leader development approach is the Importance Ratings section of the feedback report. This is where each set of raters — including the participant being assessed — are asked to identify the four most important competencies (of the 16 Differentiating Competencies) for their role. What’s especially useful is comparing […]
Read post »A few thought-provoking insights from Kevin Wilde’s leadership development book, Dancing with the Talent Stars: 25 Moves That Matter Now: “Strong learning practices make the difference. Smart organizations invest consistently in learning, master the essential moves, ensure that what is taught transfers and use partners well for superior performance.” “At the onset of a career, […]
Read post »Kevin Wilde is Vice President of Organization Effectiveness and Chief Learning Officer at General Mills. Since joining in 1998, the company’s been consistently recognized for its innovative development work, highlighted by Fortune’s #2 ranking as one of the best companies in the world at leadership development, Leadership Excellence magazine ranking at #1, and Training magazine’s […]
Read post »We’re approaching a crisis point in succession planning and building leadership depth. The 2008 financial crash caused many leaders approaching retirement to put off their plans as their retirement funds sank. Organizations delayed or stopped leadership development as they switched into survival mode. Organizations are now waking up to an urgent new focus on building […]
Read post »Symantec is a global leader in software security, storage, and systems management. Sometimes people enviously argue that a company like Symantec can afford to invest in leadership and organization development because of their success. But a large part of Symantec’s success has resulted from these development investments. Symantec attracts highly effective leaders from around the […]
Read post »For years we have been warned that our labor force will be seriously affected by the aging baby-boom generation. As the years pass, however, it is becoming clear that the threat is not just the baby-boomers retiring. It is much broader. As organizations continue to experience turnover, restructuring, changes in business strategy, and market volatility, […]
Read post »Far too many organizations squander training dollars by “sheep dipping” supervisors, managers, or executives through development workshops and hoping something will stick. Decades of studies show time and again leadership behavior change rarely lasts in a “once and done” approach. One study by a large international learning and development firm found that the optimum ratio […]
Read post »Jack Zenger was recently talking with long-time Client, Symantec, a prominent Silicon Valley software firm about the remarkable success they’ve had using Zenger Folkman’s Strengths-Based Leadership Development System. The company has gathered compelling evidence that “leaders who participate in their development programs are getting higher scores on essentially every leadership competency they measure …. Upper […]
Read post »Are your houseplants stunted? Are you limiting their growth by keeping them in a small pot? BBC Nature reports a fascinating story entitled, “‘Stunted’ Pot Plants Cannot Reach Their Full Potential” from the Society for Experimental Biology’s annual meeting in Salzburg, Austria. Researcher Hendrik Poorter with the Julich Research Centre in Germany found that houseplants […]
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