Leadership

• Most Topular Stories

• Are You Managing or Just Nagging?

  Great Leadership

  13 Jan 2012 | 4:14 pm

  Four universal truths about management: 1. Managers are responsible for the performance of those that report to them. 2. One of the core responsibilities of a manager is to take action when an employee’s performance is not up to par. 3. Confronting an employee performance problem is one of the most difficult (and also the most avoided) discussions a manager can have with an employee. 4. Many employees report that they feel their managers micromanage them, pick on them unfairly, or get all over their case for things that really don’t matter. In other words, they feel their manager is…

• The Leader And The Peacock In The Closet

  TerryStarbucker.com

  Starbucker

  2 Jan 2012 | 9:18 am

  Success is a beautiful thing. We all want it, because it’s the undisputed champion in measuring our professional selves. We know it’s hard to get, and that’s what makes it all the more satisfying. We cherish it, because we know what it’s like to fail (because we all do). So, when it happens, there’s the part of us that wants to strut around like a peacock.  I did it! How about that! Darn I’m good. Hey, why not celebrate the win?   But there’s a catch to this if you are a leader on the road to greatness. You shouldn’t take the credit. Because…

• It’s Always About Leadership

  Management Excellence

  Art Petty

  17 Jan 2012 | 7:47 am

  Leaders step up during times of crisis. This is where people in positions of responsibility finally earn the right to the “L” label. Unfortunately, in this instance, much like just about every other crisis we’ve created or viewed, leadership seems to take a holiday, replaced by “everyone for himself” and “it’s not my fault.”

• Real people

  Managing Leadership

  Jim Stroup

  17 Oct 2011 | 2:26 am

  The purpose of this current discussion is to identify the key and fundamental problems with the notion of individual leadership in modern organizations as it is professed and propounded by the modern leadership movement (MLM); to outline the case against this misguided concept. Many of these have been addressed to one extent or another, as well, in other discussions on these pages. But today’s subject is one that belongs firmly in our current topic. It is easily among the most astoundingly ill-conceived, and even dangerous, of the many bafflingly preposterous claims made by the MLM. It…

• How Many Interviews Should It Take To Hire Someone?

  Hire and Retain Talent

  bradremillard

  12 Jan 2012 | 11:45 am

  Q. How many interviews should a company have when hiring someone? Our company has 9 or 10 people meet the candidate. Some candidates complain it is too long. Is there a normal number of interviews before hiring someone? It isn’t the quantity of the interviews but the quality of the interviews that counts.  When jointly [...] Related posts: Interviewing Only The Employed. Is It The Way To Hire? Can Your Candidates Demonstrate Initiative Before You Hire Them? Two Reasons Interviewing Fails So Often

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  HBR.org

• Congressional Judgment: Built to Lapse?

  Tom Davenport and Brook Manville

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:40 pm

  President Barack Obama spoke this week in the State of the Union message about creating "an economy built to last." Who could argue with this admirable goal? It's one all Americans should be able to get behind. But unfortunately, there's a major obstacle to making progress toward it: the judgment capacity of the US Congress. The two of us have been thinking a lot in the past year about how some organizations manage to be decisive—and wise—consistently over time. Our book, Judgment Calls: Twelve Stories of Big Decisions and the Teams that Got Them Right, comes out in March. Perhaps…

• What Google's Larry Page Doesn't Understand

  Maxwell Wessel

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:06 pm

  Google has been self-destructive recently. Last weekend, Google was exposed by engineers from Twitter, Facebook, and mySpace for interfering with their search results. Instead of apologizing and vowing to protect the sanctity of search, this week Larry Page announced that Google will soon integrate its products even further. On March 1st, Google will change its privacy agreement to allow the company to collect and unify user data across all its web properties. There is no opting out. Whether you want it or not, Google will be consolidating the data about what you search for, what you read in…

• Transform Your Employees into Passionate Advocates

  Rob Markey

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:49 am

  Employee happiness is becoming a hot topic among CEOs and in boardrooms, and it's about time. The current issue of Harvard Business Review, which includes a series of articles focused on employee happiness, is just one more sign of the growing recognition that happy, engaged employees are more productive and generate better outcomes for their companies. But there's also a risk in all this attention to "happiness." Happiness for its own sake is not the right outcome to seek. If you want happy employees, you can just pay them more. You can give them more time off. You can give them free lunches…

• Finding Great Ideas in Emerging Markets: The Idea in Practice

  Nathan T. Washburn and B. Tom Hunsaker

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:42 am

  For the past two and half years, we have been interviewing executives in multinationals around the world about their biggest challenges. One recent interview stood out. Tomas* is a regional vice president in Santiago, Chile He works for a European company with operations throughout the globe. When we met, he expressed deep frustration with his home office in Germany. Executives there had repeatedly shut down his attempts to develop a modified product for the Latin America market. Despite the negative response, Tomas kept trying. He explained to us why the product needed to change, why the…

• Retail Revolution: We Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

  Jeffrey F. Rayport

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:30 am

  Last week, I moderated a "Super Session" at this year's annual National Retail Federation "Big Show." Seated with me on stage at one end of a long and cavernous room in New York's Javits Center, my panelists were Jennifer Hyman of Rent The Runway and Doug Mack of One Kings Lane. To say that Boeing could have built its next 787 Dreamliner in this space would be no understatement. I suspect that the nearly 4,000 registrants attending our "intimate" session would have agreed. The panel made one thing clear: just when any sensible person might have concluded that e-commerce business models had…

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  SmartBrief on Leadership

• Japanese entrepreneur opens hotel for corpses

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:50 am

  Japanese crematoriums are overbooked, so an enterprising Yokohama businessman opened a "hotel" to store bodies until their f -More- SFO - Airport Duty Manager San Francisco International Airport (SFO),

• It's time to stop playing the blame game

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:50 am

  A culture of blame and excuse-making is dangerous because it stops people learning from their mistakes, and thus leads to mor -More- 

• How red tape holds back the Indian economy

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:50 am

  India's unbelievably complex bureaucracy costs the country at least 3 points of its gross domestic product, says Honeywell CE -More- 

• The leader of Amazon's publishing arm

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:50 am

  Larry Kirshbaum had a high-profile career in traditional publishing before he signed on to lead Amazon.com's digital-publishi -More- 

• Do you need to get some perspective?

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:50 am

  Bosses need to rely on their advisers, writes John Baldoni, but what happens when two trusted deputies disagree?  -More- 

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  Leading Blog: A Leadership Blog

• Managing With a Conscience

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:34 pm

  We handicap our potential when we think we have to exploit others to get ahead. Succeeding is not a zero-sum game. We don’t look better when everyone else looks worse. Frank Sonnenberg makes the case in Managing with a Conscience, that the only sustainable way to succeed is the right way—not cutting corners—emphasizing the intangibles like trust, creativity, focus, speed, flexibility, relationships, loyalty, and employee commitment. While not readily measureable, they can make or break leaders and organizations. Sonnenberg believes that leaders who have a jaded view of intangible assets…

• Leading Views: Resilience

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:52 pm

  Because we always make mistakes and always will, Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham, authors of Street Smarts say that the most important quality for business success is resilience—the ability to bounce back from failure, to turn around a bad situation, to profit from your mistakes. Point One: Those who persevere win. Be resilient and welcome failure. That’s how you become a better businessperson. Point Two: You learn by refusing to make excuses and looking inside yourself for the reason things have gone wrong. Point Three: Focus and discipline are more important than identifying…

• The Compound Effect

  24 Jan 2012 | 1:47 am

  The Compound Effect is a reminder of the law of cause and effect. Darren Hardy shares the impact it has had on his life and how you can make yourself accountable for your choices. The Compound Effect is the ripple effect you get from the choices you make. In life, you not only reap what you sow, you reap more than you sow. The seemingly insignificant choices we make daily, will create major changes in your life for good or bad. These are the things we don’t think about because they have no immediate effect. They don’t seem to matter. But over time, they can take you places you never…

• 12 Reasons You Will Be a Better Leader this Year

  16 Jan 2012 | 2:02 am

  1. Because you are generous with information. You know it enables and values others. 2. Because you eschew the trappings of power. You respect your position too much to let yourself become self-absorbed and disconnected from those you serve. 3. Because you know leadership isn’t about how well you are appreciated, but it’s about endlessly showing your appreciation of others. Leadership isn’t about how you feel, but how you make others feel. 4. Because you are honored to lead, you genuinely respect and care for the people you serve. 5. Because you avoid the trivial and stay focused on…

• Why are Organizations Slow to Respond?

  13 Jan 2012 | 12:11 pm

  Organizations are only human. Organizations share many characteristics with the people that populate them. Organizations are born, they mature, they age, and they die. The life expectancy of most is about 15 years and only 5% last longer than 50 years. They begin with an innovative idea—even developing beyond all expectations—but eventually they begin to show signs of aging. Claudio Feser writes in Serial Innovators, “Some firms become blinded by success and begin to resist external views and challenges. Some are locked into mental models and become driven by habits. Some lose the sense…

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  OPEN Forum Articles

• Top 5 Weirdest Companies on the Market

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pm

  From Katie Morell: Call them weird, edgy or just plain tasteless, these companies caught our eye as being not your average small business on the market. Here are five companies that are keeping things interesting. Soccer Collies Who knew dogs could play soccer? Mark Lukas found this out after his border collie started tossing a ball around the house. The idea hit him and he founded Soccer Collies, a company that pits humans against dogs in a game of soccer. That was five years ago and now Lukas and his two collies, Ms. Z and Bek (after David Beckham, of course), travel around the country…

• Is an Ad on Facebook Worth the Money?

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:30 pm

  From Courtney Rubin: If you can have a Facebook page for free, why pay money for an ad? That appears to be the feeling among small-business owners. While 70 percent use Facebook for marketing, just 23 percent have forked over any cash for an ad on the world's largest social network, according to a new survey. That 23 percent is up five percent from just six months prior, says MerchantCircle, the online marketing firm for local businesses who conducted the study. But business owners are not overwhelmingly convinced the ads are worth the money: Over half (62 percent) said they'd advertise…

• How to Reward Your Employees

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pm

  From Elizabeth Sile: When you're rewarding employees, what's important is not how expensive or showy the award is. It should be a little personal. Employee-rewards programs tend to be considered a softer part of business, says Dr. Bob Nelson, author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees. Typical small businesses don’t have much money to motivate people, so they don’t do anything, Nelson says. “By doing that, they’re making the assumption that it’s only money that speaks to employees, and they brush it off.” But having a strong employee-rewards program is…

• 5 Ways Supplemental Coverage Can Help Reduce Healthcare Costs

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:00 am

  From Mark Henricks: As the percentage of workers covered by employer health plans with deductibles of $1,000 or more has more than tripled in five years, the question of how to shield even the insured workers from unexpected medical bills has become pressing. One solution that’s gaining in popularity is the use of supplemental health indemnity plans. Unlike conventional health insurance, these plans pay policyholders directly in cash, rather than reimbursing medical care providers. Although payments may be $1,000 per day or more in the event of hospitalization, supplemental plans…

• Celebrity Kyle Maclachlan On Why He Went into the Wine Business

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am

  From Shira Levine: Chances are you know Kyle Maclachlan more for his acting roles in such cult classics as “Twin Peaks,” “Blue Velvet,” “Sex and the City,” and now, “Portlandia.” But for oenophiles who look for niche boutique wines from emerging regions, Maclachlan’s small yet growing wine business called Pursued by Bear is attracting garnering some legitimate respect and attention. Based in Walla Walla, Washington, within the Yakima Valley where Maclachlan grew up, the last few years of his great grape endeavor has allowed him…

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  Management-Issues

• 20 years of presenting online

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am

  It has been 20 years since online presentations really began. Yet even now, a dispiritingly high proportion of them aren't very good, and many are just plain awful. But why?

• Plate overflowing? Learn how to say 'no'

  25 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am

  To truly be effective, we all need boundaries. So if you're feeling overloaded, overbooked and overwhelmed, perhaps it's time you learn how to say "no." I'm not talking about being belligerent or difficult, but rather managing your activities to regain a sense of sanity.

• Three components of a team communication plan

  24 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am

  If you read last week's article on preparing for communication emergencies, there was one question left unanswered: what should a team communication plan contain?

• Intolerance, leadership and risk-taking

  24 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am

  In the current economic environment, playing it safe is probably the most dangerous thing you could do. But all too often, pressure from shareholders greedy for short-term gains makes executives fearful and risk-averse – with devastating consequences.

• Snow storms, zombie attacks and the Olympic apocalypse

  19 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am

  Remember last year when a snow storm shut down the US for two days? Or are you already working out how you'll get to work in London during the upcoming Olympics? With a good communication plan, you don't need to worry about either eventuality.

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  How to Change the World

• Raising Money: What Not to Say and What Not to Believe #OfficeandGuyK

  GuyKawasaki

  20 Jan 2012 | 12:46 pm

  Over the past two weeks via my partnership with Microsoft and Office Web Apps, I’ve provided templates of models for you to create enchanting PowerPoint pitches, Word business plans, and Excel financial models. They are all available for you to download from my SkyDrive account. I hope these documents and blog posts help you save a boatload of time and increase the quality of your efforts.I leave you with two sets of top ten lies: one of entrepreneurs and one of investors so that you know what not to say and what not to believe. Top Ten Lies of Entrepreneurs “Our projections are…

• Design a Sam Adams beer

  GuyKawasaki

  20 Jan 2012 | 10:24 am

  Now this is a fun project. I’m helping Sam Adams “tap” the knowledge of beer drinkers and crowd source its next brew. Join the party by getting the app and designing your beer: The final brew will be released in Austin in the first week of March. #sponsored

• How to Create an Enchanting Financial Forecast #OfficeandGuyK

  GuyKawasaki

  17 Jan 2012 | 3:52 pm

  This is the third post in my Microsoft partnership, and it’s all about numbers. The topic is crafting your financial forecast to include in your pitch. Bill Reichert, my partner at Garage Technology Ventures, created an Excel model and wrote this blog post. There’s a lesson in this too: Get the best person for the job. His grasp of financial models and how to present them exceeds mine by two orders of magnitude. The Purpose of Financial Projections When it comes to financial projections, there are two types of entrepreneurs: first, the “visionary entrepreneur” who…

• How to Create an Enchanting Business Plan #OfficeandGuyK

  GuyKawasaki

  12 Jan 2012 | 10:16 am

  Here is the second post in my series about planning, pitching, and launching a new business venture. In partnership with Microsoft and Office Web Apps, I’ve created a Word document that outlines a good business plan. It’s saved to my SkyDrive folder here. Feel free to download it and use it as inspiration. And if you’re working with a partner, you can use the free Word Web App to stay in sync. I provided the PowerPoint document before the Word document because a good business plan is an elaboration of a good pitch as opposed to a good pitch being a distillation of good business plan.

• How to Create an Enchanting Pitch #OfficeandGuyK

  GuyKawasaki

  9 Jan 2012 | 10:01 am

  Welcome to the first in a series of blog posts I’ll be doing as part of a partnership with Microsoft and Office Web Apps. Over the next two weeks, I’ll cover everything a budding entrepreneur needs to turn an idea into an enchanting investment opportunity—from the perfect pitch to a killer business plan to financial forecasts. I’m going to start with a little dissertation on creating effective PowerPoint pitches for your company. I embedded the sample deck for you to click through by using the PowerPoint Web App. When you’re ready to get started, you can download the…

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  Michael Hyatt’s Blog

• Five Ways to Find a Mentor

  DanielDarling

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am

  This is a guest post by Daniel Darling. He is the Senior Pastor of Gages Lake Bible Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and is the author of iFaith, Connecting with God in the 21st Century. You can read his blog or follow him on Twitter. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here. The value of a mentor cannot be overestimated. A mentor is someone who is a few laps ahead of you in an area of life where you wish to find success. More than formal training, more than a book or a seminar, a good mentor brings his or her personal experience to bear on your life in…

• When You Feel Overwhelmed by Your Workload

  Michael Hyatt

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am

  I often write and speak on workload management. But even I occasionally get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of requests and assignments. I’m in such a state right now. Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/VallarieE In the last week I’ve attended board meetings for three different companies. Two were out of town. In addition, I have spoken publicly five times and am right in the middle of reviewing the copy-edited manuscript for my new book. That doesn’t even count the 669 e-mails I have received in the last week. (Yes, that’s the exact count as of 10 minutes ago. It only represents the…

• Is It an Obstacle or an Opportunity?

  Michael Hyatt

  25 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am

  If you want to improve the quality of your life or business, planning is essential. You have to be honest about your current reality, envision a better future, and then create a roadmap for getting from one to the other. If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. But having a solid plan is no guarantee against encountering problems along the way. As a mentor of mine used to say, “Doo-doo occurs.” In the video above, a classical violist faces the unexpected. Near the end of a concert, a cell phone goes off in the audience. Note what he does: He…

• My Experience Using a Virtual Assistant

  Michael Hyatt

  24 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am

  I left my role as CEO of Thomas Nelson in April 2011. I thought I could get by without an assistant. Boy, was I wrong. If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. As a result of greater focus on writing, my blog traffic spiked and my comment load doubled. I started getting more email. I had to book my own travel. I soon felt overwhelmed. Initially, I thought I’d hire a part-time assistant. I even created a job description and sent it to several people I thought might know of someone. A few people applied. But then I started counting the cost: Where…

• Why Vision Is More Important Than Strategy

  Michael Hyatt

  23 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am

  Vision and strategy are both important. But there is a priority to them. Vision always comes first. Always. If you have a clear vision, you will eventually attract the right strategy. If you don’t have a clear vision, no strategy will save you. Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/MAEK123 I have seen this over and over again in my professional and personal life. Once I got clear on what I wanted, the how almost took care of itself. Let me give you an example. In July of 2000, my boss suddenly resigned. I was already the Associate Publisher of the division, the second-in-command. With…

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  Knowledge@Wharton

• One, Two Three Free Trade Agreements: Finally, a New Era for Global Trade?

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:29 am

  Nearly five years after the Bush administration first negotiated free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, revised versions of those pacts were finally approved by the U.S. Congress last fall and will be implemented during 2012. Although global companies reacted with an anti-climactic sense of relief, many trade analysts welcomed the new opportunities that the pacts will open for U.S. exporters, and predicted more such agreements to come.

• Under New Leadership, Will Yahoo Find Its Way?

  18 Jan 2012 | 2:33 pm

  When Scott Thompson was named Yahoo's new CEO effective January 9, he became the fourth person in five years to take charge of the ailing Internet giant. Experts at Wharton say that Thompson, who was previously president of eBay's PayPal unit, might be Yahoo's last hope for becoming relevant again as a player in online display advertising, a market which the media company once dominated. But his main challenge, they say, is the same as his predecessors': Define what Yahoo wants to be.

• IBM's Sam Palmisano: 'Always Put the Enterprise Ahead of the Individual'

  18 Jan 2012 | 2:33 pm

  As far as a legacy goes, says IBM chairman Sam Palmisano, "I just want to leave the company better than I found it." Judging by IBM's successes over the past decade, Palmisano, who was CEO of IBM until he stepped down earlier this month, did just that. During an interview with Wharton management professor Michael Useem, Palmisano discussed the sale of the company's personal computer business, the PricewaterhouseCoopers acquisition, how a big company can encourage innovation, and what he learned from his mentors, among other observations drawn from almost 40 years at IBM.

• Revisiting the American Dream: Is the U.S. Providing Fewer Opportunities to Get Ahead?

  18 Jan 2012 | 2:33 pm

  The United States is widely seen as a place where a person can rise from extreme poverty to lavish wealth on the basis of hard work, ingenuity and a little luck. But has that vision of the American dream become less attainable in recent times? As economic inequality rises, and much of the population grapples with high unemployment and a stagnant housing market, observers say it is becoming harder and harder to go from rags to riches. Fewer opportunities to do so, they note, has real implications for the country's overall future.

• Customers, Competition and Cost: Sam's Club CEO Brian Cornell on the Essential 'Cs' of Leadership

  18 Jan 2012 | 2:33 pm

  For Sam's Club CEO Brian Cornell, good leadership is about getting inside the heads of the warehouse chain's 47 million shoppers and figuring out the product mix and shopping experience that will keep them coming back for more. At a recent Wharton Leadership Lecture, he talked about the "Cs" that govern his leadership style and the opportunities and challenges created by today's more value-conscious breed of consumer.

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  Learned On by Andrea Learned

• Outdoor Afro: Social Media and the Sustainable Business

  Andrea Learned

  23 Jan 2012 | 2:24 pm

  My most recent SustainableBusinessForum piece takes a look at Outdoor Afro, the thriving social-media savvy business launched by Rue Mapp.  This business, which emerged from Rue’s personal passion, is now powerfully connecting African Americans with nature – and with each other – and is poised to do so much more. Here’s an excerpt: As the business has developed, Mapp has taken cues from the ways in which social media and interdependence of many systems of connections mimic nature. The more diverse, multi-platformed “habitat’ forms the strongest foundation, which…

• Better CSR Comes from More Relational Traits

  Andrea Learned

  9 Jan 2012 | 12:03 pm

  In Part 2 of my SustainableBusinessForum piece, More Women, Better CSR, I point out that what women bring to the corporate leadership “table” is practice and comfort using their relational traits.  I see huge potential in recognizing that and developing strategies for nurturing – in everyone – the types of thinking that emphasize (and reward!) the relational. Here’s an excerpt: CSR reflects the integration of values and social engagement into what is known – traditional ways of doing business.  In other words, the relational lends purpose to the…

• Sustainability 2012+: Emotional Intelligence Changes Everything

  Andrea Learned

  29 Dec 2011 | 6:35 pm

  ‘Tis the season for “best of 2011″ lists and 2012 trend forecasts.  From year to year, few of the items included in these compilations ever seem that earth-shatteringly newsworthy.  However, with an eye on the sustainability-forward business, seeing the longer term may be the point.  As it stands, few businesses undergo complete revolutions in thinking and practices from year to year.  Instead, the greatest corporate sustainability shifts will likely only be visible decades or more from now. Looking back on the past ten years,  I’d say we’ve seen a…

• Question Assumptions. Be The Sustainability Vanguard.

  Andrea Learned

  14 Dec 2011 | 7:23 pm

  “The most impressive thing about them as scholars,” says David Easley, an economist at Cornell University, “is that in recent years they have questioned the assumptions of the models they helped to create, and they have been at the vanguard of the efforts to go beyond them.” The above quote from Jeff Sommer’s New York Times piece on Nobel laureate economists Christopher A. Sims and Thomas J. Sargent holds universal wisdom.  What if today’s business leaders were willing and became practiced at questioning the assumptions of the models they themselves helped create? Imagine…

• More Women, Better CSR?

  Andrea Learned

  14 Dec 2011 | 6:14 pm

  If yours is a business striving to become more sustainable, one of the systems worth review is the strength and resiliency of your human capital.  That more women at executive and Board levels will help make an organization more adaptable through challenging times should be common sense.  This is perhaps even more true in tending to corporate social responsibility, because there’s more to ponder than the profit bottom line.  Decision-making teams need thinkers from a wide range on the linear to relational continuum.  And, while adding women doesn’t automatically increase the…

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  Great Leadership

• Leading in a New Direction - 3 Techniques for Thinking up New Business Ideas

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:27 pm

  Here's a guest post from entrepreneur Duncan Murtagh,"an Irishman living in Taiwan, who has been to New Hampshire several times": How can we move past the tough times of 2011 to a more profitable 2012? Well we could start by coming up with some new ideas to drive revenue growth. In this article I’ll demonstrate 3 different techniques that 3 very different businesses could use, and may have used, to think up new business ideas. 1. The S.C.A.M.P.E.R. checklist of questions is a powerful tool for looking at your existing product/service lines and coming up with new variations. Probably the…

• How to Get the Most Benefit from an Executive Development Program

  24 Jan 2012 | 2:48 pm

  In my current role as Director of Executive Development Programs at the University of New Hampshire, I’ve had the opportunity to observe and interact with hundreds of our program participants. In former roles, in managing leadership development programs at large companies, I would always take the time to talk to participants before and after they attended an external executive development program. Along the way, I’ve learned a lot, including how to design programs that meet the needs of real-life executives. There are a lot of variables you need to pay attention to – the…

• Caring for the Commons

  20 Jan 2012 | 3:47 pm

  Guest post by Fred Kiel, Ph.D. & Doug Lennick: If you’re in a leadership position, you make hundreds of decisions each day – and most of those have the potential to impact the well-being of others. They are moral decisions. Don Blankenship, the CEO of Massey Coal Mines regularly made decisions to bypass safety procedures and ultimately those decisions led to the accident which killed 29 workers. On the other hand, Jim Sinegal, the recently retired CEO of Costco Wholesale, generously paid his warehouse employees. Even part-time workers receive benefits. Incidentally, Costco employees…

• Creating the Conditions for Sustainable Innovation

  18 Jan 2012 | 6:30 am

  Here's some new research on innovation and a guest post by By Rich Wellins, Ph,D., Senior Vice President, Development Dimensions International (DDI): In the past year, innovation has risen to the top of the business agenda. With the recession out of the way, corporations are refocusing on looking for new ways to grow. It seems not a day goes by that the major media writes (or broadcasts) stories in innovation. And, it has become more than just an imperative for our corporations, it has become a matter of national pride—or not. Some research shows that the U.S is losing its…

• Are You Managing or Just Nagging?

  13 Jan 2012 | 4:14 pm

  Four universal truths about management: 1. Managers are responsible for the performance of those that report to them. 2. One of the core responsibilities of a manager is to take action when an employee’s performance is not up to par. 3. Confronting an employee performance problem is one of the most difficult (and also the most avoided) discussions a manager can have with an employee. 4. Many employees report that they feel their managers micromanage them, pick on them unfairly, or get all over their case for things that really don’t matter. In other words, they feel their manager is…

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  Get Internet Famous with Alejandro Reyes

• The Chuck Norris of Branding Shows Us How to Become an Instant Authority

  Alejandro Reyes

  17 Jan 2012 | 8:12 am

  I’m excited to introduce a brand new show that I’m so excited about, Get Internet Famous!  The focus of the show is to help YOU turn your passion & expertise into an online platform that allows you to build your local business or online business.  We’ll be interviewing authors, marketers, speakers, CEO’s, bloggers, and other folks that are creating impact in their communities… with the goal being to help you have more influence & impact in your community. In this 1st Episode, we talk to best selling author, John Morgan, who wrote “Brand Against…

• Get Internet Famous in 2012

  Alejandro Reyes

  12 Jan 2012 | 12:07 pm

  2012 is the year to Get Internet Famous.  I’m not talking getting known so you can keep up with the Kardashians, but instead, I’m talking about positioning yourself as the go-to resource so that you can create more income and make an impact in your community. Check out the video, share it, and let me know your thoughts. #getinternetfamous Build a Successful Business Equip yourself with the tools to help you get known and build a successful business. Interviews, Tips, and Videos delivered straight to your inbox. Email:    Related posts: My 3 Words for 2012

• My 3 Words for 2012

  Alejandro Reyes

  1 Jan 2012 | 5:08 am

  Last year I wrote my “3 Words for 2011″ that was inspired by Chris Brogan as something he’s been talking about since 2006.  These 3 words act as a lighthouse for our actions & efforts. Here’s mine for 2012 & I want to hear yours below.  Put some thought into this and write it down. Passion.  Swagger.  Commitment. Passion.  If you have ever spent any time with me, you know that I’m extremely passionate guy.  You have probably heard me say this before but what a mentor told me is so true… Find out what you’re most passionate about and…

• Article: What to do next

  Alejandro Reyes

  17 Oct 2011 | 12:40 pm

  What to do next http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/10/what-to-do-next.html If you’re not willing to face the abyss of choice, you will almost certainly not spend enough time dancing with opportunity. (via Instapaper) Sent from my iPhone Build a Successful Business Equip yourself with the tools to help you get known and build a successful business. Interviews, Tips, and Videos delivered straight to your inbox. Email:    Related posts: Article: Thirst for career happiness bumming us out – Business – Personal finance – Careers – msnbc.com Article: Is…

• Article: Thirst for career happiness bumming us out – Business – Personal finance – Careers – msnbc.com

  Alejandro Reyes

  11 Jul 2011 | 12:10 pm

  Thirst for career happiness bumming us out – Business – Personal finance – Careers – msnbc.com http://msnbc.msn.com/id/43683917/ns/business-personal-finance “Most people who are successful,” he continued, “are realistic that happiness isn’t a constant feature of their lives.”   (via Instapaper) This has gotta be the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a long time. Maybe I’m just too naive to believe that there’s a process for is to do something that not only makes us happy, but more importantly to do something that matters. It might not be…

• 

  800 CEO Read

• In The Books

  Jon

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:48 pm

  TweetIt’s that time of year again. We’ve compiled all the great books, ideas, and activities that 800-CEO-READ was involved in over the past year and published them in our annual In the Books publication. As the intro states: “At 800-CEO-READ, we don’t come to work everyday just to sell business books. We go to work to try to improve the way business is done.” This publication is the clearest example of that. Featuring the winners, shortlist, and candidates from the 2011 Business Book Awards, ChangeThis highlights, 8cr events and activities, 100 Best book…

• ChangeThis: Issue 90

  dylan

  25 Jan 2012 | 2:29 pm

  Tweet GROW: How to Change the Narrative of Business by Jim Stengel “The business case for brand ideals is not altruism. It’s self-interest and mutual interest. In addition to its wider positive impact, a devotion to brand ideals will do more for your own business and career than any other factor. Maximum business growth and high ideals are not incompatible. They’re inseparable.” Transcendent Leadership: How to Lead Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime by Les McKeown “What if each successive leadership role brought out more of what makes you you, rather than asking you to compromise your core…

• Attention Business Authors!

  Jon

  24 Jan 2012 | 3:40 pm

  Tweet               The 800-CEO-READ AUTHOR POW WOW January 13-15, 2013 Austin, TX **REGISTER EARLY AND SAVE** NOW THROUGH APRIL 1: $1000 April 1 – October 1: $1250 October through event: $1500 REGISTER HERE! The Author Pow Wow will not only provide you with all the knowledge you need to do what works, but will also connect you to the people who can help you in the process. During an intimate and intensive two days, authors, soon-to-be authors, publishers, publicists, marketers, agents, speaking experts, social media strategists, and business people…

• The End of Illness

  Jon

  24 Jan 2012 | 12:59 pm

  TweetOn one hand, this book is not our usual thing. On the other hand, nothing can move forward if our health isn’t in order. So, it’s completely worth pointing out Dr. David B. Agus’ new book, The End of Illness. The provocative title certainly draws our attention, and we might be expecting a “to-do list” of things we’ve heard before. Certainly, there are some universal truths in here that we’ve heard all our lives (the question is, are we adhering to them?), but also, there are more than a few discoveries in here that might surprise us, about the…

• The Fear Index, a business thriller

  Sally

  23 Jan 2012 | 12:08 pm

  Tweet We’re thrilled (seriously!) to post an excerpt from Robert Harris (best selling author of Fatherland, Pompeii, and The Ghost Writer, which was made into a movie with Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan, and many others) to showcase his new novel The Fear Index may not be our typical fare, but the novel appeals to us for many reasons: a master storyteller, the drama of hedge fund trading, a really creepy old book–Darwin in this case–, lots of money, and lots of thrills. To start the adventure, read below! The Fear Index Robert Harris Knopf | Hardcover | January, 2012 |…

• 

  Agile Management | NOOP.NL

• Intrinsic Desires in Tel Aviv (video)

  Jurgen Appelo

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:56 am

• You're Not a Complexity Thinker When...

  Jurgen Appelo

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:41 am

  You’re not a complexity thinker when… you claim your interpretation of complexity is correct, while others’ are wrong. Because, among scientists, there is no consensus about complexity. You’re not a complexity thinker when… you predict someone else’s approach to generating change will be wrong, because complexity theory denies predictions based on earlier events. You’re not a complexity thinker when… you complain your model is misunderstood or misrepresented by many people because the point of your model should be to enable sense-making. You’re not a complexity thinker…

• They're Different, in Paris! (video)

  Jurgen Appelo

  19 Jan 2012 | 12:15 pm

• Stoos Network (part 7): What's Next?

  Jurgen Appelo

  16 Jan 2012 | 6:21 am

  I had promised a 7-part series with my reflections on the Stoos Gathering. Now I promise that this will be my last post on this topic for a while… I have discussed the goals & outcomes of the event in Stoos, the name & identity, the core idea, and the stakeholders. Now it’s time to consider what comes next. Allow me to suggest the following steps, which can be picked up by anyone in the bigger network. Including me. :) 1) Stakeholders I think a little more work is needed to identify the groups of stakeholders. We’ve already made progress, and received some comments. But it would…

• Stoos Network (part 6): Goal & Outcomes

  Jurgen Appelo

  13 Jan 2012 | 7:54 am

  The original announcement for the Stoos Gathering started as follows: At the Stoos Gathering we will discuss how to accelerate change in management and organizational transformation. In my interpretation, our goal for the gathering was to achieve an understanding of the problem, an agreement on the desired future, and at least some suggestions for how to get there faster. The Problem The participants defined the problem in the form of “a fifty-dimensional mind-map”, as Steve Denning calls it. It is rather comprehensive in terms of root causes and consequences. But we intentionally call it…

• 

  Philanthropy Journal - Management/Leadership Articles

• Effective board recruitment, Part 1

  20 Jan 2012 | 4:31 am

  Identifying and recruiting the right board members for your nonprofit takes a lot of hard work behind the scenes, but the right recruitment plan can yield a committed and effective board. read more

• The power of the interim executive director

  13 Jan 2012 | 4:32 am

  With leadership transitions increasing, nonprofits should consider interim executive directors, temporary leaders who can take the helm of an organization, help the board and staff address important issues and lay the groundwork for the following leader’s success. read more

• Balancing stability with the need for change

  9 Dec 2011 | 9:31 am

  Whether change takes place because of economic, political, legal, competitive or social factors, it is the responsibility of a nonprofit’s leaders to prepare and lead the organization through changing times.read more

• Healthy reserves are no accident

  22 Nov 2011 | 10:20 am

  While building a reserve fund for your nonprofit takes planning, dedication and discipline, the financial flexibility reserves provide is critical during good times and bad.read more

• Is your nonprofit’s board prepared for transition?

  10 Nov 2011 | 12:14 pm

  The best board-succession plan is to have a board that operates according to proven practices, an approach that will enable it to perform effectively regardless of planned or unexpected turnover. read more

• 

  Leadership and Management / Turning Adversity to Advantage

• Failure Frontier

  brucelynn

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:17 am

    Perhaps the pinnacle of scientific achievement, space travel, illustrates failures as dramatic at its triumphs. Apollo 1, Challenger, Columbia. Most intriguing is that all three of these historical failures stemmed back to someone’s assumption that they wouldn’t fail. James Oberg, NBC Space Analyst, recently wrote a piece ‘Space disasters still have lessons to teach’ going through each in turn… · The Apollo fire, on Jan. 27, 1967 , was made possible by a decision to believe that flammability in pressurized pure oxygen couldn’t be that bad, even if no tests had been run…

• Soul Surfer

  brucelynn

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:58 am

  Happy Australia Day mates! Australia is just as full of poisonous biting things as it is of cheery sunshine. In fact, recently Australia is suffering an unprecedented rash of shark attacks. They typically get about 3 attacks each year, but they have had that many in the past 3 weeks already in 2012! Everyone fears the Jaws star, the Great White, but actually the real hazard is the Tiger Shark. A tiger shark has been behind the recent spate and was also the culprit in a recent release, Soul Surfer. The film is about the story of Bethany Hamilton, a champion surfer who had part of her arm…

• GE Whiz

  brucelynn

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:08 am

  Among the corporate results announced last week was that dragon on the corporate landscape, GE. No stranger to the concept of embracing failure as I have already posted about on their leader emeritus Jack Welch. Welch’s protégée Jeffrey Immelt carries on the tradition as reflected in a USA Today cover story interviewing him((thanks Dad) “GE Sees Growth Opportunities”… “The only way to run a company like GE, without size and mass and everything is: Bad news has to travel as fast as good news. You have to have a management team and culture where people are trained to give you the…

• Year of the Dragon

  brucelynn

  23 Jan 2012 | 1:59 am

    "Our greatest glory is never in failure, but in rising every time we fall." – Confucius Happy Chinese New Year of the Dragon!

• Motivated by Failure

  brucelynn

  22 Jan 2012 | 1:45 am

  Go Pats! My hometown team is back in the Super Bowl fight with the AFC Championship in front of them today en route to a possible 5th Super Bowl in in the past decade. For many, a Super Bowl trip is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For the Pats, it happens every other year. And yet, it is their failures in those off years that drive them forward according to Mike Freeman’s report on CBS Sports, “Motivated by failure, the Pats are the playoffs’ most-dangerous team”… "You lose a few playoff games it sits on your mind for quite a while," Patriots quarterback Tom Brady…

• 

  Talking Story with Rosa Say

• Book Review: Where Good Ideas Come From

  Rosa Say

  24 Jan 2012 | 10:00 pm

  You probably knew a book review was coming when I went all “you MUST read” on you, didn’t you. I’m giving myself a Goodreads challenge again, and this was book 5 for me this month. I tend to read more early in the year, and my challenge is to read books more consistently. The Kindle Daily Deal helps immensely, for it constantly adds to the queue in an easily affordable way. So many books, so little time… Where Good Ideas Come From Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson My rating: 5 of 5 stars In a word, exceptional. I greatly appreciate…

• Managers, you need to READ

  Rosa Say

  23 Jan 2012 | 1:18 pm

  The more I read, the more I’m convinced that reading is a habit Alaka‘i Managers must cultivate. You must. You need to read for your own good. Reading is your window to the rest of our fascinating world, and the world is a wonderfully big, and varied place. Management consumes us (managemeant even more so). As we dig in to all the details of our daily work, we tell ourselves to “focus, focus, focus” and we get isolated despite all the people who surround us in the workplace. They’re in the same boat: Our company and its existing network insulates us in a cocoon of directed…

• Ho‘omau, as nature teaches us to do

  Rosa Say

  21 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am

  The value which gets highlighted the most in Managing with Aloha (by Kindle readers, enabling me to notice it) isn’t Aloha or Ho‘ohana: It’s Ho‘omau, the value of persistence, perseverance, tenacity and resilience. “Renew. Anything worth having is worth working for. Persistence is often the defining quality between those who fail and those who succeed… There is never much satisfaction in giving up, and Ho‘omau is the value that will cause you to continue, to persevere in your efforts, and to perpetuate those that have worked.” — Managing with Aloha, Chapter 4 Ultimately,…

• Crossing off the Bucket List

  Rosa Say

  19 Jan 2012 | 1:05 pm

  Do you have a bucket list? You know, a list of those places you want to visit, and all the things you want to do before your life runs its natural course. Having one, and reviewing it regularly is good tonic for spicing up the normal pattern of your days. Try reading over your list just before bed on a night before you have one of your Other Days, and what happens the next morning might surprise you… our wondrous brains have a way of taking over at night as we just lay there and blissfully let it happen. Leisurely travel, close to home One of the entries on my bucket list covers a lot of…

• On Other Days: Creative Structure

  Rosa Say

  15 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  If you’ve read Talking Story for any longer-than-recently length of time, you know that I’m a big fan of creative structure. I like to test new habits and shift my routines, to explore and experiment with variation, but I also do so with the hope that I’ll nalu it, and fall into a cool, unexpected, and pleasing rhythm of some new sort. Structure is comforting, and I like structure. But nobody said it had to be stagnant, stodgy and boring. So I willingly devote whole weekends to designing trusted systems. I especially love values-based structure (no surprise there, huh), for it serves as…

• 

  Seth's Blog

• The honest broker

  Seth Godin

  28 Jan 2012 | 4:42 am

  It really is a choice, one or the other. Either you happily recommend the best option for your customer, or you give preference to your own items first. Either you believe in what you sell, or you don't. Either you treat your best partners better, or you treat everyone the same. Either you shade the truth when it's painful to do otherwise, or you consistently share what's important. Either you always keep your promises or you don't. Either you give me the best price the first time, or you make me jump through hoops to get there. Earning the position of the honest broker is time-consuming and…

• Reconsidering Gartner's Cycle of Hype

  Seth Godin

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:22 am

  One theory of technology marketing and acceptance goes like this: A technology causes a media hypestorm and rising expectations. Then it crashes to Earth as the popular press and the public discovers that it's not all the hypesters said it would be--through no fault of the technologists who brought it to the world in the first place. Then, gradually, the truth about the technology seeps out until finally it reaches its use case--and then becomes that status quo, just waiting to be disrupted as it previously disrupted what came before. While the violent vicissitudes of this chart make for good…

• Who cares?

  Seth Godin

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:09 am

  Unless someone does, things start to fray around the edges. Often it's the CEO or the manager who sets a standard of caring about the details. Even better is a culture where everyone cares, and where each person reinforces that horizontally throughout the team. You've probably been to the hotel that serves refrigerated tomatoes in January at their $20 breakfast, that doesn't answer the phone when you call the front desk, that has a shower curtain that is falling off the rack and a slightly snarky concierge. This is in sharp relief to that hotel down the street, the one that costs just the…

• Solving problems (vs. identifying them)

  Seth Godin

  25 Jan 2012 | 4:27 am

  Often, we're hesitant to identify a problem out of fear we can't solve it. Knowing that we have to live with something that we're unable to alter gives us a good reason to avoid verbalizing it--highlighting it just makes it worse. While this sort of denial might be okay for individuals (emphasis on might), it's a lousy approach for organizations of any size. That's because there are almost certainly resources available that can solve a problem if you decide it's truly worth solving. Put yourself and your people on a path to finding problems without regard for whether or not they are capable…

• "It's completely up to you"

  Seth Godin

  24 Jan 2012 | 4:06 am

  ... and that's the problem. I was picking out the mat for a framed photo and there were a thousand colors to choose from. The framer uttered the scary invocation, putting the choice back to me. So many things are now completely up to us, more than ever before. Where and how and when we work and invest and interact and instruct and learn... If you think you have no choice but to do what you do now, you've already made a serious error. It seems to me that passing the buck on this merely because it's easier than choosing is precisely the wrong strategy. It enables an abdication of power that…

• 

  CEO Blog - Time Leadership

• Simple Works

  Jim Estill

  24 Jan 2012 | 7:55 am

  A friend emailed me the following (although as a brevity guy, I slightly edited it):A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside. This was due to the way the production line was set up, and people with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with timings so precise that every single unit coming out of it is perfect 100% of the time. Understanding how important that was, the CEO of the toothpaste factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to start a new…

• Management Tips

  Jim Estill

  23 Jan 2012 | 5:53 am

  We finally got a bit of snow. It is beautiful. And grandson Josh continues to flourish. He does quite an ab workout (I tried doing it). Lying on his back and kicking his feet and hands. It is tough.I read a neat little book by Harvard Business Review that is just called Management Tips. It is divided into 3 sections - Managing Yourself, Managing Your Team and Managing Your Business. Each page is a short stand alone tip. There are about 200 tips. An example:"Be Confident But Not Really Sure.One of the keys to effective decision making is confidence. Even if you only have temporary convictions,…

• How to get Over Writers' Block

  Jim Estill

  16 Jan 2012 | 6:41 am

  One of my most viral posts of all time was "How to Write and Article in 20 Minutes" which was read well over 1,000,000 times. I used to write more about writing so thought I would do another one on the topic.Speaking of going viral, my second most viral post "60 Minutes to Clear Goals" was also plagiarized hundreds of times. Not sure why that one was and the other was not.I have not blogged for a couple of weeks here so feel guilty and must have writers' block.Some days I am so full of good ideas (at least in my own mind) that I worry I cannot capture them all. I even jot notes so not to miss…

• What Great Salespeople Do

  Jim Estill

  2 Jan 2012 | 2:43 pm

  I have enjoyed a lazy few days (lazy even though there was lots of working out - although lots of food so it likely was a net zero). e-mails and calls have been few. My productivity is actually quite low. Or perhaps my important productivity is quite high.Although I'm not caught my normal frantic pace, I have had some time to think.Part of my thinking led me to my views on being long-term. I posted a blog post on the Canrock site with my views.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Life is about selling. I read a great book by Michael Bosworth and Ben Zoldan called What Great Sales People Do–the…

• New Years Resolution Time

  Jim Estill

  1 Jan 2012 | 11:18 am

  I have had a busy couple of weeks. Lots of travel. Lots of family time in Canada. All good.One habit that serves me well is the gratefulness habit. And I have a lot to be thankful for. Like the beauty of my son (uncle Dave) with my grandson Josh. And the beauty of Canadian snow. I like New Years. I always spend time thinking about my goals.I like the process of setting goals. I like developing the action plans. I like devising my success habits that will help me.I am also thinking of un-success habits. Things I do which take time but do not deliver results. Having a stop list is sometimes as…

• 

  The Tom Peters Weblog

• Race to Nowhere

  Shelley Dolley

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:51 am

  Tom has said, "We tell our kids to 'be still,' then tell them to 'read history books'—which are replete (100%!) with tales of people ... who never sat still." This is obviously not the ideal way to cultivate a talented workforce. The education system in the United States still seems to be attempting to churn out well-behaved factory workers. With the enormous pressure placed on teachers to produce sufficient test results, the classroom becomes more about test preparation than exploration and discovery. Albert Einstein, long since deceased, had this to say: "It is nothing short of a…

• Advice, For What It's Worth ...

  Tom Peters

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:20 am

  I was asked to contribute (a very few words) to a family page offering words of wisdom to a graduating high school senior. That's a serious challenge—and I literally spent days on the task. Here, for better or for worse, is the result: Rules For Living Life to the Hilt Nothing will turn out the way you thought it would. There is no bigger waste of time than making plans. Any success you have will be the byproduct of having thrown yourself headlong and without reserve into what you were most passionate about—and then ridden the wave you created wherever and at whatever speed it…

• Off the Cuff Series

  Shelley Dolley

  23 Jan 2012 | 8:56 am

  We're happy to announce the start of our Off the Cuff video series. A few months ago we asked for you to send us questions you'd like us to ask Tom on camera. The first question was posed by longtime fan Dave Wheeler, about how it came to be that Tom realized the importance of front line supervisors. We find the timing of this particularly remarkable, since it dovetails so well with the latest part of the Mother of All Presentations released at ExcellenceNow.com, First-line Supervisors Rule.

• RSS at ExcellenceNow.com

  Shelley Dolley

  20 Jan 2012 | 11:06 am

  You can now subscribe via RSS to ExcellenceNow.com so that you're alerted as soon as a new Part of the Mother of All Presentations is released. Go to ExcellenceNow.com and use the little orange button at the bottom of the Slide Set list to subscribe. Happy reading!

• "Tom Peters Still Rocks"

  Shelley Dolley

  18 Jan 2012 | 9:30 am

  We're quite excited about the overwhelmingly positive response we've seen to our new ExcellenceNow.com site. We hope you're finding lots of inspiration about why you do what you do from Part 2's Moral Basis for Enterprise, and are starting to focus in on your front line supervisors after this week's release of Part 3. Erika Andersen wrote a kind review of the site at Forbes.com that we think you'll enjoy reading. She talks about her first encounter with Tom through In Search of Excellence, and describes him as a "tribal elder." As 2012 marks 30 years since In Search was published, perhaps…

• 

  Management Craft

• I saw the master in action this weekend. #leadership #managment

  Lisa Haneberg

  22 Jan 2012 | 11:41 am

  I spent an afternoon with a dear friend yesterday. We chatted over lunch and walked around his beach town. I have always admired his engaging and caring way - he is a leader who makes others feel like they have his full attention and consideration and they do (that's the important part - it is sincere, not an act). Why? Because he thinks and lives this way. He notices people and things and takes the initiative to be helpful and caring. More so than most people. More so than I do - by a long shot. I have always known this about my friend but I was reminded - in a vivid way - during our walk.

• What's Your Big Idea? How Many Can You Generate? #management #innovation

  Lisa Haneberg

  17 Jan 2012 | 4:36 pm

  This post is inspired by four thoughts coming together. 1. A few years ago I pitched a book idea to Berrett-Koehler's President, Steve Piersanti. He passed on the book because the idea was unremarkable. He asked, "what's your big idea?" And he said, "I don't see it here." He was right, BTW. 2. A mentor of mine was trying to help me lower my expectations for a project that was frustrating me by suggesting that, "most people have only one revolutionary idea in their lifetime." He was wrong, BTW. 3. I was reviewing a piece of writing for a friend. He took a perfectly logical approach to laying…

• Managers: Embrace your flawedness - and everyone's. @brenebrown

  Lisa Haneberg

  17 Jan 2012 | 6:33 am

  I love this article from Brene Brown called, Want to be Happy? Stop trying to be perfect. When I teach management, I often talk about how we are all highly flawed and highly talented and embracing it all is a recipe for success (not just the talent part). I don't freak out when people do annoying or strange little things - we all do this. I don't let a botched delivery get in the way of great intent. I have stopped hiding my scars because I know everyone can see them. We are our idiosyncrasies. I was talking to someone recently who pointed out a typo on one of my blog posts. I thought,…

• Managers, Are You Telling TOO Many Stories? Be a little more messy. @tylercowen

  Lisa Haneberg

  16 Jan 2012 | 1:18 pm

  I really like this TEDx talk from economist Tyler Cowen called Be suspicious of stories. I think anyone in a leadership role should watch it and think about what it might mean. Like Tyler, I am not advocating we stop using story - but it is useful to think about the potential ramifications of oversimplifying things through story. Stories, by their nature, are easy to remember and draw broad conclusions. For managers and leaders, stories can pull people in, galvanize them, and build momentum. The down side is that many situations are more complex than can be told in a story and are not helped…

• Hallmarks of Good #Communication Systems and Practices

  Lisa Haneberg

  16 Jan 2012 | 6:06 am

  Here is a list of criteria I use to evaluate communication systems and practices. While no system will demonstrate all of these elements, the more the better. More PULL than PUSH. More than being inclusive, it engages people and is interesting. Nimble and changeable with built in feedback loops. No reduction of core content (intent, emotion, connective elements, calls to action). (Content degradation is common when information cascades from high to lower levels, for example.) As simple as possible. Low hassle factor. Works when imperfectly executed. Never build a system that only your top 10%…

• 

  Three Star Leadership Blog

• 1/27/12: Weekend Imagination Igniters

  Wally Bock

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:01 pm

   Subscribe to the Three Star Leadership Blog Working Supervisor's Support Kit A collection of tools and information that will help you do a better job as a boss.  Contact Wally  about coaching, consulting, or speaking to your group. For most of us, the weekend is less agenda-driven and more relaxed than our usual weekday. You're more likely to slip into that state of relaxed alertness that psychologists call "alpha." That's when you're most likely to have creative thoughts. Here's a thought starter from Nobel Laureate Arno Penzias to help you along. "As I see it,…

• Boss's Tip of the Day: Your self-discipline has limits

  Wally Bock

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:28 am

   Subscribe to the Three Star Leadership Blog Working Supervisor's Support Kit A collection of tools and information that will help you do a better job as a boss.  Contact Wally  about coaching, consulting, or speaking to your group. If you're a boss, you know that every day is a challenge to do better. This tip is based on the same research I used to develop my programs and the Working Supervisor's Support Kit . Your self-discipline has limits Your self-discipline is like a muscle. It gets stronger with use over time, but there's a limit to what you can use it for today.

• Opportunity Lost

  Wally Bock

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:01 pm

   Subscribe to the Three Star Leadership Blog Working Supervisor's Support Kit A collection of tools and information that will help you do a better job as a boss.  Contact Wally  about coaching, consulting, or speaking to your group. I was an up-and-comer, a rising star. He was older, more experienced and very successful. He took the initiative to approach me and offer some advice. Instead of being grateful, I was offended. I knew what I was doing after all. Why should I listen? Instead of thanking him, I argued with him. I was so confident in my abilities that I didn't…

• Boss's Tip of the Day: A Simple Success Formula

  Wally Bock

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:26 am

   Subscribe to the Three Star Leadership Blog Working Supervisor's Support Kit A collection of tools and information that will help you do a better job as a boss.  Contact Wally  about coaching, consulting, or speaking to your group. If you're a boss, you know that every day is a challenge to do better. This tip is based on the same research I used to develop my programs and the Working Supervisor's Support Kit . A Simple Success Formula I've known a lot of successful people and had some success myself. I've seen a lot of success formulas. Here's mine. C + W + H + S + P =…

• 1/25/12: A Midweek Look at the Independent Business Blogs

  Wally Bock

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

   Subscribe to the Three Star Leadership Blog Working Supervisor's Support Kit A collection of tools and information that will help you do a better job as a boss.  Contact Wally  about coaching, consulting, or speaking to your group. Independent business blogs are blogs that aren't supported by an organization like a magazine, newspaper, company, or business school. Those people provide lots of great content, but they don't need any additional exposure. In this post, every week, I bring you posts of quality from excellent bloggers that don't get as much publicity. This…

• 

  Rajesh Setty » Blog

• The Relentless Manifesto

  thinksulting@gmail.com (Rajesh Setty)

  21 Jan 2012 | 11:04 pm

  To be relentless is to keep going. The dictionary definition for relentless is “unyieldingly severe.” When you are relentless, you know that stop signs are temporary. The Relentless Manifesto is an invitation to get something done this year. Here is the manifesto for your consideration: The Relentless Manifesto 1. Pick themes that you will be passionate about even after ten years If your themes belong to the “fashion-de-jour” category, there is a good possibility that you may not be able to sustain your interest when the marketplace perceptions for those themes change…

• Seeing is Believing (Most of the Time)

  thinksulting@gmail.com (Rajesh Setty)

  18 Jan 2012 | 12:27 pm

  Seeing is believing. Yes, but NOT always. Here is an example. Take a look at this static image. Does not look static, does it? How about this one? And, what about this one? My analysis of the last image is that it was deliberately created to mislead you. How? By simply making the guy sitting on the couch to wear a girl’s pants. Now, let me get to the point. We can convert this disadvantage into an advantage The limits that you think you have are generally illusions. They are that way because you just see and acknowledge them. What if you stop seeing those limits? What would life look…

• Dave Gardner on Using Social Media to Connect With Big Companies

  thinksulting@gmail.com (Rajesh Setty)

  18 Jan 2012 | 12:57 am

  Recently, my friend Dave Gardner (president of Gardner & Associates Consulting) shared his story of how he used social media to reach (and start a working relationship with) a big company (Dell.) The story was fascinating and it was very different from the stories that are common out there. The common stories have a general theme of increasing your presence and getting more followers. I am confident that you will enjoy reading what Dave has to say. So, here we go: Rajesh Setty: I understand that you are a member of Dell’s Customer Advisory Panel. How did this come to be? Dave Gardner:…

• The 30% Factor

  thinksulting@gmail.com (Rajesh Setty)

  15 Jan 2012 | 9:17 pm

  Every worthwhile project comes with varying levels of resistance throughout the lifecycle of that project. If you are one of those that can overcome this resistance, not just once, but throughout the lifecycle of the project, you will see the project through completion. On the other hand, if you are one of those people that can’t seem to overcome the resistance at a particular point in the project lifecycle, you will abandon the project. If you are very smart, you will not only abandon the project, you will also come up with one or more brilliant excuses that will absolve your hand in…

• How much higher education do you need?

  thinksulting@gmail.com (Rajesh Setty)

  13 Jan 2012 | 11:34 pm

  This is a dilemma for many professionals and entrepreneurs – a feeling that a bit of higher education may just give them that “edge.” So, here is the question again – “How much higher education do you need?” Short answer: Whatever you need to start making a meaningful contribution to the world. Not less. Not more. Just right. Let us focus on one of the most common higher education options – an MBA. Over these years, I have met thousands of professionals who dream of getting an MBA sooner than later. Upon talking to them a bit more, I realize that for a large majority…

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  Business Innovation Speaker and Consultant Stephen Shapiro

• Lessons of Pawn Stars

  sshapiro

  23 Jan 2012 | 11:24 am

  Business Innovation Speaker and Consultant Stephen ShapiroYes, you read that correctly.  PAWN Stars. This reality television show on The History Channel chronicles a pawn shop outside of Las Vegas.  I enjoy the show because of the history associated with the pieces that are brought in for sale.  In addition to rifles from the revolutionary war and antique political documents, people bring [...]

• One Small Step for Your Business, One Giant Leap for Success

  sshapiro

  13 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  Business Innovation Speaker and Consultant Stephen ShapiroQuite a few books and studies recently have touted the power of incremental change. Small actions can have a huge impact on long-term business growth. The appropriate degree of change needed for innovating within organizations is, in general, a 45-degree change, consistent but not too radical. That tends to be more effective than a 5-degree change (purely [...]

• My 2012 Themes Revealed

  sshapiro

  12 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  Business Innovation Speaker and Consultant Stephen ShapiroAnyone who follows this blog knows that the New Year is my favorite time for reflecting on the past and creating the future. If you have not read my article on “Making Resolutions That Work,” please do so.  Or, if you prefer, you can read the variant of this article that appeared in the Wall [...]

• My Favorite Blog Posts of 2011

  sshapiro

  11 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  Business Innovation Speaker and Consultant Stephen ShapiroGiven that we are in a new year, I thought it might be nice to reflect on the past year.  So today I want to share with you my favorite blog entries from 2011.  I chose my top 10 for three categories: 1)innovation & creativity, 2) general business, and 3) life and happiness.  Admittedly, the articles I [...]

• “Best Practices Are Stupid” Named Best Innovation & Creativity Book of 2011

  sshapiro

  10 Jan 2012 | 3:53 pm

  Business Innovation Speaker and Consultant Stephen ShapiroI am excited and honored to announce that my book, “Best Practices Are Stupid: 40 Ways to Out-Innovate the Competition,” was just named the best “innovation and creativity” book of 2011 by 800-CEO-READ.  Winners in other categories include Jim Collins, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Eric Ries. You can see the entire list here on the 800-CEO-READ website. [...]

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  Orrin Woodward Blog: LIFE TEAM Leadership

• Keeping Score in the PDCA Process

  Orrin Woodward

  24 Jan 2012 | 7:49 am

  Here are several paragraphs from the Systems chapter of my new book RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE.  Keeping score in the PDCA – Plan, Do, Check, and Adjust – process is essential to success. Enjoy.  Sincerely, Orrin Woodward Scoreboard and PDCA When a person applies systems thinking to his life many times a seemingly small change can have a huge effect as Donella Meadows illustrates in her book Thinking in Systems: Near Amsterdam, there is a suburb of single-family houses all built at the same time, all alike. Well, nearly alike. For unknown reasons it happened that some of…

• Bill & Jackie Lewis – LIFE Founders

  Orrin Woodward

  16 Jan 2012 | 9:40 am

  How does an inner-city kid and a single-mom team up and break out of the mold to become a millionaire couple? More impressively, how do they do this while developing into some of the top speakers and leaders in one of the fastest growing leadership companies? The short answer is through reading, listening, and associating with those who had the results they desired. Bill and Jackie Lewis are two of the Founders of LIFE. Their amazing story is shared on several CDs that are best-sellers in the TEAM system. Indeed, both Bill and Jackie had to change the way they viewed themselves and this only…

• Success Demands Mind, Heart, & Will

  Orrin Woodward

  11 Jan 2012 | 7:56 am

  True success demands engaging the mind, heart, and will into your work. So many attempt to shortcut this process, but to no avail. Here is a section from my new book RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions For LIFE, explaining the importance of full engagement of the mind, heart, and will. Sincerely, Orrin Woodward Mind, Heart, and Will If success was as simple as writing out a few resolutions and studying them daily, wouldn’t more people apply this method to become successful? Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains why few achieve lasting success, “Man is a wonderful creature, he is mind, he is heart, and he…

• Leaders Break the Cycle of Learned Helplessness

  Orrin Woodward

  9 Jan 2012 | 8:11 am

  Here is a portion of the Adversity Quotient Resolution chapter from my new book RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE.  Learned Helplessness, by definition, is a learned behavior; therefore, it can also be an unlearned behavior. This is exactly what leaders do for other people, helping them unlearn poor attitudes, expectations, and thoughts. Let’s make 2012 the year you breakthrough, leaving learned helplessness and mediocrity behind! Sincerely, Orrin Woodward One such compromise was discovered Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman, in 1965, when he stumbled across what the American Psychological…

• Keeping Score in the Game of Life

  Orrin Woodward

  4 Jan 2012 | 3:59 pm

  Here is a portion of a talk I gave on keeping score at a LIFE TEAM event. Are you keeping score in the game of Life? Sincerely, Orrin Woodward

• 

  Crossderry Blog

• Lenin and Driving Change

  Paul Ritchie

  24 Jan 2012 | 4:31 pm

  When Vladimir Lenin posed this question in 1901, socialism was riven.  Most early Marxists believed that the core prediction of Marx’s theory — an inevitable proletarian revolution — was just around the corner.  But by the turn of the 20th century, the revolution appeared farther away than ever.  If anything, the contradictions among the classes were cooling in advanced capitalist states, not boiling over.   So why the two-bit summary of a turn-of-the-20th century dispute among socialists?  Simply this: Lenin’s pamphlet paved the path for…

• Ranchers and Farmers…living together!

  Paul Ritchie

  24 Jan 2012 | 4:12 am

  Nice post here by Hass Chapman on hunter-gatherers, play & software development.   I can definitely relate to the way of working outlined.  While we were hunter-gatherers, we did take to agriculture eventually.  That move is not natural for me, though.  I’m more of a rancher than a farmer.   The challenge for me, therefore, is how to accommodate other styles of work.  To highlight potential role mismatches, I fall back on models like the “finders, grinders, minders” consulting model David Maister popularized.   Consulting comes to mind because I’ve…

• Great example of value of architecture governance (RT @mkrigsman #CIO #entarch)

  Paul Ritchie

  23 Jan 2012 | 9:28 am

  Michael Krigsman received a lot of good feedback on his post about getting IT and business together. The second point was top of mind as we’re standing up new and improved architecture governance. A basic governance checklist can catch the type of folly Michael describes. A project that proposes to create an app entirely from scratch — like Michael’s example — should stand out as an initiative to receive heightened scrutiny. Well, it should if you have a set of standards! But that’s another post! Filed under: PMO Tagged: architecture, CIO, Michael Krigsman

• ‘Pocket Neighborhoods’ For Sustainable Suburbs

  Paul Ritchie

  20 Jan 2012 | 12:21 pm

  I loved this Atlantic piece about “pocket neighborhoods”, though the suburbs weren’t the application that first came to mind.  This design philosophy appears perfect for those “blighty” neighborhoods I see in town, just off the core.  They’re often convenient locations that become marginal because of a dodgy block or a rundown house (or three).  Unfortunately, most of our redevelopment arsenal destroys the village in order to save it.  I’m not just talking about old-school urban renewal with its high-rise projects and sterile plazas.  The…

• Rethinking Performance Reviews for 2012

  Paul Ritchie

  19 Jan 2012 | 10:03 am

  Dan Markovitz at Timeback reminds us that performance reviews are a dangerous exercise. Even if we grant their utility,  they have a profound credibility gap to bridge. Leaders must go into performance discussions with a humble heart.  As Dan’s notes, your colleagues likely will be very skeptical about the usefulness of those chats you’re about to have. Filed under: PMO

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  MBA Depot - Latest Content

• Articles: Making Your Company Inflation Ready

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

  Inflation has a corrosive effect on business performance, but like any economic threat, it tends to separate the wheat from the chaff. Those companies able to protect themselves from inflation’s negative effects can exploit an inflationary period to improve their competitive advantage. With prospects for inflation on the rise over the midterm, companies need to start now to make sure their organizations are “inflation ready.” This report, the second in a series, describes a two-step preparation process. Author: Daniel Stelter, Ulrich Pidun Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Subject:…

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  The Chief Happiness Officer

• #h5yr and #h5is – find out how these two cryptic twitter tags promote happiness at work.

  Alexander

  23 Jan 2012 | 6:31 am

  Take a moment to check out these two websites with some slightly cryptic links: h5yr.com h5is.com They were created by Douglas Robar, a member of the Umbraco Community, that develops and uses the open source Umbraco CMS. They wanted a good way to share both success and mistakes and since there are hundreds of people working with Umbraco spread out all over the world they do this through twitter. If you want to praise a fellow member of the community for doing good work you can mention them on twitter and add the twitter tag #h5yr for High Five, You Rock (based on one of the exercises from our…

• Friday Spoing

  Alexander

  20 Jan 2012 | 7:46 am

  This is the very definition of Spoing: Have a very happy weekend :o)

• Happiness at work in Bangkok

  Alexander

  17 Jan 2012 | 2:09 am

  I always say that happiness at work can be found anywhere, in almost any job. Here’s more evidence to support that hypothesis from a man who makes ice tea on the streets of Bangkok: Do you enjoy your job this much – or do it with half as much flair? If not… why not?

• Give it your best shot

  Alexander

  9 Jan 2012 | 4:13 am

  Arbejdsglæde How do you think this word above is pronounced? Make a recording of your best guess (video or audio) and post it here… We need this for a little surprise project we’re working on. And yes, Danish is a weeeeeeird language. UPDATE: Here’s an attempt from the US: And another great one from Poland: Nice tries both… but not quite there. What’s your best shot?

• Hmmm… is this me?

  Alexander

  6 Jan 2012 | 3:10 am

  Last night I was reading the excellent thriller novel Killer Move by Michael Marshall when I came to this passage where one of the main characters arrives at his office and runs into his assistant: “How’s…” I struggled and failed to come up with the name of her spawn. “Feeling better?” This was not something I cared about in the least, but that morning a Danish positivity blogger had suggested going out of one’s way to attempt to get inside other people’s lives and minds, however small and unappealing they might appear, as a thought experiment…

• 

  TerryStarbucker.com

• What’s The Right Stuff of Leadership? Think Dog, Turtle, and Cockroach

  Starbucker

  22 Jan 2012 | 8:42 pm

  Growing up in the 60′s and 70′s I was utterly fascinated by the US Space Program, and its corps of courageous astronauts.   They were my childhood heroes, and I still vividly remember that night in July of 1969 when I ran outside moments after Neil Armstrong uttered that famous “one small step” line and stared at the moon, utterly captivated by the notion that a man was walking on it at that very moment. It took a special kind of person to be an astronaut, and those distinct qualities were captured perfectly by Tom Wolfe in his famous book, “The Right…

• Execution Leadership: 12 Metrics That Must Be Measured, Monitored, and Managed….Relentlessly

  Starbucker

  15 Jan 2012 | 3:27 pm

  Someone once asked me to use a single word to describe a “secret to leadership” – without hesitation, I replied, “Relentlessness” If there is one thing I learned in my nearly 25  years in the executive chair, it’s this:   Leaders cannot achieve their grand visions and strategies without a relentless push to execute brilliantly. The best way to do this is with the right metrics to measure, monitor and manage.  Metrics that are not necessarily the “bottom line” ones – such as Net Profit, Total Revenue, Earnings Per Share, or Total…

• 9 Ways Social Media Can Make You a Better Leader (The Video)

  Starbucker

  8 Jan 2012 | 11:47 pm

  A few weeks ago at Portland State University’s Digital Media Conference, I was challenged to present “9 Ways Social Media Can Make You a Better Leader”, in the “Ignite” format (that’s 20 slides in 5 minutes, each one changing over every 15 seconds, whether you are ready for the change or not). It was a great experience, and thanks to PSU, I’m happy to share the result (here is the link if you don’t see the embed: http://youtu.be/yi11zeKkeuE)  Lead well!  

• The Leader And The Peacock In The Closet

  Starbucker

  2 Jan 2012 | 9:18 am

  Success is a beautiful thing. We all want it, because it’s the undisputed champion in measuring our professional selves. We know it’s hard to get, and that’s what makes it all the more satisfying. We cherish it, because we know what it’s like to fail (because we all do). So, when it happens, there’s the part of us that wants to strut around like a peacock.  I did it! How about that! Darn I’m good. Hey, why not celebrate the win?   But there’s a catch to this if you are a leader on the road to greatness. You shouldn’t take the credit. Because…

• Leadership Is Getting To The Smiley Face (A Conversation With Carol Roth)

  Starbucker

  29 Dec 2011 | 2:34 pm

  In September, at SOBCon NW in Portland, I sat down for an interview about Leadership with small biz guru and NY Times bestselling author  Carol Roth. In the interview, Carol asked me: 1) What is Leadership? 2) How do you get everyone on the same page? 3) How do you tie individual values to a common business purpose? 4) What’s the role of simplicity in communicating a consistent message? 5) How does your leadership philosophy translate to the small business person? 6) How does profit get tied to the business purpose? 7) Should solo entrepreneurs find mentors to refine their business…

• 

  Management and Career » Stanley Bing

• A look back from 2022

  Bing

  18 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am

  Remember the old days, before we had even moved government into the Cloud? How did we get anything done? FORTUNE -- Happy 2022! No, that's not a typo, although it sure seems like it could be. 2022! For a while there it didn't look like we were going to make it, did it? But I think it's fair to say that with the destruction of the last fleet of Nebulons and the refreezing of the polar icecaps, we can relax for a moment to reflect on the events and people that got us here. I guess you'd have to say that the current chapter of our history started about 10 years ago, back in 2012, with the…

• All I want for Christmas

  Bing

  28 Dec 2011 | 12:36 pm

  I don't ask for much. A stable euro. An economic recovery. A new Congress. And a Vitamix. FORTUNE -- Dear Santa Hi again. It's me, Stan. How is Mrs. Claus? And the elves? Still on leave from Wharton? How about the North Pole? I hear it's melting. That can't be good. Anyhow, enough about you. This is about me, and all the good things I want to find under my tree this year. I know you've been following me on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Google+, so you know when I was sleeping, you know when I was awake, you know when I've been bad and good and that for the most part I've been better…

• Europe, go home!

  Bing

  7 Dec 2011 | 4:00 am

  Whatever you've got, it's obviously contagious. So until you're feeling better, hasta la vista, baby! FORTUNE -- So I came into work this morning, and before I even had a chance to butter my muffin, I watched our stock take a nosedive. And we weren't alone. The whole market was bleeding. "Drat," I said, although that was not the word I used. I called Tupper, our IR guy. "What's up?" I asked. "Not much," he said wearily. "It's a sea of red out there." "But why?" I inquired. "Our earnings were good. The marketplace is hanging in there. Nothing is different today than it was yesterday." And he…

• The peasants are revolting!

  Bing

  16 Nov 2011 | 4:00 am

  What plutocrats can do to take Wall Street back from the occupiers FORTUNE  -- Order! Order! All right then. This meeting of the Ultra-Secret Super Committee to Defeat the Wall Street Occupation is now in session. And let me just say how nice it feels to be back together after the hiatus of the past several years. Let's not let our agendas lapse that way ever again, gentlemen. It's too much fun when we get things done. First, I'd like to congratulate the Subcommittee for the Harvesting of Pointless Distractions, which has been so successful in combing through the crowd at Zuccotti Park to…

• The BlackBerry's preserve

  Bing

  19 Oct 2011 | 4:00 am

  If you want to play Angry Birds, get an iPhone. But if you need to do business, stand by your old friend. FORTUNE --When I was 12, my family moved from Chicago to the suburbs of New York City. The first day at my new school, I slipped on my customary outfit -- clean white T-shirt, Levi's, and desert boots -- hopped on my bike, got there on time. Nobody was very friendly. "Well," one of my new schoolmates said after a while, as I stood around feeling naked and terrified, "look at farmer boy." Farmer boy? Then I noticed. They were all wearing skin-tight chinos, madras shirts, and penny loafers.

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  Weekly Leader

• Weekly Leader Podcast Episode 82 – A Discussion about 42 Rules For Your New Leadership Role and The Little Book of Leadership Development

  podcast@weeklyleader.net

  13 Jan 2012 | 10:16 pm

  This week Weekly Leader team members Pam Fox Rollin and Scott J. Allen discuss their recent books: 42 Rules for Your New Leadership Role (kindle) and The Little Book of Leadership Development (kindle). How to Receive Feedback (1-pager by Pam) Contact Info Send comments to podcast@weeklyleader.net Audio comments are welcomed and encouraged. Attach an MP3 file of 5 [...] Related posts: Weekly Leader Podcast Episode 80 – 42 Rules for Your New Leadership Role Weekly Leader Podcast Episode 37 (Charlie Coiro, US Coast Guard Leadership Development Center) Weekly Leader Podcast Episode 45 |…

• Weekly Leader Podcast Episode 81 – 2012 Leadership Themes to Watch

  podcast@weeklyleader.net

  6 Jan 2012 | 9:04 pm

  This week Peter and Pam return after a lenghty hiatus to talk about Pam’s book, 42 Rules for Your New Leadership Role and present 5 leadership themes for 2012. Leadership in the News: Jason Calacanis - Founders Define Reality (& Give Hope) Warren Bennis interview Pam’s Research Report of the Week: On Target on Onboarding IdeaShape blog 2012 Leadership Themes: Pam: Retaining great [...] Related posts: Weekly Leader Podcast Episode 80 – 42 Rules for Your New Leadership Role Weekly Leader Podcast Episode 30 – The Leadership Skills Gap Weekly Leader Podcast…

• The Year of C.E.O. Failures Explained (NY Times) [del.icio.us]

  weeklyleader

  15 Dec 2011 | 4:18 pm

  David Pogue's take on some 2011 high profile failures by tech CEOs.

• How To Identify When Leaders Are Stressed Out | Chief Learning Officer [del.icio.us]

  weeklyleader

  25 Jul 2011 | 8:35 pm

  Workplace stress looks different than it did two years ago when much of it was prompted by layoffs and negative business news.

• Addictive Personality? You Might be a Leader | NY Times [del.icio.us]

  weeklyleader

  24 Jul 2011 | 9:18 pm

  Interesting but not so sure.

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  ManagingCommunities.com

• ManagingCommunities.com is 4 Years Old!

  Patrick

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  photo credit: barbourians Friday will mark 4 years since the launch of ManagingCommunities.com. In honor of this occasion, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has been supportive of this site and me. Thank you to those that read this blog, subscribe to it and spread the word by passing along my [...]

• When Your Members Criticize a Company or Person, Invite Them to Your Community

  Patrick

  23 Jan 2012 | 6:10 pm

  photo credit: SmithGreg I recently had a member on one of my communities start a thread to review a book, which he criticized. Most of his review was fair, but there were some parts that I felt were a little harsh. Still, it was appropriate for our community. As an author, I do sympathize with [...]

• Celebrate Community Manager Appreciation Day 2012 with Dell (and Me) on Google+

  Patrick

  19 Jan 2012 | 4:29 pm

  photo credit: Dell’s Official Flickr Page The third annual Community Manager Appreciation Day, originally started by Jeremiah Owyang, will be celebrated on January 23. In honor of this event, Dell will be hosting an hour long Google+ Hangout on their Google+ profile, starting at 1 PM ET (UTC/GMT -5). During the hour, there will be [...]

• Calm Leadership is Vital to Strong Community Management

  Patrick

  16 Jan 2012 | 2:32 pm

  photo credit: jsmjr In the United States, today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, in honor of the late civil rights leader. A few days ago, NBC News released a full episode of “Meet the Press” from March 28, 1965, which featured Dr. King. It is embedded below. If you watch it, you’ll notice how [...]

• You Have the Right to Defend Your Stream

  Patrick

  12 Jan 2012 | 5:16 pm

  photo credit: Gord Bell If you are like me, you have many different social streams of information that you pay attention to. These streams usually contain information from people that you have subscribed to in some way, whether you call it friending, following or something else. When we interact via platforms that have some sort [...]

• 

  Lolly Daskal

• The DNA Of Dialogue

  lollydaskal

  22 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pm

     Communication is a basic activity in our lives. Every word we speak is a form of dialogue.   As leaders we aim for great communication which leads to deeper connections, but most of us get in trouble when we don’t listen to one another.   Too often we speak at each other or past each other or tune each other out.   The problem may lay in the fact that we don't know what it takes to have a meaningful dialogue.   The chit chat, the noise, the transference that is going on around us is all so distracting.    Are we really listening…

• The Uncertain Leader

  lollydaskal

  18 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am

     We all talk about leadership success, inspiration and motivation, but there is more to leadership and life. There are truths that we must address, and there are realities that we cannot escape.    Truth: Leaders face uncertainties.    Truth: Leaders may come upon circumstances or experiences that they cannot fix (despite how hard they try).    Truth: Leaders to some degree face fear.    Fear of uncertainty is always with us. It lies there waiting to challenge us and is waiting to call upon us - and sometimes it is the greatest saboteur of…

• The Heart Of Listening

  lollydaskal

  8 Jan 2012 | 10:57 pm

     Who was the last person who actually listened to you?    Who was the last person you actually gave your full attention to?    I know what you’re thinking. YOU listen all the time. But do you really?    Do we understand what it really means to listen? Do we comprehend what is the Heart of listening?    Do we realize that every person we will meet has something to teach us? Perhaps our job is to listen long enough to find out what that lesson is.    Isn’t it true that when people speak to us, we tend to jump right in and give…

• Why No New Year’s Resolution

  lollydaskal

  4 Jan 2012 | 1:28 pm

     I have heard from so many of you about your New Year’s resolutions.    I know some of you are excited by them and some of you are already weary of them.    CONFESSION: I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions.    What I do instead - every year - is I check in with myself, through self reflection.    In my self-reflection I ask:    Am I standing for what I truly believe in?    Am I showing up for what is most meaningful to me?    Am I living by my principles?    For me, my principles are my…

• You Matter!

  lollydaskal

  31 Dec 2011 | 1:15 am

     Dear Beloved Community,    I appreciate you and I am filled with enormous gratitude.    Each and everyone of you have filled my heart this past year with so many blessings.    Each of you are unique, valuable, worthy, and irreplaceable.    Each of you are one of a kind, knowing and gifted.    Each one of you are making a difference.    You have depth and heights which are powerful and expansive.    There is no one in the world quite like you.    This year allow yourself to lead with love, embrace your…

• 

  Lead on Purpose

• Leadership and integrity

  Michael Ray Hopkin

  21 Jan 2012 | 11:34 am

  Integrity is one of the top attributes of a great leader. It is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations and outcomes. It connotes a deep commitment to do the right thing for the right reason, regardless of the circumstances. People who live with integrity are incorruptible and incapable of breaking the trust of those who have confided in them. Every human is born with a conscience and therefore the ability to know right from wrong. Choosing the right, regardless of the consequence, is the hallmark of integrity. In his recent post 10 Mistakes…

• Making tough decisions

  Michael Ray Hopkin

  14 Jan 2012 | 12:37 pm

  Making big decision is not easy; in fact it might be one of the most difficult things we ever have to do. The tendency is to postpone decisions as long as we can and put of the pain. At its root the word of decision means to cut off. When you make a decision you go with one thing and leave all the rest behind. Cutting yourself off from other choices is not easy, and that’s at the root of why we tend to put off big decisions. We postpone decisions for various reasons: we don’t want to offend people; we’re not sure who or what to choose; we’re afraid we’ll be wrong…

• Tenacity in 2012

  Michael Ray Hopkin

  31 Dec 2011 | 1:57 pm

  Successful people share several common traits; tenacity is at the top. Merriam-Webster defines tenacious as “persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired.” Think about your favorite athlete, actor, business leader, or other successful person and you’re sure to find tenacity as one of their defining characteristics. Tenacity fuels persistence. Persistence is analogous to running a marathon. To run a successful marathon you have to spend ample time (months or more) preparing. The time you spend, and what you do leading up to the race, will determine how…

• Guest Post: How to Encourage Your Team Members to Stand Up and Lead

  Michael Ray Hopkin

  23 Dec 2011 | 11:24 am

  By Andrea Gordon To be successful in today’s market, team members need to step up and be ready to take a leadership role. It is not easy to develop leadership skills in others, however, so it’s very important to understand that some people do not share your goals and aspirations. Keep an open mind and learn to use varied techniques to inspire different team members to stand up and lead.  1.    Challenge – Issue a challenge. (In today’s market environment, you probably have many challenges to issue!) Some people need a specific challenge to motivate them. By laying down a…

• Guest Post: Begging For Leadership Won’t Get You A Pocket Full of Change

  Michael Ray Hopkin

  23 Dec 2011 | 11:15 am

  By Kaity Nakagoshi Change is inevitable and so is the resistance to change. People are often not welcoming of change unless it is implemented by leadership correctly. It’s natural that people become complacent with the status quo and perform rote tasks without giving their actions much thought. Change brings about fear of the unknown, which creates an atmosphere of unnecessary anxiety. That doesn’t have to be the scenario if employees understand the change, the strategies that will be used, and their role in accomplishing the goals. Effective leaders need to understand that their primary…

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  The Recovering Leader

• Three Key Principles of Believe-In-You Leadership

  david@leadershipunleashed.com

  11 Jan 2012 | 10:34 pm

  Never has there been a more important time for leaders of organizations, communities, and governments to believe in their people—for each of us to believe in each other. That’s the world I want to live in, and the organization I want to do business with. Yet it's in major short supply. People in organizations and communities around the world are yearning to do their best work. What's getting in the way? They simply can’t be at their best when operating with fear, amplified by their leader’s directives, advice, withholding, stoicism and skepticism—by being discounted or treated as…

• Recovering Our Leadership: Seven Intentions for 2012

  david@leadershipunleashed.com

  2 Jan 2012 | 12:08 pm

  Happy New Year! While no one knows what 2012 has up its sleeve, based on my own post-executive experience working with leaders across industries over the last eight years, no one doubts it’s time for a positive “pivot.” My hope is that will include a new sense of executive responsibility when it comes to humanism, collectivism, and capitalism with care for ethics and fairness. This, I believe, is the net / net of what protestors are saying, and it will continue to grow in resonance. Along those lines, and in keeping with my commitment to practice principles of recovery in all my…

• Bad Executive Team Meeting Behaviors

  david@leadershipunleashed.com

  8 Dec 2011 | 2:01 am

  Thank you Task.fm for inviting me to answer a reader's question: "How should you run an effective executive management team meeting?" I hope you find my post informative! David Peck Principal Goodstone Group, LLC

• Leadership and Resetting a Tough Day

  david@leadershipunleashed.com

  28 Nov 2011 | 4:46 pm

  The best of the best athletes, scientists, soloist musicians, and executives alike can find themselves dwelling on a snag or difficult situation, as if getting taken hostage by it. If left unchecked, it can get in the way of what could be a good day. Whether you've had something (or someone) turn your day upside down, are stymied by a problem, or feeling overwhelmed, noticing it in real time is key. Once you see you're stuck in an unwanted "loop," you'll need to step away from it to solve it rapidly. As soon as possible, get up and walk out on whatever you're doing for a ten-minute break (and…

• Leadership's "Problem-tunities"

  david@leadershipunleashed.com

  28 Nov 2011 | 4:38 pm

  Go ahead and laugh, as we all know many organizations recode the word “problem” into “challenge” and "opportunity." Yet when a leader can respond to a loss or setback with an open mind and ability to derive its key lessons, strife becomes the breakfast of champions. Of course I encourage you to learn as much as possible from self-reflection and trusted advisers, but nothing teaches with the surgical skills of the losses, fumbles, setbacks, failures, conflicts, dramas, and catastrophes. These are, after all, universal. We encounter them more than once ... and if we're not, we need to…

• 

  Infused Web | Print | Design

• How To Create A Custom URL For Your Facebook Page

  admin

  20 Jan 2012 | 2:08 pm

  If you have created a Facebook Page for your business, you want to make sure you set up a custom (vanity) URL for your page. The custom URL that you create has the potential to shorten the long-ended default URL such as “facebook.com/pages/business-name/123456780/….” that is auto-generated when you initially create your business page. For branding purposes, it is best to create a short URL that matches your business name and you’ll want to avoid lengthy URL’s if possible. The goal is to match the custom URL with your business identity to make it easily remembered…

• Launching It Out of the Park with Diamond Pro Athletics Website & Social Web Presence

  admin

  2 Nov 2011 | 2:41 pm

  Along with the recent opening of its new Professional Indoor Baseball and Softball Training Facility, Diamond Pro Athletics located in Lutz, FL (just to the northwest side of Tampa), has launched it out of the park by teaming up with Infused Web for its new identity, website and social web presence. Diamond Pro Athletics features Professional Instruction, Group Combines, and After-School baseball and softball sports programs for the serious athlete conducted by instructors with Big League, Minor and College level experience. Former Big Leaguers on the Diamond Pro Instructor roster include…

• 

  Pink Slip

• Kodachrome: True colors are fading (or maybe just showing).

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:56 am

  The other day, I was in the car with my niece Molly, driving near her old grammar school. “Oh, no,” she gasped. The ice cream shop where she and her friends had hung out after school during seventh and eighth grade had shuttered. Molly’s in ninth grade, so this hanging out was just last year. Welcome to the wonderful world of grown ups, honey, where the places, things, and  - oh, yeah – people we remember are so often, as we get older, gone, baby, gone. Alive only in our memories, or in snapshots, if we’d bothered to take them. At my age, there’s no end to objects in the rear…

• De(bed)bugging: help is on the way.

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:28 am

  Long time Pink Slip readers know that I have been on the bed bug case for a good long while. My first post was way back in 2008, and I’ve been at it since, with subsequent posts on bed bug tracking dogs, and even a public service announcement penned after my husband and I got nipped by the pesky pests on a September 2010 trip to NYC. For months, we lived in a State of Fear that we had brought one back with us – a pregnant one, of course – and  infested our condo. Hundreds of dollars (and a full two months) later – new pillows, bedbug proof pillow cases and mattress cover, a bed…

• ‘Til death do us party-hearty!

  25 Jan 2012 | 2:22 am

  It’s easy to think that the funeral business will always be with us. After all, everyone dies. And those left behind, if nothing else, have to figure out what to do with the body. What with the Baby Boomers about to start their stroll through the lonely valley, you’d think that the demand forecast would be pretty darned good. Especially when you consider that the first of what promises to be many Me Generations won’t want to go out in a boring pine box while the organist plays the impersonal Ave Maria, I would assume that there’d be a lot of lucrative customization work out there.

• O Captain, my Captain. “Get back on board, for [expletive] sake!”

  24 Jan 2012 | 2:21 am

  Along with the “routine” plane crash and the terrorist on board, the sinking ship has got to be one of the top travel fears. Lusitania. Titanic. Poseidon Adventure. Andrea Doria. And all those crowded ferries that seem to meet with mishap with some regularity. Fact or fiction, we’ve seen the movie, read the book, caught it on the evening news often enough to suspect it could happen. Still, cruising in calm waters off the Italian coast, just off shore, doesn’t sound like the recipe for disaster. But for those on the Costa Concordia, it proved just that. If not for the horrors the…

• Surrendering your hamsters

  23 Jan 2012 | 1:02 am

  I was going to start the week with a post about hedge fund managers. Or more dubious technology from CES.  Or a possible cure for the bedbug epidemic. A new theme park in France. But then I saw the article about the poor man in Lawrence, Massachusetts who: …turned over 94 hamsters to a local animal shelter, telling officials he was running out of room in his apartment. (Source: Boston.com.) The man had been keeping hamsters for pets for about 5 years, so my first thought was, only94? Surely, with sexual maturity reached at a couple of months, a gestation period of a few weeks, and…

• 

  Ed Batista: Executive Coaching & Change Management

• Investment vs. Attachment

  edbatista

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:01 am

  It's essential for me as a coach--and, I'd argue, for all of us when we're in any position of influence, particularly a leadership role--to distinguish between investment and attachment. It's a distinction that has a significant impact on our relationships in those roles, our mutual feelings of autonomy and independence, and our ability to support and lead others effectively. We invest in people, and being invested in someone means we care about them and want them to succeed. We convey our investment in ways large and small, from being available to being vulnerable, from providing support…

• Make The Right Decision...Or Make The Decision Right?

  edbatista

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:15 am

  Much of my work as a coach involves helping people wrestle with an important decision. Some of these decisions feel particularly big because they involve selecting one option to the exclusion of all others when the cost of being "wrong" can be substantial: If I'm at a crossroads in my career, which path should I follow? If I'm considering job offers, which one should I accept? If I'm being asked to relocate, should I move to a new city or stay put? And while I've written before on the conditions that support good decision-making and firmly believe that we can improve the quality of our…

• Make It Better

  edbatista

  24 Jan 2012 | 3:12 pm

  Yesterday Tom Peters tweeted this mantra from former NFL coach Bill Parcells: Blame no one. Expect nothing. Do something. It struck me as an concise, powerful expression of an attitude I try to bring to my work as a coach and maintain in my own life (although I fail all the time.) It's a mindset that I find very motivating. But it occurred to me that this message can also be interpreted and delivered in a powerfully DEmotivating way. At times when we're encouraged to hold ourselves accountable and take action, the underlying message is "Stop whining. Don't be such a wuss. Suck it up." And…

• Blocking And Tackling (Fundamentals of Change)

  edbatista

  19 Jan 2012 | 11:54 am

  I don't use that many sports metaphors, but there's something about "blocking and tackling" that perfectly describes my approach to change, whether it's with a coaching client or student, or in my own life. The phrase reflects the fact that flashy, dramatic plays in American football--like Steve Young's game-winning 49-yard scramble for the 49ers against the Vikings in 1988--are the result of a series of profoundly un-flashy, un-dramatic efforts that make big gains possible. And this is exactly how I think about any desired change--no matter how lofty or ambitious the goal, the path to its…

• Human Velcro (Hooks and Loops)

  edbatista

  18 Jan 2012 | 4:04 am

  Velcro The generic name for Velcro is "hook-and-loop fastener," a term that I find useful when thinking about John Gottman's concept of "the bid," which is what he calls "the fundamental unit of emotional communication." As Gottman writes in The Relationship Cure: A bid can be a question, a gesture, a look, a touch--any single expression that says, "I want to feel connected to you."  A response to a bid is just that--a positive or negative answer to somebody's request for emotional connection. My work as a coach--and particularly my work with groups, like my new T-group at Stanford that I…

• 

  Sanders Says

• Focus Your Attention When It Is Go-Time

  Tim Sanders

  20 Jan 2012 | 7:47 am

  It's 5:32 AM and this is the last thing I'm doing before I'm on Go-Time-Lockdown.  Today I have a speaking engagement for UMEC in Phoenix.  It's a return engagement for a group of great people that support my work and practice what I preach as leaders.  There is nothing more important today than this talk - and the takeaway value it should deliver to the audience.  In our culture, we have one area of over-confidence that holds us back: The Myopia Of Can-Juggle.  We think we can do several things at once well.  But the reality is that we can't.  If I get…

• Sitting Is The New Smoking

  Tim Sanders

  10 Jan 2012 | 5:11 pm

  The above image is taken from a great infographic on Techcrunch.  It's message is simple: The more you sit, the worse you'll feel.  Recent studies suggest that of all of our bad contemporary habits, sitting all day is a killer.  With the rise of the information age, more of us earn a living sitting down, working on computers.  Our parents were more likely to sit less than a quarter as much as us and their parents more even less sedentary.   So why isn't this post titled, "Cube Farms Are The New Coal Mines" ???  Because sitting all day is your choice, not your…

• Best Business Books Of 2011

  Tim Sanders

  4 Jan 2012 | 12:15 pm

  Here's a six pack of 2011 releases that represent the year's best business books: The Master Switch: The Rise And Fall Of Information Empires by Timothy Wu.  This read is gripping as a biz-book like The Social Network was interesting as a movie.  Wu chronicles the rise of AT&T, it's demise, then later monopolies leading up to Google.  Very provocative, and good food for our understanding of how things work in the free market now - and into the future.      Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge From Small Discoveries by Peter Sims  This new book…

• My 6 Favorite Albums Of 2011

  Tim Sanders

  21 Dec 2011 | 2:51 pm

  After buying over 100 albums this year (mostly in CD format), I'm ready to reveal my top listens from 2011.  To qualify, the entire album must be good, not just a few songs.  I still love to listen to an album from beginning to end, instead of just grazing on singles via a playlist.  It's hard to find albums that shine from cut 1 to cut 10 or beyond - and that's why these 6 are so special:  1.  Yuck (self-titled debut) - If you liked early Smashing Pumpkins or Dinosaur Jr., you'll love this group of youngsters from the UK.  Their songwriting is matched by a very…

• The Four Corners Of Great Leadership

  Tim Sanders

  14 Dec 2011 | 11:16 am

  Since reading Primal Leadership, I've been a fan of this topic and a student of the discipline.  Later, as Yahoo's Leadership Coach, I studied the areas of excellence in leaders both inside the company, and throughout our customer and partner base.  Some, like Howard Stringer of Sony, had very clear skill sets, such as people skills.  Others, like Scott McNeely, had implicit skills, like deal-making.  After my first book came out, I was invited to speak at leadership events, which gave me valuable feedback over time.  Here are four areas of leadership excellence that…

• 

  Coaching Tip: The Leadership Blog

• Credit Crisis: Are We Set for the Perfect Storm?

  John Agno

  26 Jan 2012 | 12:18 pm

  In this video clip, taken from Robert Prechter's interview with The Mind of Money, Prechter and host Douglass Lodmell discuss "real" money vs the FIAT money system, and what is backing your dollars under our current system.  Enjoy this 4-minute clip and then watch Prechter's full 45-minute interview here >> Watch the full 45-minute interview FREE Get even more valuable insights as Mind of Money host Douglass Lodmell interviews Elliott Wave International's President, Robert Prechter, about how to keep your money safe, the deflation versus inflation debate, and…

• It's the Economy, Stupid!

  John Agno

  24 Jan 2012 | 10:31 am

  By Roger Lowenstein in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, January 23, 2012 Charles Murray, the conservative sociologist, has written an incisive, alarming, and hugely frustrating book about the state of American society. No sense withholding the punchline: He thinks we’re in decline. The American rich are living cloistered and isolated lives, depriving the mainstream of their fraternity, their wisdom, and their skills. A growing number at the other end of the socioeconomic spectrum are dropping out in another respect—abandoning work, family, and community. At risk is what Murray affectionately…

• Growth Edge Coaching

  John Agno

  20 Jan 2012 | 8:19 am

  By Dr. Jennifer Garvey Berger Our form of mind plays a role in each of our impressions and decisions, which of course means that giving thought to a client's form of mind can improve a coach's ability to be helpful.  Most coaches have a style and approach that are better suited to some forms of mind than others. No matter what approach a coach might take--a targeted approach or a psychologically spacious approach, it can be helpful to understand the various forms of mind the client might have, the benefits of coaching that client might experience, and the particular coaching…

• Academic Equality for Global Economic Survival

  John Agno

  17 Jan 2012 | 12:21 pm

  By Guest Author Jan K. Katz, MS The middle-class axiom “study hard and you’ll get a good job” has proven untrue in the recent economic downturn. This axiom rarely exists at poverty level, where academic accomplishment could be interpreted as an attempt to separate oneself from the community.  A good sense of humor, telling a story well and having a good relationship with each student are ‘nice to have’ when teaching students of upper socioeconomic classes, but essential when teaching poverty-level students (1). In a recent survey of job skills relevant and necessary in the…

• Beyond Management

  John Agno

  15 Jan 2012 | 2:01 pm

  The systems and structures that we call "management" are obsolete.  They were developed during the industrial era more of a century ago while work has changed today. Traditional management structures, systems and tools intended to make the first factories efficient are now obsolete.  Applying them to knowledge-based work has exactly the opposite effect, causing all kinds of breakdowns.  In "Beyond Management" (Palgrave Macmillan, December 2011) author Mark Addleson explains why workers have to manage themselves and tells them how to do it. Beyond…

• 

  Predictable Success » Blog

• Why businesses stumble in a crisis

  lesmckeown

  24 Jan 2012 | 10:30 pm

  Last time, we looked at the three steps required to recover from any crisis: 1. Clarity. 2. Direction. 3. Control. This seems pretty straightforward, yes? So why do so many leaders, not to say entire executive teams stumble so badly when faced with a crisis? Why is it apparently so hard to pull out of a skid, regain direction and control and move on? The reason – and the reason News International, Penn State, Olympus, RIM and Kodak all, to one degree or another, foundered in a crisis – is because of the different skills required for each recovery step: Achieving clarity in the…

• How to fix any crisis

  lesmckeown

  23 Jan 2012 | 4:58 am

  Have you ever lost control of a car at high speed? I have, twice (black ice both times, once in an Aston Martin Vantage Volante previously owned by a member of the British Royal Family – but how I came to be there is another story). It’s a scary situation – one minute you’re speeding along, oblivious to anything except reaching your intended destination, next minute nothing is where it should be, and the only thing you’re sure of is that you’re in grave danger, and most certainly not headed toward your eventual destination. The same thing happens every day…

• Get A Room

  lesmckeown

  19 Jan 2012 | 10:30 pm

  When I coach executive teams, a recurring issue is discovering that everyone on the team is in a different room. I’m not talking here about the challenges of virtual meetings, but rather, what goes on inside the head of individuals when they get together as a group. Let me show you what I mean. Here we are, you and I, sitting quietly against the side wall of a glass-panelled conference room. Gathered in the center, around a large table, are the executive team of a financial services company. It’s a large-ish business, regionally-dominant, with over 3,500 employees, and so its…

• What’s your verb?

  lesmckeown

  17 Jan 2012 | 10:30 pm

  Some people model leadership. Others exemplify it (there’s a small but vital difference). Some people show leadership. Others embody it. Some people demonstrate leadership. Others accept it. Some people grab leadership. Others bestow it. Some people take leadership. Others steward it. Some people find leadership. Others are found by it. How do you lead? What’s your verb?

• 

  Management by Baseball

• Art Imitates Life, but The NFL Imitates Baseball

  j

  9 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am

  Back in late 2009, I wrote about (then new) Detroit Lions Head coach Jim Schwartz & his Tampa Bay Devil Rays'-style project to remake the sad sack of the NFL, a team which had gone 0-16 before his tenure. This last weekend, that team not only made its way into the NFL playoffs (somewhat of an accomplishment) but acquitted itself most-genuinely in the game against a superior opponent, losing only in the last quarter. The Management by Baseball description of how Schwartz proposed to turn the team around is worth attending to, especially for managers trying to turn around failed companies or…

• Jon Daniels - Part IV: Rangers' GM Attacks a Diseconomy of Scale

  j

  25 Dec 2011 | 6:13 pm

  This is the final installment of the March, 2007 interview Jon Daniels did with me. He'd gotten his first G.M. job as the nexus of a team that had never gone to a World Series, and now with him in place, they've achieved enough excellence to get to two Series in a row.This part deals with an issue more and more managers have to deal with in a globalized business world -- communicating effectively and keeping people on course and pulling together in a system where the work is distributed over more remote workplaces -- a Diseconomy of Scale that is both common and usually fatal. And, btw, my…

• Jon Daniels - Part III: Lessons in Changing Direction (A Reprise from 2007)

  j

  3 Nov 2011 | 10:13 am

  In the last entry, I continued the conversation Texas Rangers' general manager Jon Daniels had with me in March, 2007. In this segment (one more to follow), Daniels talks about his initial moves on first inheriting management of a organization that has plenty of room for improvement. First moves are, as I try to hammer home, critical and usually set the limits of what a manager can achieve in the organization. His approach worked well enough that three years later (the planning/change horizon in major league baseball is usually six seasons, sometimes five) his front office team…

• Jon Daniels - Part II: Rangers' GM Gives a Lesson in Resource Management (A Reprise from 2007)

  j

  28 Oct 2011 | 9:13 am

  In the last entry, I started covering the conversation Texas Rangers' general manager Jon Daniels had with me in March, 2007. In this segment (more to follow later), Daniels talks about the process of making decisions. Specifically the interplay of managing resources, here an apparent excess capacity of good relief arms. Most managers beyond baseball have a hard time knowing what to do with excess capacity, especially how to choose among what look to be equal options. I asked Daniels about what he might do to resolve the apparent surplus. MBB: Let me get away from a chronological approach…

• Jon Daniels - Part I: Rangers' GMGot Mentoring From a Star(A Reprise from 2007)

  j

  26 Oct 2011 | 12:01 pm

  A reader asked me last week if I had any idea why the Texas Rangers had been able to make it into the World Series two years in a row, and if it has anything to do with their management. It certainly does, I believe. When Jon Daniels was selected as G.M. five years ago, he was very young, but already very, very astute. He had been generous with his time and we spoke for a long while about his background in and Beyond Baseball, and his approach for building a franchise that had been in the middle of the pack for performance. I'm going to reprint the results of that interview piece-by-piece,…

• 

  Great Leadership

• Leading in a New Direction - 3 Techniques for Thinking up New Business Ideas

  Dan McCarthy

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:27 pm

  Here's a guest post from entrepreneur Duncan Murtagh,"an Irishman living in Taiwan, who has been to New Hampshire several times": How can we move past the tough times of 2011 to a more profitable 2012? Well we could start by coming up with some new ideas to drive revenue growth. In this article I’ll demonstrate 3 different techniques that 3 very different businesses could use, and may have used, to think up new business ideas. 1. The S.C.A.M.P.E.R. checklist of questions is a powerful tool for looking at your existing product/service lines and coming up with new variations. Probably the…

• How to Get the Most Benefit from an Executive Development Program

  Dan McCarthy

  24 Jan 2012 | 2:48 pm

  In my current role as Director of Executive Development Programs at the University of New Hampshire, I’ve had the opportunity to observe and interact with hundreds of our program participants. In former roles, in managing leadership development programs at large companies, I would always take the time to talk to participants before and after they attended an external executive development program. Along the way, I’ve learned a lot, including how to design programs that meet the needs of real-life executives. There are a lot of variables you need to pay attention to – the…

• Caring for the Commons

  Dan McCarthy

  20 Jan 2012 | 3:47 pm

  Guest post by Fred Kiel, Ph.D. & Doug Lennick: If you’re in a leadership position, you make hundreds of decisions each day – and most of those have the potential to impact the well-being of others. They are moral decisions. Don Blankenship, the CEO of Massey Coal Mines regularly made decisions to bypass safety procedures and ultimately those decisions led to the accident which killed 29 workers. On the other hand, Jim Sinegal, the recently retired CEO of Costco Wholesale, generously paid his warehouse employees. Even part-time workers receive benefits. Incidentally, Costco employees…

• Creating the Conditions for Sustainable Innovation

  Dan McCarthy

  18 Jan 2012 | 6:30 am

  Here's some new research on innovation and a guest post by By Rich Wellins, Ph,D., Senior Vice President, Development Dimensions International (DDI): In the past year, innovation has risen to the top of the business agenda. With the recession out of the way, corporations are refocusing on looking for new ways to grow. It seems not a day goes by that the major media writes (or broadcasts) stories in innovation. And, it has become more than just an imperative for our corporations, it has become a matter of national pride—or not. Some research shows that the U.S is losing its…

• Are You Managing or Just Nagging?

  Dan McCarthy

  13 Jan 2012 | 4:14 pm

  Four universal truths about management: 1. Managers are responsible for the performance of those that report to them. 2. One of the core responsibilities of a manager is to take action when an employee’s performance is not up to par. 3. Confronting an employee performance problem is one of the most difficult (and also the most avoided) discussions a manager can have with an employee. 4. Many employees report that they feel their managers micromanage them, pick on them unfairly, or get all over their case for things that really don’t matter. In other words, they feel their manager is…

• 

  CIO Blogs

• McAfee Upgrades Mobile App Just as Malware Hits Android Market

  Bill Snyder

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:53 pm

  McAfee has been warning users that the Android Market is prone to attack. Now it's happened, and McAfee has launched an upgraded application to defend your phone.read more

• Software to Help You Manage Your Job Search

  Meridith Levinson

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:22 pm

  Here are two web-based software applications that help you keep track of job applications, networking contacts and more. read more

• Symantec Drops the Ball on pcAnywhere Attack

  Bill Snyder

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:52 pm

  Users have a right to be upset when a major security company admits that it has been hacked, but then issues confusing and contradictory warnings.read more

• Nokia Lumia 900: Elite Windows Phone at a Low-End Price?

  Shane ONeill

  25 Jan 2012 | 4:17 pm

  The very high-end Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone will reportedly go for $99.99 on a two-year contract with AT&T. Let the price wars begin.read more

• Facebook Timeline Becomes Mandatory

  Kristin Burnham

  24 Jan 2012 | 3:10 pm

  Ready or not, here it comes: Facebook Timeline is becoming mandatory for all users.read more

• 

  IMD Business School - News

• IMD Reacts: Professor Maury Peiperl on Obama's State of the Union

  25 Jan 2012 | 7:59 am

  IMD Reacts: Professor Maury Peiperl on Obama's State of the Union

• Julia Neubauer-Babu: IMD MBA 2012 participant Q&A

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:49 am

  IMD MBA 2012 participant Julia Neubauer-Babu

• Becoming a General Manager - The Seven Seismic Shifts

  24 Jan 2012 | 10:24 am

  Becoming a General Manager

• IMD welcomes new faculty, Daina D. Mazutis and Ishtiaq Pasha Mahmood

  24 Jan 2012 | 10:10 am

  IMD welcomes new faculty, Daina D. Mazutis and Ishtiaq Pasha Mahmood

• Highlights from Tedx conference at IMD - The future doesn't just happen

  23 Jan 2012 | 7:15 am

  Highlights from Tedx conference at IMD

• 

  IMD Business School - Tomorrow's Challenges Articles

• THE FUTILE SUN WARS

  Maury Peiperl

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:39 am

  IMD - Solar Energy - Ten, twenty years ago, solar power was considered a distant dream. Today, the dream is fast becoming reality.

• NETWORKING AS AN ENTREPRENEUR

  Jim Pulcrano

  25 Jan 2012 | 7:34 am

  IMD - Networking - How do you define success for your start-up? And what are your networking objectives? IMD Executive Director Jim Pulcrano has some observations and warnings for Swiss entrepreneurs.

• IT'S NOT ALL THAT BAD

  Suzanne C. de Janasz ,Amy L. Kenworthy

  19 Jan 2012 | 10:59 am

  IMD - Layoffs - Can being laid off actually improve overall health and well-being? Does it irrevocably damage their self-esteem? IMD Professor Suzanne de Janasz sheds light on a business landscape dark in unemployment. 

• SHOULD BOARDS REACT TO THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT

  Paul Strebel

  19 Jan 2012 | 8:49 am

  IMD - Occupy Wall Street - To protect their personal reputations and the brand value of their companies, board directors have to ensure that they are not associated with, nor get labelled as corporate insiders who enrich themselves at the expense of society.

• THE EURO CRISIS

  Didier Cossin

  13 Jan 2012 | 4:18 am

  IMD - Euro Collapse - The euro celebrates its 10th anniversary this month under a dark cloud of crisis. However, Didier Cossin argues a discerning risk analysis could provide those investing in Europe with great opportunities.

• 

  thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

• Get Out of B.E.D. And Alter Your Outcomes

  Mike Figliuolo

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:02 am

  Today’s post is by Marty Stanley, author of Get Out of B.E.D. and the newest member of the thoughtLEADERS team. “We got it done, but it was ugly,” the manager said, shaking his head in disbelief. Miscommunications, lack of communication, an inexperienced team leader and management on vacation resulted in cost over-runs exceeding $50,000, delayed [...] This is only the beginning of the thought... Please click the article headline above or go to http://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/blog for more.

• How Leaders Can Overcome Resistance to Change

  Mike Figliuolo

  23 Jan 2012 | 6:03 am

  Nobody likes change (other than David Bowie… “ch-ch-ch-changes!”  Good luck getting that song out of your head). I know if you do anything that changes my routine in the morning, my whole day is whacked. We hate change. Heck, most of us hate getting change at the grocery store because all those coins just weigh [...] This is only the beginning of the thought... Please click the article headline above or go to http://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/blog for more.

• A Better Way to Communicate

  Mike Figliuolo

  19 Jan 2012 | 6:04 am

  Today’s post is by bestselling author Seth Kahan.  It’s an excerpt from his book Getting Change Right: How Leaders Transform Organizations from the Inside Out.  You can learn more about him and his book at the end of the post. In 1996 I was working on my first large-scale change initiative at the World Bank. [...] This is only the beginning of the thought... Please click the article headline above or go to http://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/blog for more.

• 4 Keys for Successful Project Leadership

  Mike Figliuolo

  16 Jan 2012 | 6:02 am

  We always talk about project management but rarely discuss project leadership.  There’s a difference. Leaders play a critical role in setting the conditions for a team to successfully manage a project.  If you focus on the following four key roles you can play on a project as the project leader you’ll dramatically improve the odds [...] This is only the beginning of the thought... Please click the article headline above or go to http://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/blog for more.

• 12 Most Consequential Books for a New Leader

  Mike Figliuolo

  11 Jan 2012 | 2:52 pm

  Today’s post is by David Dye – COO of Colorado UpLift. You can learn more about him at the end of the post.  And check out #11… You may have heard that leaders take responsibility for their own growth, but with thousands of leadership and management books to choose from, where do you begin? You [...] This is only the beginning of the thought... Please click the article headline above or go to http://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/blog for more.

• 

  The Garlington Report (TGR)

• Fate or Coincidence?

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:16 am

  The death of former Penn State Coach Joe Paterno, or JoePa to die hard fans, has created its share of second guessing surrounding what amounts now to a tainted legacy. Barely noted deep within the obituaries lies an interesting fact that draws parallels with another former coaching legend, Paul "Bear" Bryant, the famed Alabama coach. Both men died shortly after coaching their last game; Bryant's

• Yahoo: Nothing ever changes when it comes to brand name executive search

  11 Jan 2012 | 10:48 am

  Yahoo's recent CEO appointment, picked nicely from PayPal, and the subsequent decision to revamp the company's board underscores how little things change when it comes to how big companies recruit and select talent.First, the CEO appointment. This decision was obviously needed following the blow-up of the former CEO, Carol Bartz, who basically told her board to f*&% off. So naturally the board

• Republican candidates usher in post-branding era

  4 Jan 2012 | 9:59 am

  Don't look now but the BCS championship-like race for the Republican presidential nomination is ushering in the post-branding era. What does that mean? The traditional methods of branding, such as communicating a consistent message over time, have been replaced by pressure to get to the core faster than ever before anyone changes their minds. Audiences no longer matter as much as loyal followers,

• Hardly coincidental

  3 Jan 2012 | 8:45 am

  The re-ascendancy of Starbuck's CEO Howard Schultz to Fortune magazine's top executive ranking comes as no surprise. His company, or should we say the existing one he was hired into and then proceeded to re-invent, is a household name and just completed a record year of revenues and profits. It seems as though customers are still willing to pay five bucks for a latte even in these "most uncertain

• Coming Home

  6 Dec 2011 | 10:44 am

  As we plan to travel for the holidays, a different homecoming theme has emerged in this week's business news.First, the passing of former HP board chairwoman, Patricia Dunn, whose biggest claim to executive brand fame was allegedly knowing about phone wire tapping of other board members and not properly disclosing the behavior. By the time others, including HP board member Tom Perkins of Kleiner

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  Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By

• No Time Like The Present!

  Bill Matthies

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:21 pm

  "Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; adversity not without many comforts and hopes." Francis Bacon 16th century British statesman We are ever so slowly emerging from extremely difficult economic times and with that comes a lot of cautious business people who say they are waiting for things to improve before once again spending to grow their business. Waiting for what? As Mr. Bacon says, there is bad in all good, and good in all bad. Get on with it!

• I've Got You Now!

  Bill Matthies

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:21 pm

  "Men are the sport of circumstance when it seems that circumstance is the sport of men." Lord Byron 18th century British poet Sun Tzu also makes this point in "The Art of War". Victory often comes to those whose opponents think they have the upper hand. As in war, so too is it in business. 

• Fear As An Option

  Bill Matthies

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:38 pm

  "The best safety lies in fear." William Shakespeare 16th century British playwright/poet To a point and rarely if ever in business. Companies simply do not have the option to standstill out of fear of what may happen. If they are not willing to proactively take risk and change, change will come to them, often in ways they will not like.

• (You Don't Always Have To) GET REAL!

  Bill Matthies

  24 Jan 2012 | 1:36 pm

  "It is respectful to have no illusions, and safe, and profitable and dull." Joseph Conrad Late 19th/early 20th century British novelist Not always profitable. Success in business is more often dependent on assumptions than facts, and that includes many things that begin life as an illusion.

• Free To . . . ?

  Bill Matthies

  23 Jan 2012 | 1:57 pm

  "Surely there is grandeur in knowing that in the realm of thought, at least you are without a chain; that you have the right to explore all heights and depths; that there are no walls or fences, nor prohibited places, nor sacred corners in all the vast expanse of thought." Robert Green Ingersoll 19th century American politician True, but do you?

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  Mitch's Blog

• Appreciation

  Mitch Mitchell

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:02 am

  It’s hard to stay positive all the time. Life doesn’t always give us exactly what we want, and often that irritates us. When we get frustrated or irritated, we can do a few things. One, we can totally shut down; two, we can try to make things bad for whomever got on our nerve; three, we can find alternative ways to work our way through it. When it comes to work, the same types of things occur. I remember once finishing a project that didn’t end on the high note I was hoping for. What occurred is that new management came into the organizations I was working for, which had split near the…

• A Tale Of Two Supervisors

  Mitch Mitchell

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:53 am

  Good management principles can help turn around bad situations. Teaching someone how to become a good manager if they wish to learn can be a rewarding experience. Trying to teach someone those same concepts when they don’t want to learn them can be frustrating and hard to overcome; most likely, you’re wasting your time. However, even in that situation, you can still show how those principles, when put into place, can help turn a department around. I was requested to do a short term consulting assignment, and one of the things I was asked to do was work with two supervisors who weren’t…

• Communicating With Supervisors

  Mitch Mitchell

  23 Jan 2012 | 8:01 am

  I often get questions from friends and employees on how to deal with their supervisors and managers. They often seem to feel that they’re not being treated fairly compared to how they see someone else being treated. Since I’m not in the office I’m never quite sure whether it’s a matter of perception or reality. Often it doesn’t matter. What I notice most of the time is that problems occur when there’s a break down in communications. Actually, I think that’s an overused metaphor because sometimes there’s never been any real communications to begin with; can’t break something…

• How To Work With People Whether You Like Them Or Not

  Mitch Mitchell

  21 Jan 2012 | 8:16 am

  One of the difficulties anyone who’s any kind of manager faces is that your job depends on others to make you look good or bad. Your employees can make you look like a genius, even if the best thing that happened was that you inherited them. At the same time, just because someone is good at what they do doesn’t mean they’re a good employee, or even a happy employee. Does an employee need to be happy? There’s a couple of thoughts on that one. There are those managers who are tyrannical in their approach, who demand the utmost respect at all times, unquestioning loyalty…

• Leadership Skills Of Photographers

  Mitch Mitchell

  20 Jan 2012 | 8:33 am

  I’ve had a photo shoot or two in my life, which means I’ve used the services of professional photographers. After a recent session I realized that something many people might not have paid attention to are the kind of skills photographers have that exhibit a type of leadership that might be hard to recognize, yet does exist. Lin Penille Photography via Flickr For instance, photographers can get people they’ve just met to do things that they might not have thought of before. They might ask you to do certain poses that look good on camera that you’ve never done in your…

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  The Merrill Dubrow Blog

• Aren’t Restaurants That Have A City In Their Name Them Limiting Themselves?

  Merrill Dubrow

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:30 am

  A few weeks ago I was going to lunch with a colleague (thanks S.H.) and we ended up at Boston Market. As we were eating, our conversation centered around the name of the restaurant. I was, and still am, curious if having a city in their name helps or hurts them? We thought for a few minutes and came up with three restaurants that have a city in their name – the list we have compiled so far is: Boston Market San Francisco Oven Company Jersey Mikes I am still wondering if having a city in their name is a good thing.  Here are my thoughts. Boston Market – I am not sure the name helps at…

• Attention Lacrosse Dads, Players, And Coaches I Need Some Advice!

  Merrill Dubrow

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:30 am

  Year after year, both of my boys have done a number of things. Yes, they have gotten bigger, yes they have gotten funnier (in fact hysterical), and yes they have always played baseball in the spring and fall. Well that is changing. For the first time ever, both my sons will be putting the baseball glove and bat on the shelf and playing a different sport… Lacrosse. I must admit at first I was a little surprised and hurt (back to that in a minute) that they would give up (maybe temporarily) a sport they have played for years. They know most of the coaches, players and have made great progress…

• 2012 Is The Year Of Catch-Up For Me… How About You?

  Merrill Dubrow

  23 Jan 2012 | 8:30 am

  When the clock struck December 31, I knew something would be very different this year like no other. Yes, I will be older and in this case it is actually a benefit. This is very appealing to me because when I was younger (20’s, 30’s, 40’s) I didn’t save as much as I could or should have. I believe this is a VERY important lesson for younger generations and wish I had understood more of the benefits years ago. Now to the exciting part of getting older! This is the year that I am allowed by the government (thanks!) to have a 401K catch-up contribution. In addition to the…

• My Kids Are 100% Right! It’s All About Sharing!

  Merrill Dubrow

  20 Jan 2012 | 8:30 am

  A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of going shopping with my kids. Since my parents and siblings live out of town they sent checks to the kids and wanted me to have them buy whatever they wanted for their holiday gifts! I tried to make the experience fun, exciting and yes, a LEARNING EXPERIENCE! The rules were pretty simple – ok they were simple for me, perhaps not so simple for three wonderful kids under 11 who only wanted to spend money and buy themselves some gifts. The rules were: Each child pick two stores they wanted to shop in. Tell me the items they THOUGHT they wanted to buy. Not…

• What Is Your Favorite Sales Movie Of All Time?

  Merrill Dubrow

  18 Jan 2012 | 8:30 am

    A few weeks ago I was preparing for a conference presentation and wanted to include some opinions of industry contacts on a number of subjects. One of them was about what is your favorite sales movie? When I thought of the question, I quickly came up with a few of my favorites: Glengarry Glen Ross Tin Man Boiler room I especially love Glengarry Glen Ross and the Glengarry leads. I have quoted the movie a number of times during speeches and it always seems to reinforce the point I am trying to make. For me, the rain really adds to the story line and the acting is wonderful. Your turn:…

• 

  timmilburn.com

• Self-Discipline Starts With You

  tim milburn

  26 Jan 2012 | 12:13 pm

  “Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not: it is the first lesson that ought to be learned and, however early a person’s training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he or she learns thoroughly.”  – Thomas Huxley David continually turns work in late.  Josh can’t seem to find the time to exercise.  Stacy keeps maxing out her credit card and paying the high interest rates.  Julie dreams of a better future, but keeps putting it off, thinking…

• Ray Lewis Leadership In A Losing Locker Room

  tim milburn

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:44 am

  It may feel like a loss is based on one play. But it isn’t. It may seem like the pain of losing will never fade. But it will. It may look like you can’t bounce back. But you can. Just came across this recording of Ray Lewis, middle linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens and easily a Hall of Famer, speaking to his teammates after their loss to the New England Patriots this past Sunday. The Patriots go to the Super Bowl. The Ravens go home. The Ravens lost by three points. What makes it even harder to swallow is that they looked like the better team throughout the game. Listen in.

• 3 Keys To Creating Consistent Character

  tim milburn

  24 Jan 2012 | 5:39 pm

  Somewhere…someplace…someone is stepping down from a leadership position. It’s not because they didn’t do their job right. It’s not because they went over budget. It’s not even because the majority of people no longer followed their leadership anymore. It’s something else. There is a growing percentage of leaders who have to step away from leading others because they failed to lead themselves well first. They had all of the right capabilities but they lacked the character to sustain their leadership. The truth is, you can be a leader with poor…

• Change Is Coming…Ready Or Not

  tim milburn

  23 Jan 2012 | 3:46 pm

  Have you ever found a story that is so good that you created a blog post – simply to share the story? I have. This is it. The focus of this story (which I believe is true) deals with change. While most paradigm shifts within history used to take thousands of years (bronze age, silver age, iron age, etc), now they take place in less than a decade. The truth is: change is coming no matter how hard you fight against it. Here’s the story: From the Voter’s Assembly Minutes – June 19, 1908 Mr. Grueber introduced the following to be discussed: Nine reasons not to introduce…

• Learning To Lead By “The Rhodium Rule”

  tim milburn

  20 Jan 2012 | 11:03 am

  Put on your chemist hat because I’d like to introduce you to RHODIUM. Rhodium is a rare, hard, silvery-white, lustrous metal . It is highly reflective and extremely resistant to corrosion. It is not attacked by most acids. Rhodium appears on the periodic table with the atomic number 45 (don’t you just feel smarter knowing that?!). One of the most important leadership lessons I’m learning and teaching right now is influenced by this precious metal. You might not be familiar with Rhodium unless you’ve recently purchased some jewelry made of white gold. Rhodium is used to…

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  Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog

• ASQ Influential Voices

  John Hunter

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:50 am

  I am joining the ASQ Influential Voices project for 2012. The effort started last year when ASQ chose a few people to participate in a group effort to share their thoughts on various topics in quality improvement. I have been asked to join for 2012, along with a couple lean bloggers (Mark Graban and Tim McMahon) and others. Each month the ASQ executive director will post on a topic and I, and the other influential voices participants, will share out thoughts on that topic. My history with ASQ extends back into my childhood. My father, William Hunter, was the founding chair of the ASQ…

• Web Seminar with Gerald Suarez: Better Thinking About Leadership

  John Hunter

  23 Jan 2012 | 12:26 pm

  In2In offers some great opportunities for those interested in management improvement. Their conference is excellent. They also offer various conference calls with speakers knowledgeable about Deming and Ackoff’s ideas. These normally take the form of conference call presentations (similar to a podcast) followed by some question and answers. The consistently get remarkable people like, Gerald Suarez, and earlier: Peter Scholtes and Brian Joiner. Gerald Suarez is kicking off the new InThinking Network monthly webinar series. I worked for Gerald at the White House Military Office. He is…

• Management Improvement Blog Carnival #155

  John Hunter

  21 Jan 2012 | 11:47 pm

  The Curious Cat management blog carnival is published 3 times a month with hand picked recent management blog posts. I also collect select management improvement articles and blog posts in the Curious Cat management article library. The annual management blog roundup event covered #151 – #154, so this is #155. We Don’t Know quote by David York, via Mike Wroblewski- We don’t know what the problems are…..that’s why we make them visible. We don’t know what the root causes of the problems are….that’s why we ask 5 Whys? We don’t know what the evidence is….that’s why…

• USA Spent $2.6 Trillion, $8,402 per person,17.9% of GDP on Medical Expenses in 2010

  John Hunter

  19 Jan 2012 | 8:19 am

  Total health expenditures in the USA in 2010 reached $2.6 trillion, $8,402 per person or 17.9% percent of GDP. All these are all time highs. Every year, for decades, health care costs have taken a larger and larger portion of the economic value created in the USA. In 2009 the USA Spent Record $2.5 Trillion, $8,086 per person 17.6% of GDP on Medical Care. USA health care spending grew 3.9% in 2010 following an increase of 3.8% in 2009. While those are the two slowest rates of growth in the 51 year history of the National Health Expenditure Accounts, they still outpaced both inflation and GDP…

• Trust But Verify

  John Hunter

  16 Jan 2012 | 8:16 am

  The following are my comments, which were sparked by question “Trust, but verify. Is this a good example of Profound Knowledge in action?” on the Linked In Deming Institute group. Trust but verify makes sense to me. I think of verify as process measures to verify the process is producing as it should. By verifying you know when the process is failing and when to look for special causes (when using control chart thinking with an understanding of variation). There are many ways to verify that would be bad. But the idea of trust (respect for people) is not just a feel-good, “be…

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  Team Building Leadership Blog - Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse Team Building Leadership

• Come to the new site Create-Learning.com/Blog

  Michael Cardus

  19 Jan 2012 | 10:47 am

  This blog has moved and all the great old & new stuff is at http://create-learning.com/blog come and join us!

• How to Lead Awesome Team-Building Programs. E-Book

  Michael Cardus

  1 Dec 2010 | 3:44 pm

  Did you ever wonder “How does one lead AWESOME team-building programs? The ones that ensure that content and learning take place. A teambuilding program that is fun, and teams leave better than when they arrived?” Now you can find out.   In this 55 page E-book you will find applicable strategies, team-building activities, facilitation, de-briefing, and processing activities + theory that you can use immediately. Content sections: Theory Based Facilitation and Experiential Learning; Providing a theoretical foundation to leading team-building programs. In this section you will learn…

• The Party is over – Join the fun at our new location

  Michael Cardus

  26 May 2010 | 11:36 am

    Here is what you are missing – The Grass is Greener and you will be smarter here! Create-Learning Team Building & Leadership Blog Leaders Combine Challenge to achieve greatness Team Building Activities & Application to Work – Nail Puzzle Cereal Management Continuum Questions I like to ask prior to developing a proposal for Team Building / Leadership / Innovation / Coaching Processes Pipeline – Team Building Activity Leadership Development Process, a Success Story!

• You still here? The Blog has moved.

  Michael Cardus

  10 Apr 2010 | 8:03 am

  Mike moved the blog to this new place – http://create-learning.com/blog Here is what you have missed; I have the Best Leadership Blog in the World! I2U2ME2WE – Team Building Activity Little things that make a BIG difference as a Leader Breath Deep Relax Mouse Traps Break Worry Generational View of Publishing 3 Reasons Your Leadership Sucks…and how to improve it.

• THIS BLOG HAS MOVED!

  Michael Cardus

  24 Mar 2010 | 6:00 pm

  Please come with me to the NEW BLOG LOCATION http://create-learning.com/blog/ Change your RSS Readers and come to the new blog & Create-Learning website Thank you for allowing me to serve your Team Building & Leadership needs. And come to the NEW site with even more amazing content and ideas to share…. Michael Cardus  

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  Management Excellence

• Strategy-Towards Hypotheses, Experiments, Involvement & Learning

  Art Petty

  25 Jan 2012 | 11:22 am

  Few would argue that a nimble, quick-to-learn and quick-to-adapt organization is a bad thing. Given the rate of change in our world, those characteristics are increasingly table-stakes for survival and success. Why then has the approach to strategy and the notion of “strategic planning” in so many organizations remained mired in a 1960’s kind of static, top-down event-focused model? Here are six ideas to transform your organization's approach to and effectiveness with strategy.

• Leadership Caffeine: Warning! Your Words About Change are Falling on Cynical Ears

  Art Petty

  23 Jan 2012 | 8:28 am

  Even the most credible of leaders have to step up their game when it comes to talking about and promoting change on their teams and in their organizations. Here are 7 Helpful Steps to Get Started on the Right Foot Talking About Change:

• The Heavy Lifting of Career (Re) Invention-5 Keys to Moving Forward

  Art Petty

  20 Jan 2012 | 10:02 am

  Whether you are a few years removed from college or a few years removed from that time when prior generations began thinking about retiring, chances are, you or someone you know is involved in defining or redefining their career. It’s a daunting task in a world where the old rules no longer apply. Here are 5 key areas for you to focus on as you move forward with this challenging work:

• It’s Always About Leadership

  Art Petty

  17 Jan 2012 | 7:47 am

  Leaders step up during times of crisis. This is where people in positions of responsibility finally earn the right to the “L” label. Unfortunately, in this instance, much like just about every other crisis we’ve created or viewed, leadership seems to take a holiday, replaced by “everyone for himself” and “it’s not my fault.”

• Leadership Caffeine-Success One Step at a Time

  Art Petty

  16 Jan 2012 | 7:45 am

  Too many people fail to overcome resistance and start moving forward. Instead of heeding Drucker’s advice, fear rents space in their minds, creating a never-ending litany of excuses that help ensure that their feet remain firmly planted in place.

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  The Six Disciplines Blog

• The ROI of Performance Excellence Programs

  25 Jan 2012 | 10:06 am

  The ROI of performance excellence programs like Six Disciplines has been researched and proven many times over, by similar quality, performance, and business excellence programs like Baldrige, EFQM, and TQM.  The value of implementing a performance excellence program like Six Disciplines is hard to ignore:  A study by the European Foundation for Quality Management of 120 award-winning companies, including 24 from the U.S., compared their financial performance to that of similar companies that had not won awards. Five years after receiving their awards, these companies…

• The Benefit-to-Cost Ratio of a Performance Excellence Program

  23 Jan 2012 | 7:18 am

  According to a newly released study from NIST,  the benefit-to-cost ratio of a performance excellence program (like Baldrige) is 820-to-1. In their research, economists Albert N. Link, and John T. Scott (University of North Carolina, and Dartmouth College, respectively) used their economic tools to measure the net social value of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. Their key findings:  In 2001, when this study was first performed, the net social value of the performance excellence program had been found to be 207:1.  Ten years later, with the expansion…

• Continuous Improvement Programs Offer Competitive Advantages On Key Financial Metrics

  12 Jan 2012 | 9:45 am

  IndustryWeek recently reported on a survey it conducted with TBM Consulting about the impact of continuous-improvement programs on three financial metrics: anticipated revenue growth, operating income growth, and cash flow over the past year.  “Across the board, companies with no continuous improvement programs performed worse across all three measures,” TBM Consulting researchers revealed here: More than 50% of respondents with no continuous improvement program said they expect revenue growth to be 3% or less in 2012, compared to fewer than 20% of companies with mature…

• Limiting Distractions At Work

  11 Jan 2012 | 8:09 am

  How many times are you distracted at the office on an average day?  What do you think these interruptions cost you in productive work time? The answer is probably more than you think.  According to a recent survey of more than 500 workers conducted by uSamp: More than 50 percent of workers waste an hour or more each day on interruptions. 60 percent of workers are regularly interrupted by email and other electronic missives  40 percent cite phone calls and communicative colleagues as the biggest distractions. The survey estimated that distractions cost businesses more than…

• Baldrige Performance Excellence and Using Six Disciplines

  22 Dec 2011 | 9:10 am

  Each year, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence is presented to a small handful of organizations who have proven themselves worthy by being consistently superior on seven criteria for overall performance excellence.  The seven criteria include:  Leadership Strategic Planning Customer and Market Focus Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management Workforce Focus Process Management Business Results Award winners must share detailed information on how they achieved outstanding performance, so that other organizations can benefit.  One example…

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  SteveFarber.com

• Passion or Work Ethic? Which Comes First?

  Steve

  24 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pm

  My good friend and work-ethic expert, Eric Chester, (author of the fantastic Reviving Work Ethic: A Leader’s Guide to Ending Entitlement and Restoring Pride in the Emerging Workforce) recently shared with me his perspective on the relationship between passion and work. Please read his words and comment away! Passion doesn’t fuel work ethic; work ethic fuels passion. Most people want to go about it backwards. They want to let their passions propel their efforts. They want an emotion-driven life, but our emotions don’t always lead us where we need to go or keep us where we need to be.

• Join Me in San Diego?

  Steve

  22 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am

  Many of you have been asking for this opportunity for a long time. Well…it’s finally here! Over the last couple of years, we’ve developed, piloted and field-tested The Extreme Leadership Workshop, and now, for the first time, we’re offering it in a public forum. You now have a chance to participate in the workshop and become certified and licensed to facilitate it for others—your team, your company, or your clients. In this powerful and transformational experience, you’ll explore the key tenets of the Extreme Leadership Framework—Cultivating Love, Generating Energy, Inspiring…

• Declaration of Extreme Leadership in Education

  Steve

  14 Jan 2012 | 2:04 pm

  This declaration, written with the input of a team of passionate educators around the US, lies at the heart of the conversation we’ll be launching on February 2, 2012 aboard the USS Midway in San Diego. (See my previous post) It is, of course, closely related to the broader Declaration of Extreme Leadership that I posted a while back, but focused on the specific mission of lifting up our kids to magnificent heights. Please sound off in the comment section below and pass this declaration along to every educator in your life. The cynics will disregard it out of hand (and, frankly,…

• Your Invitation to Re-Energize Education

  Steve

  12 Jan 2012 | 12:06 pm

  Imagine what could happen if every educator, business person, parent, and citizen who is passionate about transforming education (and that should be everyone) stepped up to help each other do just that…that’s the process we’re going to begin on the evening of February 2, on the USS Midway in San Diego. If you’ll be in the area, please join us. If you won’t be in the area, tell your friends and colleagues who will. The following email invitation from Superintendents Randy Ward, William Kowba, and John Collins and Mission Federal CEO, Debra Schwartz, recently went out…

• A Free Handbook for the New Year

  Steve

  3 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am

  The Daily Handbook for Extreme Leaders (adapted from The Radical Leap Re-Energized) is a practical, inspiring, and essential guide to being a leader of substance and significance. This powerful little book isn’t just a guide, it’s a very personal methodology and practice to help you stoke your success, amp your life, and change the world–all at the same time. And it’s free. Use it every day to make 2012 a true LEAP year for you and yours in your work AND personal life. (I’ve had many people tell me that they’ve used The Daily Handbook with their teams and…

• 

  Survival Leadership

• Immunity to Change: Post #1--Overview

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:08 am

  Immunity to Change by Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey (Harvard Business Press, 2009) reviewed by Steve Gladis, PhD, January 2012.Overview: “Adapt or Become Irrelevant” should be the title of this book, although I do like the actual title: Immunity to Change by Harvard professors Kegan and Lashey. All of us have something that we wish we could change about ourselves or our teams at work. As individuals, maybe we want to be less thoughtless, lose weight, or change a habit that’s nagged us for years, like procrastinating or interrupting people. Groups or teams also get stuck in patterns of…

• Jobs War: Post #10--Final Words

  24 Jan 2012 | 7:26 am

  Conclusion: Here is an abbreviated list of Clifton’s key findings:a. The #1 social value in the world is to have a good job. Unfortunately, there are not nearly enough of such jobs. Cities are the #1 location for job creation, especially through entrepreneurship. Key sources of job creation: Top 100 cities (regions); top 100 universities; top 10,000 (top 100 cities X 100 key leaders) tribal leaders. Entrepreneurship drives the economy more than innovation. Invest in entrepreneurship. Small to medium-sized companies will drive job growth, not the big companies.b. Other findings: Healthcare…

• Jobs War: Post #10--Healthcare

  23 Jan 2012 | 7:23 am

  Healthcarea. Healthcare costs will bankrupt America. The cost of the healthcare stranglehold on the economy threatens to drain our entrepreneurial will and our economic leadership in the world. Bottom Line: We don’t have the money to sustain fat, unhealthy, smoking, excessive drinking Americans. Unfit Americans will bankrupt us.b. The scope of the issue: We spend $2.5 trillion on healthcare, and the GDP of the entire countries of India and Russia are each only $1.5 trillion! And if that’s not bad enough, the estimates in 10 years are that healthcare in America will hit $4.5 trillion. This…

• Jobs War: Post #9--Schools

  22 Jan 2012 | 7:19 am

  Schoolsa. These numbers are scary: 30% of American students drop out or don’t graduate on schedule. And 50% of minorities drop out. Moreover, 43% of African American males drop out and about 21% go to prison. These staggering numbers spell out a potentially tragic future for the country.b. Why? Gallup’s research found that kids drop out for one compelling reason: Loss of hope. They’re not excited about what comes next in their lives, and they start dropping out mentally while in high school.c. Increasing hope. What leaders must do:i. Grow engaged teachers—teachers matter most in…

• Jobs War: Post #8--Customers

  21 Jan 2012 | 7:11 am

  Customersa. The battle for customers is worldwide, not just local. There is a worldwide market of 7 billion customers. America has to get 10% consumer growth (by using smart customer science) per year to stay ahead of the Chinese. We must be the best at understanding the minds of worldwide customers or suffer the economic consequences.b. One painful example of that negative consequence of slipping behind China and India is found in the automotive industry. Detroit lost sight of what customers wanted—affordable, efficient transportation. But Honda and Toyota, among others, got the message…

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  Learn This

• Coaching in the Workplace

  Mike King

  20 Jan 2012 | 3:17 am

  Working as a manager or leader in any workplace leaves a lot of room to influence other people.  And shouldn’t that include then some specific coaching and discussion to help others improve their role and work results?  I certainly think so and I also think that every person in a leadership or supervising role should be expected to learn about coaching in the workplace.  If coaching were better understood and used on a regular basis, the results of whole teams and companies could be drastically improved given some time. Coaching in the workplace is something I’ve practiced for…

• Book Review: The Case For Faith

  Mike King

  14 Jan 2012 | 2:01 pm

  A Six-Session Investigation of the Toughest Objections to Christianity Buy the AudioCD at Amazon Author: Lee Strobel and Garry Poole I know not everyone is interested in spiritual books so link ahead to other categories or articles here if you don’t care to explore what could be a way to discover new meaning and purpose in your life.  I’ve read several books by C.S. Lewis recently which I really enjoyed, like The Screwtape Letters, The Abolition of Man, and The Great Divorce.  The screwtape letters were wonderful and insightful in a sad and scary way while the other two were…

• Resources Jan 2011

  Mike King

  8 Jan 2012 | 9:57 am

  It’s been a few months since I’ve shared another resource list so I’ve got a great round up for you, which hopefully you haven’t seen many of these.   Articles I have my share of 100 lists and this is another great one: 100 Ways for Your Family to Make a Difference I wonderful response and article based on Gilbert’s Stumbling on Happiness.  This one is called Futile Pursuit Here is an article sent to me about inspiring elderly learners, who believe learning is worthwhile, no matter what their age. 50 Ways to Show Gratitude for the People in Your Life, gratitude…

• How to Be More Present

  Mike King

  18 Dec 2011 | 8:49 pm

  During a book study recently, I had a question or comment from my pastor that really struck a nerve and it left me thinking about it for a while.  It was along the lines of “How do you learn to be more present in everyday life?”  It was a question that I certainly have never really spent much time thinking about it.  I have some of my habits and behaviors that help me stay as present as I do and some of those may be obvious and some not.  I also likely have a number of things that have developed out of those habits that I may not have ever really thought about before.  And of…

• Learning to Say No

  Mike King

  25 Nov 2011 | 3:19 am

  I’m a very direct person when it comes to how I communicate and saying ‘no’ has never been that difficult for me. However, that is not the case for most people and I have had to coach several people on learning to say no to prevent themselves from being overwhelmed or burdened by requests from others they regretted taking on. There are a few ways to make saying no easier and the first thing to remember is that the whole reason it might seem uncomfortable to say no is entirely in your own mind.  The reason people ASK for things IS to give you the opportunity to say no when…

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  Ed Gerety's Dream Big Blog

• Life Lessons from a Season-Ending Injury

  Ed Gerety

  18 Jan 2012 | 8:59 am

  “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” - Alexander Graham Bell Jenna playing soccer Some of the greatest lessons that a person can learn about life and leadership comes from playing sports. It’s on the playing field that we discover how important it is to have a positive attitude, be a team player, and give 100% effort.  There is also an inherent risk of injury, defeat, and disappointment when it comes to playing sports. How we handle those challenges and…

• Shoe Club Inspiration

  Ed Gerety

  23 Mar 2011 | 12:27 pm

  Timothy Roback is a 7th grader at East Jordan Middle School in East Jordan, Michigan and is the activity coordinator for a club at his school called The Shoe Club. The club is designed to inspire students to work hard, set goals, dream big and to give back to other people. I asked him to be a guest blogger on my blog and share his experience of being a part of such an important project. Also, check out the cool video by his great teacher Matt Hamilton who gives you an inside look at The Shoe Club. “In our life there are two types of people; good role models, and bad role models. The “Shoe…

• Shout, “I Love You” From The Rooftops!

  Ed Gerety

  22 Sep 2010 | 12:22 pm

  Last week I had the opportunity to speak at Keene High School in Keene, New Hampshire. The main focus of my school-wide assembly is on respect, responsibility, and gratitude. I talked with the students and teachers about how important it is to appreciate the people in your life and to let those close to you know how much you love them. That evening I received an e-mail from one of the teachers. I was so moved by her story and what she shared with me that I went back to the school the next day to thank her. I gave her a hug and let her know how touched I was by her words and her attitude on…

• Finding your Balance

  Ed Gerety

  19 May 2010 | 12:11 pm

  My 5 year old son Ryan learned to ride his bike without training wheels this past weekend. I am not sure if he will remember the moment, but it is one that my wife Suzanne and I will never forget. The morning of the big event I asked Ryan, “Is today the day you are ready to take the training wheels off of your bike?” His reply was “Yeah, I think so, I am five-and-a-half now.” After that reply he then followed up with a series of questions. “Dad, what if I fall down?” I answered, “Ryan, if you fall that’s okay because we all fall down when we try…

• Can Gratitude Increase Your Self-Esteem?

  Ed Gerety

  23 Mar 2010 | 2:43 pm

  Recently a high school student named Kelly asked me the following question: “I have this big problem, Ed. People are calling me names and saying I have no friends and no one likes me… I’m starting to think that it’s true. My self esteem is going way down. Please help.” Kelly is not alone – there are thousands of teenagers who feel this way every day. The best thing Kelly did was ask for help. It is important to remember and know that as teens and even as adults you are not alone. There are people to help you and support you if you are willing to look and have the…

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  Lindsey Pollak: Generation Y Career Expert, Gen Y Speaker, Millennial Expert, LinkedIn Spokesperson, Career Expert » Blog

• Back to Basics: 7 Essentials for a Successful Job Search

  Lindsey Pollak

  11 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am

  I’m excited to announce that my book, Getting from College to Career: Your Essential Guide to Succeeding in the Real Worldwill be published in a brand new, fully revised second edition on January 31st! In honor of the launch, this month I’ll be writing series of “back to basics” blog posts on the essentials of getting from college to career. Today I’m starting with the basics of getting yourself set up with what I consider to be the 7 absolute basics you’ll need for a successful job search: 1.     Time. You’ve probably heard it said that job hunting is a fulltime job. I…

• 3 New Career Habits for the New Year

  Lindsey Pollak

  4 Jan 2012 | 11:17 am

  Happy New Year! Let’s get right to it and talk about how to make your mark in the coming 12 months. Whether you want to secure a raise, a promotion or a better job, these habits — one daily one weekly, one monthly — will keep you on track for big success. I’m committing to them and I hope you will, too: 1. Empty your email inbox every day. At every workshop I present, someone always asks how it’s possible to accomplish anything when you receive hundreds of emails a day. The answer is: you often can’t. You simply cannot achieve the big things when you get mired in the small…

• Gen Y and the Pursuit of Happiness

  Lindsey Pollak

  20 Dec 2011 | 12:14 pm

  I’m a huge fan of YPulse, especially their daily newsletter that keeps me up to date on all things Millennial. I was honored to have the opportunity to write a guest blog post for their site. As always, I’d love to know your thoughts on this topic — please share in the Comments! Gen Y and the Pursuit of Happiness Could anything be more fundamentally American than the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Probably not. But the definition of that last, elusive word — happiness — seems to be changing dramatically as the Millennial generation enters…

• How to Attract and Retain Generation Y: Interview with Business Insider

  Lindsey Pollak

  7 Dec 2011 | 7:00 am

  This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Karlee Weinmann of Business Insider to discuss a hot topic these days: how to attract and retain Generation Y (a.k.a. Millennials). As Karlee notes in her introduction, I split my time between teaching Gen Ys how to get jobs with employers  and teaching employers how to hire and retain Gen Ys. Karlee asked some pretty provocative questions and I was happy to give my honest answers. Here is an excerpt… BI: Why is it important to give [Generation Y] consideration in hiring? LP: Demographically, they are as big as — and will probably become…

• Does Your Resume “Resunate”?

  Lindsey Pollak

  23 Nov 2011 | 7:00 am

  I recently spoke with Mona Adbel-Hailm, the co-inventor of Resunate.com, to learn more about her company’s new approach to resume creation. In a nutshell, Resunate enables job seekers to create customized, job specific resumes. As I learned in a demo, your work experience gets screened against any job description and then indicates if you’re a strong match. Resunate then helps you improve your resume accordingly. Here is my full conversation with Mona: Q: Who is the team behind Resunate and why did you choose to build a business in the area of job hunting? A: My co-founders and I met in…

• 

  The Student Affairs Collaborative

• #SAChat Transcript — 1/26/12 — HigherEd Response to the #SOTU address

  nope

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:11 pm

  Thanks to everyone who participated in our #SAchat focused on HigherEd’s response to the State of the Union Address. This week’s topic produced 300 tweets from 73 student affairs professionals, graduate students and undergraduates interested or working in the Student Affairs field! Full Transcript View as a Google Document What are some other topics you would like to see us cover? Please let us know your ideas and feedback to keep #sachat growing strong. Until next week, (if you haven’t already done so) please make sure to LIKE our Facebook Page. Thanks for your continued…

• Six Words

  nope

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:13 am

  As a self-described “creative person” I find inspiration in the most random things. My brain is able to take a component from one part of my life and link it to another (completely unrelated) area. For example, while in a leadership class in grad school, my mind began to wander and suddenly I had brainstormed leadership lessons that I had learned through musicals. This was then turned into a very fun, very energetic presentation at a women’s leadership conference. Welcome to my world—to me, anything can inspire my next staff development or lead me to brainstorm a campaign for RA…

• TuesTally: Work/Life/Lunch Breaks

  nope

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

  Your browser doesn’t support iFrames Vote for this poll here.

• Three Words

  nope

  23 Jan 2012 | 10:42 am

  Jessica’s email simply read “Are you ok?” Over the past eleven days I had asked her that question a dozen times. Through text messages, phone calls, and emails we have been working together as she has been gracefully managing a sorority that has experienced tragedy. At about noon on New Year’s Day, the President of her sorority was left in critical condition after a terrible car accident. The “young” sorority has struggled with managing their emotions as their friend, sister, and center of their sorority lies in a hospital bed fighting for her life yet, Jessica took the time to as…

• #SAChat Transcript — 1/19/12 — Student Affairs Credentials

  nope

  20 Jan 2012 | 9:54 am

  Thanks to everyone who participated in our #SAchat focused on Credentials for Student Affairs. This week’s topic produced 481 tweets from 81 student affairs professionals, graduate students and undergraduates interested or working in the Student Affairs field! Full Transcript View as a Google Document What are some other topics you would like to see us cover? Please let us know your ideas and feedback to keep #sachat growing strong. Until next week, (if you haven’t already done so) please make sure to LIKE our Facebook Page. Thanks for your continued support!

• 

  It's Getting Hot In Here

• L.A.’s Dark Secret

  Sparki

  26 Jan 2012 | 12:03 pm

  via movieposter.com In the 1974 classic Roman Polanski neo-noir film Chinatown, private detective Jake Gittes (played by Jack Nicholson) discovers one of LA’s dirty secrets. He finds that wealthy developers are legally stealing precious water from poor struggling farmers in California’s central valley to hydrate the wealthy homes of Beverly Hills and a rapidly growing Los Angeles.  It’s a sorted tale of corrupt local politics, exploited natural resources, an earlier version of the 1% vs. the 99% and seemingly the “future” of the city. In a similar vein, despite growing green…

• BREAKING: Keystone XL Denied!

  Joshua Kahn Russell

  18 Jan 2012 | 12:07 pm

  In case you haven’t heard the thunderous celebration by the North American climate movement, today the State Dept is set to outright reject the Keystone XL pipeline. #booyah This is a reminder that people power works. Direct Action works. Social movements work. Grassroots organizing works. Lets take some time today to celebrate another huge victory. Every time we win, it builds our resolve for the next fight. We know the fossil fuel industry owns Congress, and so far the Keystone XL campaign has been like playing Whack-A-Mole, or kinda like going to battle with a zombie who just…

• If you were speaker of the house…

  Phil Aroneanu

  18 Jan 2012 | 10:14 am

  Last week, House Speaker John Boehner’s office released a video that tried to make the case to build the Keystone Pipeline. The video contained more than a few factual errors, so we decided to make a followup video to make sure folks know the truth. Enjoy! Join us in Washington, DC at 12pm on Tuesday, January 24 to Blow the Whistle on Congress! And here’s Boehner’s original video: Filed under: global warming

• Bank of America ATMs In San Francisco Turned Into Truth Machines

  Sparki

  13 Jan 2012 | 3:23 pm

  via understory.ran.org Originally posted on the RAN Understory by Mike G. RAN activists took to the streets of San Francisco last night and turned every Bank of America ATM in the city into an Automated Truth Machine. The activists used special non-adhesive stickers designed to look exactly like BoA’s ATM interface. But instead of checking and savings accounts, these new menus offered a list of everything BoA customers’ money is being used for, including investment in coal-fired power plants, foreclosure on Americans’ homes, bankrolling of climate change, and paying for fat executive…

• No surprise: US Chamber Pushes Keystone XL Scam

  jamiehenn

  12 Jan 2012 | 12:12 pm

  In news that will surprise just about no one, US Chamber of Commerce president Tom Donahue hosted a press conference today where he offered full-throated support for the Keystone XL pipeline, that 1,700 mile Big Oil scam that would take tar sands oil from Canada down to the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Over the last few weeks, Keystone XL has become a major political fight as Congress and Big Oil (now there are two popular institutions) have tried to slam the project down the American people’s throats, despite the fact that President Obama already delayed the project for at least a year over…

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  Managing Leadership

• A Baker’s Dozen for 2012

  Jim Stroup

  1 Jan 2012 | 3:04 pm

  It is time once again for the always pleasant task of offering a New Year’s list of recommended additions to your daily reading. While the Mayan calendar may be winding down this year, the value of these authors and their insightful writing surely won’t – I expect they will remain valuable sources of thought-provoking and actionable insight, as they have been for many years for me, and as I hope they will be for you for many years to come. Please do bookmark this page and give them all a thorough visit over the next week or so. You undoubtedly will be glad you did. Here they are, in…

• Pod people

  Jim Stroup

  18 Dec 2011 | 10:44 am

  As the modern leadership movement’s (MLM) many and various advocates compete for attention, we inevitably find ourselves being bombarded with simplistic insights, each one, its “discoverer” will argue, the very cornerstone of a brave new world that can be built only on its foundation. As it happens, if you can dismiss the ludicrous promises made for many of these, what is left may still be useful to peruse, even thought-provoking and helpful. Unfortunately, though, the intensity of our angst over how we each individually relate to the pseudo-vital subject of leadership can…

• Real people

  Jim Stroup

  17 Oct 2011 | 2:26 am

  The purpose of this current discussion is to identify the key and fundamental problems with the notion of individual leadership in modern organizations as it is professed and propounded by the modern leadership movement (MLM); to outline the case against this misguided concept. Many of these have been addressed to one extent or another, as well, in other discussions on these pages. But today’s subject is one that belongs firmly in our current topic. It is easily among the most astoundingly ill-conceived, and even dangerous, of the many bafflingly preposterous claims made by the MLM. It…

• Looking for leadership

  Jim Stroup

  31 Jul 2011 | 1:15 pm

  Some years ago a game was used to identify the presence and dynamism of leaders. Groups were randomly organized, then each was tasked with building a tower out of Tinkertoys. The towers had to be both sturdy and tall, and time was sufficiently restricted to make either accomplishment difficult. Roles within the groups were not pre-assigned, but were left to the members to sort out. There were two run-throughs, one allowing speech followed by one allowing only gestures. Each group identified its leader based on the roles that members took or acceded to during the exercise. Then the groups…

• Fertile imaginations

  Jim Stroup

  30 Jun 2011 | 1:56 pm

  It was once popular, some years after a best-selling management book highlighted specific companies as exemplars of this or that fad, to reassess those businesses and to delight perversely in how far the putatively mighty had fallen. It’s not always fair to blame the companies per se – perhaps new managers had proven inept or had strayed from a decent methodology, or more fundamentally negative influences had washed over the outfits from the markets or government. But for all that, it can be instructive to run down the rolls of champions touted as winners for their expression of…

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  Bird's Eye View

• Let's Talk About Resumes...Or Not

  Wf360

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:27 am

  What if your next job is at a company where they don't read resumes?  What if they were more interested in your web presence, the conversations you initiate and the topics you discuss?  That would no doubt reveal much more about the real you than whatever is on your resume, don't you think? Apparently some employers are doing just that.  Consider what it may mean to you about your current web activities.  Do they reflect the person you want employers to seek out?  Another thing about traditional resumes: many people give little thought to the things they include at the bottom,…

• Silent Cocktails With Marina Abramovic

  Wf360

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:33 pm

  Imagine being at a cocktail party.  The kind where the champagne they serve is the good stuff, really good stuff like Veuve Clicquot.  And the food that is passed it cordon blue with raspberry chutney.  Good so far, right? Now imagine that by design, the cocktail party is entirely silent.  You don't talk.  And even if you did, no one would hear you because you are all wearing noise-cancelling headphones.  So you walk around looking at other people--and they you--without speaking.  Sound fascinating?  Boring?  Funny? Well, just that kind of party took place in Park City, Utah, as…

• Silent Film, "The Artist," And Conversation

  Wf360

  24 Jan 2012 | 2:04 pm

  I seem to be on a kick about silence over the past couple of days, what with Marina Abramovic, the performance artist who sat for months at MOMA, saying nothing and staring into the eyes of strangers across the table from her (yes, you really had to experience it to know it was not, well, nuts). I see a link, though, between what prompted the enthusiasm of so many people for Marina's silent performance art and the movie that is in the running for Oscars this year, "The Artist."  How can this be?  In this age of action flicks, mayhem and noise at every turn, screaming…

• What Does Marina Abramovic Have To Do With Conversation?

  Wf360

  23 Jan 2012 | 2:14 pm

  It may seem odd that I'm fascinated by Marina Abramovic, the performance artist that some people think is a genius, others think is a flake, and still others think is duping us all.  Some say she is the "mother of performance art" and depending on your view of performance art in general, that may be enough to turn you off...or on. I saw Marina in action--well, in INaction to be more precise_-when she saged her months long performance at New York's Museum of Modern Art.  Basically, she sat on a chair for the whole day, every day, for months, across a small table from any…

• Why Are Asians Smiling And Parisians Crying?

  Wf360

  20 Jan 2012 | 1:06 pm

  Well, maybe not crying, but the mood in Paris at the recent Inner Circle there was pessimistic, wary, cautious.  A brilliant group had lots to say about the challenges and possibilities around innovation, agreeing that it is essential to progress but tough to pull off in the current economic turmoil. All of them lead major businesses and all say it is difficult to predict what will happen over this next year in Europe because of the economic slowdown.  Heck, there are people who seriously think it’s possible the Euro will be abandoned.So it's been a sharp contrast to talk with the…

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  Management Skills Blog

• Not Prepared for the Interview

  Tom Foster

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:38 am

  “But, the resume is their experience,” Alisha complained. “It’s the central document I use, in the course of an interview.” “The problem is, you look at the resume instead of the role you are trying to fill. You ask questions about the resume, instead of asking questions about the role and the candidate’s experience and capability related to the role,” I responded. “But the resume is their experience,” Alisha repeated. “It’s the biggest piece of paper in the process.” “The reason the resume is the biggest…

• Playing Into the Hands of the Headhunter

  Tom Foster

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:34 am

  “So, you think you have the upper hand in this interview process?” I asked. “Because you are the Hiring Manager and get to make the decision, you think you have the power during the interview?” Alisha stopped. “Well, it is my decision.” “When was the last time you conducted an interview for an open position on your team?” “Nine months ago, we had to replace someone who left,” she replied. “That’s part of the problem,” I pressed. “Hiring Managers don’t interview candidates often enough to get good at it.

• It’s Not a Gamble

  Tom Foster

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:57 am

  Greetings from San Jose. I would like to welcome our new subscribers from Sacramento. “I just don’t know if he can do the job,” lamented Morgan. “It always seems to be a throw of the dice.” “Why should it be a gamble?” I asked. “Why shouldn’t you be absolutely certain if Randy can do the job? He has worked here for two years.” “Yes, but he has never been a supervisor before. And if we promote him and he can’t do the job, we will be stuck. We will either have to demote him or fire him. And demotion doesn’t work very…

• WHO is on the Team?

  Tom Foster

  24 Jan 2012 | 7:21 am

  Greetings from Sacramento. From the Ask Tom mailbag – Question: What do you feel are truly the most effective skills that I need to think about as a new manager? Response: Hiring and firing, top of the list. The most important skill for any manager is the ability to select the right team members. This makes all other management skills seem like a walk in the park. The manager who selects the wrong team members will forever spend time trying to fix the problems that come from hiring mis-steps. And that time spent trying to motivate, coach and correct behavior will be frustrating, life…

• What Matters in the Interview

  Tom Foster

  23 Jan 2012 | 5:41 am

  Winging my way to Sacramento today, for a workshop tomorrow on the research of Elliott Jaques. Working with Lonnie Martin’s Vistage group. Our 2012 edition of Hiring Talent kicks off today. This online program is now self-paced, on demand. For more information, follow the Sign-Up link. This didn’t come from the mailbag, just a real conversation. Question: We’re glad that you’re here. We have a candidate down the hall. Our interview team has talked to him and everybody likes him. Can you spend a few minutes and see if you like him, too? Response: Sounds like an innocent…

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  Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) | Created and Implemented by CultureRx

• My Employees Aren’t Working From Home. They’re Watching the Olympics!

  Cali & Jody

  23 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am

  Image: Flickr user law_keven As London prepares for the 2012 Olympics, many organisations are thinking about the difficult problem of getting employees into the office. Consider the enormous changes that will be coming to Town (according to the Daily Mail): Around 5.3 million people are expected to turn up for the 16 days of the London Olympics. On the busiest day, they estimate 800,000 people will be using public transport. This puts a financial and logistical strain on businesses and employees who just want to get to work. In fact, Transport for London (TfL) has urged small and…

• [Infographic] What Kind of Boss Are You: Micro-manager or Coach?

  Cali & Jody

  16 Jan 2012 | 11:42 am

  If micro-managers are like babysitters, then the bosses we all hope to have are like great coaches. Coaches inspire and bring out the best in their team. Micro-managers slowly suck the life out of you. Everybody knows a micro-manager, but nobody claims to be one. Certainly, bosses view themselves differently than their employees see them. 1 in 3 managers say they use a coaching style, but only 1 in 5 employees agree (according to this Adecco study). So, here’s our take on some of the most distinctive attributes of an inspiring coach and a micro-manager. Take this quiz and see what…

• 5 Changes to Employee Benefits That Will Save You Money

  Cali & Jody

  9 Jan 2012 | 9:09 am

  Companies are getting really creative with their employee benefits: to save money, to attract talent, or to retain talent. There’s no doubt about it, businesses have a hard job of finding the right mix of benefits to keep employees happy, but also meet the bottom line. We’re not about to get into health care and retirement benefits, but we do have a few suggestions for changes in your employee benefits that will help you save money and attract top talent. 1. Stop Tracking Vacation Time or Paid Time Off (PTO) Tracking vacation time or PTO is a huge liability to a company. There is…

• Blame the BlackBerry: Company Policies That Totally Miss the Point

  Cali & Jody

  2 Jan 2012 | 8:30 am

  [Hi there! Thanks for reading the blog. We wanted to let you know about our radio show coming up this week. We're pretty excited about it. The show is on BlogTalkRadio, and Jody and Cali will be chatting live about Managing the Virtual Workforce this Wednesday, Jan. 4 at 12 central. Click here to bookmark the site and participate in the live show!] Remember when you were a teenager and your parents would take away your TV or phone privileges, when you abused them? You didn’t know when to stop. It was for your own good! A similar phenomenon seems to be happening in the workplace when it…

• Happy 2012 from the ROWE-bots

  Cali & Jody

  29 Dec 2011 | 8:08 am

  May you all have a safe and happy New Year! Aren’t you glad you don’t have a boss like this… or do you?

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  The Enlightened Manager

• More Myths about Dysfunctional Teams

  cheri@emergenceconsulting.net (Cheri Baker)

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:33 am

  I was checking my LinkedIn updates last week when I saw a highlighted article about fixing dysfunctional teams at Forbes.com.   Restoring trust and productivity in teams is my niche, so of course I was eager to click and read what others were saying.  Sadly, I found that some myths are still alive and well. Myth One:   To fix a dysfunctional team, fire the troublemakers. It sounds promising right?  You fire your bad apples, and everything gets better.  The problem is that this works for about a month or two, and then a new troublemaker…

• Fire the Customer! The Case for Partnership vs. Subservience.

  cheri@emergenceconsulting.net (Cheri Baker)

  25 Jan 2012 | 11:24 am

  If there is one saying I hate, it’s that the “customer is always right.” Even beyond the logical absurdity of the statement, it creates a feeling of insincerity. No one is always right, and pretending makes liars out of us. Sometimes the customer is wrong. Sometimes they are simply asking for what you are not able to offer. Sometimes a customer can be abusive, and sometimes a customer needs to be fired. One of the great lessons of consulting is that it teaches you to work in partnership with others. My clients have needs, and it’s my job to meet and exceed them. I also have needs,…

• Your Voice as an Instrument of Service

  cheri@emergenceconsulting.net (Cheri Baker)

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:15 am

  I love Irish music. The way that it manages to be sweet and melancholy at the same time has the power to lift me out the present moment and place me on another continent and another time. Before we had orchestras, we had our voices, the first human instrument. What if we could use our voice as an instrument of customer service? Chances are that we are doing it already. If you’ve ever raised your voice in passion to drive home a point in a conversation, or slowed down your rate of speech to soothe an upset friend, you’ve experienced the power of your voice as an instrument of service. When…

• Beyond Customer Service 101

  cheri@emergenceconsulting.net (Cheri Baker)

  23 Jan 2012 | 9:04 am

  One of the frustrations I have with customer service training is that it’s very easy to get stuck in the land of “Customer Service 101.” I was talking with a client about this yesterday. We’re working on a project to improve customer satisfaction for a technical support team. I love surveys, focus groups, and interviews, because they give us real data to base our assumptions on. Do we think customers are unhappy? Let’s validate that assumption. Do we think customer service needs to be improved? Let’s take a look at the feedback, both high and low, to get a feel for the specific…

• Goal Setting Toolkit for 2012

  cheri@emergenceconsulting.net (Cheri Baker)

  22 Jan 2012 | 10:57 am

  Before the month comes to a close, I wanted to ask – did you download my new Goal Setting Toolkit for 2012?  It’s full of information on  how to set good goals, how to set goals with a team, and plenty of templates, worksheets, and examples. The toolkit is free for my newsletter subscribers up through January 31st, and after that it will go into my web store for $4.99.   If you want the 2012 Goal Setting Toolkit, email me by January 31st 2012 and I’ll add you to my mailing list and send  you the PDF.   Happy Goal Setting!

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  Women on Business

• Lessons from J.C. Penney

  Leona Charles

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:45 am

  Earlier this week, J.C. Penney announced that it was going to undergo a major overhaul in the way it does business and communicates with its customers. As we watch this change unfold and wait for customer reactions, here are some of the more positive things business owners can pull from the strategy. Simplify, Simplify Simplify This is the best part of the strategy, even though the J.C. Penney strategy is really not simple. They have a three tags system: red for everyday low prices, white for monthly value and a blue tag for the cheapest price. What is simple is creating a normal price tag…

• 3 Benefits of Having an Irresistible Website

  Jess Webb

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:29 am

  Having a website that is irresistible can make a huge difference for you and your business. In fact, I would even say that it’s vital for your website to be absolutely irresistible, and without that your site is not going to be as effective as it’s meant to be. So why does your website need to be irresistible? Here are 3 benefits that you will see when you have an irresistible website: 1. Attract Your Ideal Customers Having an irresistible website will help you to attract customers. And get this, it will not just help you to attract ANY customers, but will attract your ideal customers,…

• Women, Leadership, Self-Care, and BLUE MONDAY

  Sylvia Lafair

  23 Jan 2012 | 9:46 am

  You wake up Monday morning, pour yourself a glass of orange juice, and get breakfast ready for your clan. Off to the office, you battle the traffic, thinking about how to tell your rebel employee that there have been complaints about his behavior. You dread the meeting and yet know it can’t wait. Pulling into the parking lot you feel a wave of frustration, seeing that someone has parked in your reserved spot and the rain is now coming down in buckets. Glad there is an umbrella on the back seat, you make a run for it hugging folders from last night’s homework close to your chest. The…

• Thank You Ma’am

  Leona Charles

  20 Jan 2012 | 8:30 am

  Last night I read a wonderful article in Entrepreneur about giving praise to your staff. It was wonderfully written, but I thought the article was missing the most important element of praising your staff-sincerity. So with that in mind I wanted to highlight the reasons why sincerity should be included in your praise package. A sincere thank you is a million times better than a well-crafted one. I agree that there are certain guidelines you should follow for keeping a thank you short and sweet, but ultimately if it isn’t sincere it isn’t going to make a difference.  The key to a great…

• Be Irresistible from the Inside Out (because even your online presence starts with YOU)

  Jess Webb

  19 Jan 2012 | 8:42 am

  I talk a lot about how to be irresistible online, to attract your ideal customers and make more money. But the fact is that most of us really don’t feel very irresistible, and it can feel like a big stretch to imagine ourselves actually being irresistible to potential customers. If you don’t feel irresistible inside and out, then it’s going to be difficult to figure out how to be irresistible online. Because even your online presence and marketing has to start with YOU. And if you’re not feeling it, the people who come in contact with you are going to pick up on that. Harness the…

• 

  The Glass Hammer

• Strategies for Using Social Media to Build Your Personal Brand

  No Byline

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  Contributed by JJ DiGeronimo Have you often wondered why so many are updating, posting, reading and retweeting?  It could be a full time job if you think about all the information created daily.  For some it is – and for some of us it is a way to stay aware of the trends, reports, and news worthy details while highlighting our area of expertise. Is there a way to leverage what you read to enhance your professional brand? Many women, already over committed, initially see social media as a waste of time, and let’s face it, do we really need to be posting our whereabouts and food…

• Study: Women in Alternative Investments See Brighter Days Ahead

  No Byline

  26 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pm

  By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City) “Even during this time of economic turmoil, women are generally positive about the ability to find investments in the industry,” said Kelly Easterling, Principal in the Financial Services Practice at Rothstein Kass and Principal-in-Charge of the Firm’s Walnut Creek office. Rothstein Kass, the alternative investments professional services firm, recently released the results of its study, “Women in Alternative Investments – Industry Outlook and Trends.” The firm has been performing surveys on industry views since 2007, Easterling explained, but…

• Must Women Pry the Boardroom Door Open?

  No Byline

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City) In a ForbesWoman article earlier this month, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, founding president of the Center for Talent Innovation (formerly Center for Work-Life Policy), wrote that while there are 144 boards with no women in the Fortune 1000 and women make up only 15 percent of all Fortune 1000 directors, there is also some good news when it comes to the effort to achieve board parity. The good news, Hewlett says, is that over 1,100 directors on Fortune 1000 boards are over 70 years old. If we only wait just a bit longer, she suggests, soon qualified women can…

• Transition Coaching: Is It Time for a New Approach to Working Mothers?

  No Byline

  25 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pm

  Contributed by Geraldine Gallacher, founder of the Executive Coaching Consultancy, London The United States and United Kingdom share many common bonds and approaches to business. However, in the area of maternity leave and support for working mothers we have widely differing views. I recently spent time in New York to assess how US enterprises approach the business of executive coaching – specifically in the support of women preparing for maternity leave, during their leave and through the process of returning to work. I was expecting to find more similarities than differences, but what…

• Three Convenient Non-Excuses Keeping Women Off Boards

  No Byline

  25 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City) The Financial Times recently reported that the number of female executive directors on FTSE 350 boards has slipped in the past year – even after significant work to raise awareness of the benefits of board diversity in the UK following the release of the Lord Davies Report. In fact, wrote Elizabeth Rigsby, the FT’s Chief Political Correspondent, “89 per cent of FTSE 350 companies have no female executives on their boards.” Prospective female directors in the US are faring better – but not by much. According to Catalyst research released…

• 

  Leadership Expert

• Lessons in Leadership – Flash, Bang, Wallop goes Kodak

  simonteague

  22 Jan 2012 | 10:52 am

  Last week brought the sad news of the collapse of Kodak as it fails to keep up with the times. The company which pioneered photography bringing us the very first pictures from the moon and making photography into both an industry and a past-time for millions of people worldwide, filed for bankruptcy protection. Founded in 1880 [...]

• Be a winner in 2012.

  simonteague

  16 Jan 2012 | 6:19 am

  People often ask me “what does it take to be a leader in today’s complex world?”  Granted, we are seeing unprecedented change in the business world in which we all operate. We are traversing choppy waters and it will take more skills than ever before for leaders to navigate their teams, organisations and themselves through [...]

• The Hedgehog Effect by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries

  simonteague

  11 Jan 2012 | 9:10 am

  Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries has written over 35 books on the subject of leadership and the dynamics of both individuals and teams during periods of organisational change. A clinical professor of leadership development, he has been rated by The Financial Times and The Economist as one of the worlds leading leadership theorists and among [...]

• Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson

  simonteague

  6 Jan 2012 | 7:29 am

    What is good leadership?   Based on more than forty interviews with the late Steve Jobs, conducted over two years, as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors and colleagues, this book chronicles the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and a ferocious [...]

• How To Be A Leader

  simonteague

  3 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am

    To answer the question how can I become a leader, it’s important for us to begin with an understanding of what makes a leader, and indeed what makes a great leader? I recently met Dr Stephen Covey, world renowned expert on personal development and author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  His definition of [...]

• 

  RapidBI

• Today’s thoughts January 27, 2012

  support

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:31 pm

  Everything You need to know about QR Codes Everything You need to know about QR Codes and the neat thing is… this image still works! Mike Morrison RapidBI.com Blog: The real difference is marketing – a case study The real difference is marketing – a case study Take 2 products – one could argue that [...]

• Today’s thoughts January 25, 2012

  support

  25 Jan 2012 | 5:30 pm

  How many People us LinkedIn? How many People us LinkedIn? Official stats from LinkedIn on users & usage Interesting stuff Why are they releasing this now…? Mike Morrison RapidBI.com Blog: Training & Developing Remote workers Training & Developing Remote workers Mike Morrison RapidBI.com Blog: RapidBI is an organizational effectiveness consultancy based in the UK but [...]

• Today’s thoughts January 24, 2012

  support

  24 Jan 2012 | 5:30 pm

  iOS or Android – tablets levelled? iOS or Android – tablets levelled? Hear from a seasoned Apple enthusiast… What do you think? Mike Morrison RapidBI.com Blog: Social Media & your Business Communication Strategy Social Media & your Business Communication Strategy Many of us believe in social media, but do we really have a clear strategy? [...]

• Today’s thoughts January 23, 2012

  support

  23 Jan 2012 | 5:30 pm

  Social Content Marketing Social Content Marketing The what’s, why’s and wherefore’s of Social media marketing and content. Mike Morrison RapidBI.com Blog: Community education/ engagement project – help needed Community education/ engagement project – help needed Hi all I have had an idea in my head for some time & feel it is time to take [...]

• Today’s thoughts January 21, 2012

  support

  21 Jan 2012 | 5:30 pm

  #keyword of the week here on the blogs.. thoughts? #keyword of the week here on the blogs.. thoughts? For many the blogs are for sharing thought, for others getting notices. But one use that is not used to its fullest extent is for “backlinks” Now I know that William has mentioned about “no-follow”, but it [...]

• 

  Rich Gee Group

• How To Never Make A Mistake At Work.

  Rich Gee

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:10 am

  Do you make mistakes too?

• YOU Are The Real Problem At Work.

  Rich Gee

  25 Jan 2012 | 12:00 am

  Look around the room, it it's not anyone else, it's YOU.

• How To Network Like A Pro.

  Rich Gee

  24 Jan 2012 | 4:30 am

  You need to do it right or not at all.

• Is Your Career Going Up? Or Down?

  Rich Gee

  23 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  This week was chock full of incredible conversations with clients, colleagues, partners and prospects! All had wonderful ideas and goals. Kudos! One of the topics that I discussed with many of them was my theory that our world is changing.

• How To Be A Confident Executive.

  Rich Gee

  20 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  When I talk with clients, I find there are varying degrees of confidence - total confidence, situational confidence, interpersonal interaction confidence, or no confidence whatsoever. My job as a coach is to help build and fashion my client's confidence level to suit their needs and to help them excel at whatever they do.

• 

  EveryJoe

• Chick of the Day: Evelyn Lozada

  Stephen Kersey

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:35 pm

  VH1’s Basketball Wives star Evelyn Lozada has taken over Maxim Digital in an ultra sexy photo shoot for the #1 Men’s Mag. This Puerto Rican beauty had an opportunity to dish on her guilty pleasures, how a Louboutin shoe almost delayed her flight and why she calls her AFC champion fiancé Chad Ochocinco “Poopsicle”! “I was so thrilled and honored to shoot with Maxim magazine! This was one of the most professional and best shoots I’ve ever had and it was truly exhilarating!” “Evelyn Lozada is turning out to become one of the hottest reality stars on the scene and everyone is…

• Fox Morning Show Co-Anchor Greg Kelly Accused of Rape

  Kori Ellis

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:46 pm

  Greg Kelly, the co-host of FOX’s “Good Day New York” and the son of Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, has been accused of rape. Not only does the 30-year-old paralegal claim the sexual assault occurred, she also says that she got pregnant and subsequently had an abortion as a result of the attack. The Manhattan district attorney’s office is investigating the allegation, and Kelly has not been charged with any crime as of yet. However, he has “strenuously” denied the charge through his lawyer. The alleged rape occurred back on Oct 8 when the two allegedly met on…

• Pat Sajak & Vanna White Hosted “Wheel of Fortune” Drunk

  Kori Ellis

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:37 pm

  In a recent interview, Pat Sajak revealed that back in the day he and his co-host Vanna White would sometimes host the show while drunk. “Vanna and I would go across and have two or three or six [margaritas] and then come and do the last shows and have trouble recognizing the alphabet. They’re really great tapes to get a hold of,” Sajak said. Post from: EveryJoe

• Rihanna Gets a “Thug Life” Tattoo

  Kori Ellis

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:29 pm

  Rihanna showed off her new tattoo on Twitter yesterday. It reads “Thug Life” across her knuckles in pale pink ink. I’m sure Tupac is rolling over in his grave (if he’s really dead). The tattoo looks ridiculous on her, but at least you can barely see it. Also, she needs to work on her camera angles. Look at that forehead fivehead sixhead! Post from: EveryJoe

• Could Facebook Shut Down Over SOPA & PIPA?

  Kori Ellis

  17 Jan 2012 | 1:30 pm

  If you are like many people, you are reading a lot about SOPA and PIPA right now. To get the lowdown, check out this post about how SOPA/PIPA can affect you. Also, watch this video about understanding SOPA and PIPA, and find out if Facebook could actually shut down. Though Wikipedia is going dark over SOPA/PIPA tomorrow. Many companies actually support SOPA, from ABC to Visa. Allison Boyer of BlogWorld has a good piece about Why SOPA Scares the You-Know-What Out of Me that talks about a lot of worrisome loopholes. You should also read this article from Daily Kos about the repeated blows SOPA…

• 

  Inside Personal Growth

• Podcast 335: The One Minute To-Do List with Michael Linenberger

  Greg Voisen

  23 Jan 2012 | 9:32 pm

  In the New Year I wanted to treat my listeners and supporters to better ways to manage their time and life.  This is my second interview with author Michael Linenberger, about this new book entitled ” The One Minute To-Do List“. When Michael states that he can help you quickly get your chaos completely under control he is absolutely correct.  In my interview with Michael we discuss how he recommends his clients approach their to-do lists into urgency zones.  The first zone is referred to as the “Critical Now“.  These are items that you know are absolutely due…

• Podcast 334: Why Can’t I Get Rid Of This Clutter with Sallie Felton

  Greg Voisen

  23 Jan 2012 | 7:58 pm

  It is the beginning of a New Year for everyone, and if you are like me it is time to do some house cleaning.  I have known Sallie Felton author of “Why Can’t I Get Rid of this Clutter” for sometime, what I did not know that she is known at the clutter coach. In my interview with Sallie  about her new book “Why Can’t I Get Rid of This Clutter” she provides sound practical advice for anyone looking to find the top of their desk, to cleaning out all of that stuff that has been hanging around collecting dust and zapping our psychic energy.  As Sallie…

• Podcast 333: Madness at the Gates of the City: The Myth of American Innocence with Barry Spector

  Greg Voisen

  23 Jan 2012 | 6:19 pm

  I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Barry Spector the author of his new book entitled ” Madness at the Gates of the City-The Myth of American Innocence.”    In this book Barry describes the madness of American public life in our time of diminished imagination.  The author states that we have constructed walls, both physical and emotional, to protect against the terror outside.  Inside, while we distract ourselves with consumerism and fundamentalism, the anxiety drains our vanity. This book invites you inside our mythic walls and asks you to examine your own ideas of…

• Podcast 332: The Radical Leap Re-Energized with Steve Farber

  Greg Voisen

  19 Jan 2012 | 9:46 pm

  I have known author Steve Farber for several years now, and this is my second podcast  with him. His new book entitled “The Radical Leap Re-Energized” is the subject of this interview The Radical Leap Re-Engerized is designed for those readers and leaders who do what they do because they love it,  and and they are in service to others. Steve is extremely passionate about his work, and in this new book which is part non-fiction and part fiction Steve guides the reader to renew their excitement for what they do and encourage others to lead with passion.  What Steve refers to…

• Podcast 331: The Prayer Chest with August Gold

  Greg Voisen

  30 Dec 2011 | 4:37 pm

  In this spiritual parable entitled ” The Prayer Chest” authors August Gold and Joel Fotinos tell the story of Joseph Hutchinson a man who know the reality of tragedy all to well. His life has been filled with misfortune and adversity.  A widowed father of two, living on a farm that is about to be taken from him, he embarks on a unexpected journey that will bring him face to face with the greatest fears, and ultimately with his greatest discovery…a mysterious wooden box hidden in his attic over one hundred years earlier. This box, “The Prayer Chest, contains the Three…

• 

  First Friday Book Synopsis

• Don’t Let Strengths Create Setbacks

  Bob Morris

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:50 am

  Here is an article written by Anthony M. Gigliott for Talent Management magazine. To check out all the resources and sign up for a free subscription to the TM and/or Chief Learning Officer magazines published by MedfiaTec, please click here. *     *     * Sometimes the same strengths that support a leader’s successes can turn into professional [...]

• David Zinger: An interview by Bob Morris

  Bob Morris

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:32 am

  David Zinger founded and hosts the Employee Engagement Network, a 4500 global member community devoted to employee engagement.  David is an author, educator, and speaker. He wrote over 1400 blog posts and authored two books on work – Zengage: How to Get More Into Your Work to Get More Out of Your Work and Assorted [...]

• Competence/Great Skill PLUS Integrity/Character PLUS… – Thoughts on Finding/Hiring that “Rare Find”

  Randy Mayeux

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:15 am

  “Well, maybe I’ll just hang up here in the air for a while…” (Michael Jordan; “Rare Air”- the phrase was used as the title of a short volume by Michael Jordan, with photographs by Walter Iooss) ————— I miss Daniel Shorr.  A newsman for over 60 years, he was active on NPR practically right up [...]

• Stretch Goals: Do’s & Don’ts

  Bob Morris

  26 Jan 2012 | 12:03 pm

  In Built to Last, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras urge business leaders to set what they characterize as BHAGs: Big Hairy Audacious Goals. That is, an “audacious 10-to-30-year goal to progress toward an envisioned future.” A true BHAG is clear and compelling, serves as unifying focal point of effort, and acts as a clear catalyst [...]

• Learn How to Think Different(ly)

  Bob Morris

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:31 am

  Here is an excerpt from an article written by Jeff Dyer and Hal Gregersen for the Harvard Business Review blog. To read the complete article, check out the wealth of free resources, and sign up for a subscription to HBR email alerts, please click here. *     *     * In the Economist review of our book, [...]

• 

  Free Executive & Management Magazines and Downloads from alltop.tradepub.com

• Aberdeen Analyst Insight Paper: ERP & BI: When 1+1=3

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am

  Prompted by volatile markets and a troubled economy, the need to contain or reduce cost is key for small to medium size enterprises. In the pursuit of cost reductions and in the struggle to sustain and grow revenue and profits it becomes more and more important to preserve the level of visibility that becomes elusive as SMEs grow in both size and complexity. SMEs are turning more and more to both ERP and BI solutions to gain visibility and control.Request Free!

• Papa Gino's Boosts Sales and Customer Loyalty

  24 Jan 2012 | 8:50 pm

  See how they have been able to fine-tune marketing campaigns to not only increase the frequency of customers' online visits by 33 percent, but also boost the size of online customer orders by 40 to 70 percent.Request Free!

• Making Critical Connections: Predictive Analytics in Government

  24 Jan 2012 | 8:50 pm

  Predictive analytics can help your agency make critical connections. Predictive analytics technologies combine advanced analytical techniques with decision-support capabilities. Solutions incorporating predictive analytics enable various types of government organizations to explore data and gain insights that lead to informed decisions.Request Free!

• 4 Steps to Maximize Customer Profitability

  24 Jan 2012 | 8:20 pm

  You'll discover the basics of customer analytics, how it is being applied in today's banking environment and the benefits it can deliver for your organization. You'll also learn about the proven IBM solutions for customer analytics that banks around the world rely on to improve customer profitability.Request Free!

• Business Analytics in Retail for Dummies

  24 Jan 2012 | 8:20 pm

  This eBook offers principles and tools you can use to discover how your customers behave -- and how to put that knowledge into action to drive more sales. In this eBook, you'll learn how to:Understand the basic concepts of business analyticsDispel business intelligence mythsSet up scorecards and dashboardsMeasure consumer sentiment through social mediaRequest Free!

• 

  Hire and Retain Talent

• 3 Sales Managers In 3 Years. Whose Fault Is It?

  bradremillard

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:40 am

  Q. In the last three years we have hired and fired three sales managers. The last one lasted only 3 months. They all seem to have the right experience, skills and they interview well. Once on board though they either don’t seem to deliver the sales or don’t fit. Any suggestions on how to get [...] Related posts: Why Is Recruiting Sales People Like High School Sports? Why is it So Difficult to Hire Great Sales Professionals? What Role Does Luck Play When Hiring Sales People?

• Does Your Company Have A Bad Reputation In the Market?

  bradremillard

  19 Jan 2012 | 10:50 am

  Q. A few years back our company had a bad reputation in the industry. Since then we have changed management and most of the issues are long gone, but our reputation still lingers. We have been told this is affecting our ability to hire people. Recruiters have told us some candidates won’t go forward after [...] Related posts: Your Reputation Can Impact Hiring Top Talent Can Your Company Save Thousands Through HR Outsourcing? Who Is Responsible For Hiring Top Talent In Your Company?

• How Many Interviews Should It Take To Hire Someone?

  bradremillard

  12 Jan 2012 | 11:45 am

  Q. How many interviews should a company have when hiring someone? Our company has 9 or 10 people meet the candidate. Some candidates complain it is too long. Is there a normal number of interviews before hiring someone? It isn’t the quantity of the interviews but the quality of the interviews that counts.  When jointly [...] Related posts: Interviewing Only The Employed. Is It The Way To Hire? Can Your Candidates Demonstrate Initiative Before You Hire Them? Two Reasons Interviewing Fails So Often

• 4 Ways To Counter a Counter Offer

  bradremillard

  10 Jan 2012 | 10:13 am

  Counter offers should be expected, as nobody wants to lose their best people.  It is a lot easier to make a counter offer than to try to find a new person. Especially one that is top talent. In some strange way a counter offer is a good thing. It signals that the candidate’s current company [...] Related posts: A Candidate’s Background & Experience Are Irrelevant Who Is Responsible For Hiring Top Talent In Your Company? What Role Does Luck Play When Hiring Sales People?

• Hiring Mistake #3 – Inappropriate Prerequisites

  Barry Deutsch

  8 Jan 2012 | 10:19 am

  Hiring top talent is not the same as ordering in the drive-through line at your favorite fast food restaurant. In many companies, the hiring process is a comprised of picking items off a short list. “I’ll take a cheeseburger, no onions, fries, and a medium vanilla shake.” What does this sound like outside of our [...] Related posts: Why Hiring Fails: Hiring Mistake #1 – Inadequate Job Descriptions Why Hiring Fails: Hiring Mistake #2 – Superficial Interviewing Can You Avoid the Most Common Hiring Errors?

• 

  N2Growth Blog

• First Impressions

  admin

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:01 am

  By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth Do first impressions really matter? While they shouldn’t, the reality is that they most certainly do. As the old saying goes “you only get one chance to make a first impression,” and often times it is the perception of appearance that determines whether or not you are even afforded the opportunity to get up to bat. The truth is most people when first meeting someone will quickly attempt to size them up. Whether consciously, or unconsciously, they will make quick value judgments in an effort to assess your credibility…

• Leadership: Blinded by Success?

  admin

  16 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am

  By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth Can leaders be blinded by their own success? You bet…While success is what all leaders strive for, unless you’re prepared to handle it, success can quickly complicate your life. As strange as it may sound, success can often times be the precursor to failure. So my question is this: Is your success serving as a springboard toward significance, or is it merely a temporary state, precariously positioned and ready to implode with the slightest change in circumstance? Success without perspective, purpose, and focus can actually cause more…

• Is the Customer Always Right?

  admin

  11 Jan 2012 | 12:01 am

  By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth Is the customer really always right? How far should a company go to satisfy their clientele or customer base? What is the lost opportunity cost associated with customer churn? Is there a point when satisfying the customer is actually harmful to the enterprise, or back to the original question, is the customer always right? In today’s post I’ll share my opinion as to the validity of this old business axiom, and also offer a few insights on where to draw the line… I believe all businesses should use great care and concern when…

• Promote YOUR Blog Day

  admin

  6 Jan 2012 | 5:03 am

  By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth Today is promote your blog day 2012. Today is your day for fully authorized, gratuitous self-promotion of YOUR blog. For one day only, this is your chance to shamelessly plug your blog in the comments section below. I did this last year and thought I’d make it an annual event. It’s a fantastic way to help readers who share common interests find one another. So here’s how it works – In the comments section of this post include: Your name, blog name & description, link to your blog, RSS feed, your Twitter handle and…

• Leadership and Opportunity

  admin

  2 Jan 2012 | 7:05 am

  By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer,N2growth What better time to discuss opportunity than the start of a new year? Opportunity and timing are inexorably linked. So much so, that if you don’t think timing is everything - think again. Anyone paying attention to current events has recently witnessed that it doesn’t really matter whether you’re a politician, investment banker, CEO, or just an average citizen, when it comes to making a simple decision, managing a crisis, or attempting to exploit an opportunity, timing is everything. I’ve often heard people quip that…

• 

  Big Red Tomato Company

• How to read business books in less than 15 minutes

  Matthew Needham

  23 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm

  Business books are a cheap way of improving your business education without a large time commitment or financial outlay. For many years I’ve been a big fan of buying business books. In fact I’ve got shelves stacked high with them in my office and even some boxes of them in my parents garage. Some of them I’ve actually read. Books are cheap, easily portable and potentially full of profitable ideas. But there lies several problems: 1. Overbuying because they are cheap 2. Books take time to read and discover the profitable ideas 3. You never have them to hand when you need them…

• Weekend Round Up January 21

  Matthew Needham

  20 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm

  Welcome to Weekend Roundup. This is a collection of some great posts that I’ve come across over the previous week. I don’t go into major depth on each one, but encourage you to check them out if they sound interesting: Mark Cuban’s 12 Rules For Start Ups Article from Entrepreneur.com lists Mark Cuban’s 12 rules for starting a business together with some other links to some sage advice from the billionaire sports owner. 10 Books Every Entrepreneur should read from 2011 - pretty much what it says on the tin. 10 Books from 2011 you should make sure you read. Having read…

• Weekend roundup January 14

  Matthew Needham

  13 Jan 2012 | 11:30 pm

  Welcome to Weekend Roundup. This is a collection of some great posts that I’ve come across over the previous week. I don’t go into major depth on each one, but encourage you to check them out if they sound interesting How to get 1 million visitors in ONE year - Steve Scott shares his one year goal to get one million visitors to his website in 2012 and explains how you can do it too. How to conduct (and master) a webinar interview (Video/podcast) with Lewis Howes who shares his secrets in launching FB Influence mainly on the back of holding Webinars. Marketing Grader by…

• 52 Business Books to Read in 2012

  Matthew Needham

  5 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm

  I could take the time to read a fiction book, but I don’t. I would rather read websites, newspapers, magazines, looking for ideas and concepts that I can use. I spend time in bookstores because one idea from a book or magazine can make me money. Mark Cuban How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It Personally speaking, the best investment I have ever made has been in improving my own education. Consistently I’ve found this to be one of the best ways of making more money.  The more I invest in myself the more money I make. Over the years the best way I’ve…

• One lesson you should learn from annual reviews

  Matthew Needham

  27 Dec 2011 | 11:00 pm

  Over the next few weeks you will read blogs, newspaper articles and endure hours of TV coverage talking about the year that’s just about to end/gone and what the writer or presenter has learned over the previous 12 months. Welcome to the season of the annual review. If you want to save yourself a lot of time, I can  reveal  to you exactly what these annual reviews will  have  discovered – some things will have gone well and other things have not gone so well.  There will be analysis of why things worked out the way they did and maybe the odd photograph from some far flung…

• 

  Lead Change Group

• Tips for Better Listening based on 7 Types of Listeners

  Piera Palazollo

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:03 am

  Posted in Leadership DevelopmentExceptional listening skills can be the difference between a good team and a great team. Genuine listening builds trust, credibility and respect. When you fully listen instead of trying to compose a reply right away, the result is a relevant and on-target response. What you say when you do respond is proof of how well [...]

• People Are Not Units

  Shawn Murphy

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:01 am

  Posted in Leadership DevelopmentYour computer is a unit. You have an air conditioning unit. Unit is a measurement with a definite value. Engineers have predictably mapped out how your computer and air conditioning unit works and performs under a variety of conditions. Businesses have a history of attempting to do the same thing to humans. Sparing you an [...]

• Do CEOs Really Have All the Power?

  Jennifer V. Miller

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  Posted in Leadership DevelopmentIn a blog post titled “C is for Silly: The New C-Suite Titles” Forbes.com blogger Jenna Goudreau explores the proliferation of titles elevating people to “Chief” or “C-level” status. The central premise of her piece was to question the relevance of so-called “vanity” titles like Chief Internal Evangelist or Chief Listener. In Goudreau’s post, marketing [...]

• Women and the Paradox of Power

  Mike Henry

  24 Jan 2012 | 1:41 pm

  Posted in Leadership DevelopmentResourceshttp://www.braithwaiteinnovationgroup.com/BIG_business_women.htmlInstigator Jane Perdue (profile, posts, website, @thehrgoddess) and Dr. Anne Perschel (website, @bizshrink) have recently published an important new research report titled Women and the Paradox of Power: 8 Keys for Transforming Business Culture (scroll down a bit to find the “Download” link).  A post that says more about the research paper and has a [...]

• Leaders and Legacy

  Angela Bisignano

  24 Jan 2012 | 6:02 am

  Posted in Leadership DevelopmentWhen I was in my twenties, I heard a speaker discuss a great study that had been conducted. The results of the study continue to influence my life to this day. The study involved fifty people over the age of 90. They were all asked one question: “If you had your life to do over [...]

• 

  CBS News - Leadership

• The myth of the visionary CEO

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:40 am

  Don't expect leaders to be visionaries -- that's flat out unnecessary to run a successful company

• Apple: Why pundits keep getting it wrong

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:49 am

  5 reasons why the experts perpetually predict gloom and doom for the tech giant

• How well do you know yourself?

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:11 am

  If you're like most people, your self-image is nothing like how others see you

• RIM CEO's wacky new plan

  24 Jan 2012 | 6:21 am

  The BlackBerry maker's new chief intends to stay the course -- right over a cliff

• 10 dumb mistakes companies make over and over

  23 Jan 2012 | 6:01 am

  The top reasons why executives and business leaders fail -- again and again

• 

  Crucial Skills

• Win a Change Anything Training Scholarship

  editor

  24 Jan 2012 | 6:14 pm

  We want to help one deserving person change their life by giving them a seat in an upcoming Change Anything Training public workshop. The selected winner will also receive a $200 travel stipend to get them to the VitalSmarts public course nearest them (Total value: $895).Enter to win our training giveaway by joining us on Facebook and telling us which behavior you would change if you were selected to attend training.Find a Change Anything public workshop in your area. Related Material:Win a FREE Training Scholarship! Introducing Change Anything Training The Gift of Crucial Skills Giveaway

• Avoiding Electronic Interruptions

  Kerry Patterson

  24 Jan 2012 | 6:01 pm

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kerry Patterson is coauthor of four bestselling books, Change Anything, Crucial Conversations, Crucial Confrontations, and Influencer. READ MORE   Dear Crucial Skills,I’m wondering how to deal with the use of electronic devices in meetings, conversations, and other public forums. At home, my kids are continually annoying my husband and me with their use of so-called smart devices. At work, we don’t have clear guidelines about electronic interruptions and it’s the cause of some tension and discontent. What can we do to (1) set clear expectations and (2)…

• Introducing Change Anything Training

  editor

  17 Jan 2012 | 11:55 pm

  Join us in celebrating the launch of our newest training program, Change Anything Training—a one-day course that teaches individuals stuck in life- and career-limiting habits a proven method for driving rapid and sustainable behavior change. Learn more: Find a Change Anything public workshop in your area. Related Material:Crucial Applications: Why Change Seems Impossible Case Study: Influencer Training Drives Rapid Adoption of Improvement Tool at Xerox How can I help participants who are creating their own change plan in Influencer Training create an actual results statement?

• Overcoming Career-Limiting Habits

  David Maxfield

  17 Jan 2012 | 11:44 pm

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR   David Maxfield is coauthor of two bestselling books, Change Anything and Influencer. READ MORE Dear Crucial Skills, I read about your career-limiting habits survey and immediately realized a career-limiting habit has held me back from a promotion I’ve wanted for several years. You could say I have two of them. First, I have the one you describe as “short-term focus.” I focus on urgent tasks and let some of the long-term priorities slide. Second, I sometimes get caught in the “too little too late” trap—I’ve procrastinated on a…

• Blind and Outnumbered by Life

  Al Switzler

  10 Jan 2012 | 6:55 pm

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR Al Switzler is coauthor of four bestselling books, Change Anything, Crucial Conversations, Crucial Confrontations, and Influencer. READ MORE   Dear Crucial Skills, Mine is a story of conflicting priorities and unmade decisions. My bad habits at home support my bad habits at work, and these habits are all supported by behavior, social influences, and environmental infrastructure that need to change. When I try to pick one thing to work on, I find several others that undermine my efforts.For example, we’re trying to remodel our kitchen but we ran out of money so we…

• 

  Aspire-CS

• Thought-full Thursday: Observing

  Mary Jo Asmus

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:08 am

  Every Thursday, we provide you with a thoughtful way to coach yourself – something all leaders need to do. Today we feature a quote from Wally Bock, whose Three Star Leadership Blog is a bastion of common sense advice and commentary for leaders. It was one of the first blogs I started reading and commenting on. Anyone interested in supervision, management, and leadership can’t go wrong with his writing. So take five and enjoy the inspirational quote and reflect on the questions that follow. Your comments and answers to the questions are always welcome! I think that one of the best…

• Three Surprising Tips to Getting More Done: Work-Life Synergy

  Mary Jo Asmus

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:43 am

    Some of us remember the days when we were excited about the possibilities for technology to save us time. Personal computers, cell phones, and the internet allowed us to have access to any information wherever we were, and allowed others access to us whenever they needed. We really believed that that all of this connectivity would make us more efficient. However, the reality turned out to be very different than we expected. Today, we’re experiencing the real outcome of all of our electronic connectivity with 24 hours availability and weekends, vacations, and holidays included.

• Giving the Monkey Back

  Mary Jo Asmus

  23 Jan 2012 | 6:38 am

    Tap. Tap. Tap. Someone is knocking on your office door. You look up and welcome one of your best and most productive managers. You notice that she is carrying a monkey with her. It clings to her and it looks familiar. The monkey is slowly loosening its’ grip and beginning to reach for you as your employee tells you that she has a problem and is stuck. She wants you to fix the problem for her. You like problem solving. You tell the employee you will take care of the problem for her (or maybe you just tell her how to fix the problem), and you watch her walk out of your office. You…

• Thought-full Thursday: Meaningful Connection

  Mary Jo Asmus

  19 Jan 2012 | 7:22 am

  Every Thursday, we provide you with a thoughtful way to coach yourself – something all leaders need to do. Today we feature a quote from Lolly Daskal, who hosts the amazing TweetChat called #LeadFromWithin every Tuesday at 8:00 pm EST (which you are welcome to join) and authors a thoughtful blog about leadership. Lolly is a professional and a dedicated example of heart-based leadership. So take five and enjoy the inspirational quote and reflect on the questions that follow. Your comments and answers to the questions are always welcome! In order to live a life of leadership and meaningful…

• Leading Yourself Out of the Victim Role

  Mary Jo Asmus

  18 Jan 2012 | 7:26 am

    In some deep recess inside, I am a biologist. It’s where I started my career, and it continues to be a part of my way of seeing the world. I watch a lot of nature shows, especially the ones with animals in them that we don’t normally get to see in our backyard. I find that if I stretch my thinking a bit, the world we live in could be seen a lot like the natural world where the stronger, bigger animals prey on the weaker, smaller ones. In the corporate jungle, I occasionally meet the leader who sees themselves as the prey (victim) of a lot of things that they feel are…

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  All Things Workplace

• 5 Meeting Traps and How To Fix Them

  Steve Roesler

  23 Jan 2012 | 3:30 pm

  I just returned from a good meeting. Everyone was engaged, no one dominated (unless it made sense because of specific expertise), and every speaker followed up to check for understanding. It was more like sitting around a warm fireplace in winter than a typical business meeting.  So, it made me think about the planning that went into it and how it was led. If you've struggled through more than a few bad meetings, I'm guessing you've experienced the following traps. Here they are and how to fix them. 1) People think they are experts. Many people tell me that they know how to run an…

• Leadership & Influence: Raise The Standard

  Steve Roesler

  15 Jan 2012 | 11:06 pm

  "Fitting in" is a big deal, and in many organizations it's seen as the way to career longevity. That's a problem. People are influenced by those they see as being "ahead of them." If you simply match the rest of the workforce and blend in, your influence is diminished. Eventually, you become invisible. If you want to lead, be willing to raise your personal standards to exceed the common expectations of your organization or work group. "Raising" equates with "elevating." Once you raise the bar for yourself, you begin to view things from a heightened position that expands your perspective. When…

• 5 Tips To Make Things Happen

  Steve Roesler

  8 Jan 2012 | 11:01 pm

  Decisions get made. It's time to start. The goal is clear. There is a picture of what the result should look like. Now we just have to "do it." Some don't make it... .. .individually or organizationally. Given that there are entire industries built around "doing it"--continuous improvement, change management, life coaching-- there must be some trick to that whole in between area. If you are involved in any kind of a change, here are 5 tips that you can take to the bank. (Ignoring them may put you in the collection agency). 1. Language matters. "We're going to make a transition…

• Change: A Spiritual Issue

  Steve Roesler

  18 Dec 2011 | 11:01 pm

  We business types seem to enjoy--and gravitate towards--discussions about Change. And, it's almost always in the context of managing Change, leading it, overcoming resistance to it...as if Change is somehow different than life.  It isn't. It is life. Which means that how we approach our lives and what comes our way will influence how we approach things that are new and different at work. How we choose to respond to changes will determine our sense of success and  contentment, regardless of what comes our way. The Spirit of Change It is, in fact, a spiritual issue. The world view that…

• 5 Tips Leaders Can Use Today

  Steve Roesler

  11 Dec 2011 | 11:01 pm

  One of the benefits of working with lots of leaders in many different organizations is the chance to see what really works, regardless of the individual personality or industry.  So, here are: 5 Tips That Make A Difference 1. Leading starts with clarity. The time that a leader spends getting clear about what needs to be done will pay off in quickly-focused effort as a result of increased understanding.  When things aren't clear, the day doesn't  go well. Minds and bodies gravitate toward something that does seem clear. The world abhors a vacuum. When a vacuum is created, people will…

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  Bret L. Simmons - Positive Organizational Behavior

• Flex Your Courage Muscle

  Bret L. Simmons

  25 Jan 2012 | 5:20 pm

  According to Ira Chalef, courage is the ability to step forward through fear. One of the manifestations of courage is pushing beyond your comfort zone. I require every student in my social business and personal branding courses at The University of Nevada to make a brief “about me” video to post on their blog at the end of the semester. Considering how little guidance I give them, some of my students have produced impressive videos. Kendra Wilson’s video busting the myths about snowskating is the best one I’ve seen so far. But my favorite video was made by Caitlin…

• The Cycle Of Service Starts At Your Website

  Bret L. Simmons

  2 Jan 2012 | 4:04 pm

  My daughter and I just returned from lunch at Rose’s Café. As always, the service was fast and extremely friendly, and the food was delicious. I’ve never had a bad experience at Rose’s. But Rose’s is not where we planned to eat lunch today. We walked in and right back out of Campo at about 11:08 today. My daughter’s 18th birthday is fast approaching, and she wants to celebrate by hosting a special dinner with her friends. She asked me for recommendations, and I suggested Campo. I’ve never eaten at Campo, but I’ve heard great things about it from one of my Facebook connections.

• Leaders Are Master Learners

  Bret L. Simmons

  27 Dec 2011 | 11:40 am

  I caught this interview with Kaki King on CNN today. I’ve never heard of Kaki King, so I was barely paying attention when she said something that just blew me away: I play guitar for a living, and this guitar is way smarter than me. I know that, and I say this a lot, but I really mean it from the bottom of my heart. I am a guitar student, and I will be for the rest of my life. There is just too much to learn in a lifetime. There is something beautiful and challenging and humbling about that that I don’t want to let go of. This is a woman that Rolling Stone magazine named a “Guitar…

• Performance Talks

  Bret L. Simmons

  16 Dec 2011 | 6:34 pm

  When I was around 18, I worked as a shift manager at McDonald’s Corporation in Tulsa, Oklahoma. One of the assistant managers that helped me get promoted and then trained me was a man named Don Griffin. I admired Don because he cared about the work that he did and he cared about me and the rest of his employees. He was also very focused on producing results for the company. Don had a huge influence on my work ethic and basic management philosophy. Over the years, I’ve never forgotten Don telling me “Performance talks, bullshit walks.” I could count on hearing it every time I tried to…

• Thanking People You Lead Makes Them More Helpful

  Bret L. Simmons

  12 Dec 2011 | 11:49 am

  The ability to say “thank you” to people that perform well or otherwise advance the shared purpose of the organization is a character strength that I believe we should require from those that we grant the privilege to lead. Expressing gratitude for the contribution of others is a type of reward power that can make us more influential with others. The evidence on the power of gratitude in the workplace is meager; however, a very well done study published in 2010 helps us better understand why a little thanks goes a long way. Adam Grant and Francesca Gino proposed that when we express…

• 

  Saying What You Mean

• How to Handle Frienemies

  nicoledefalco

  20 Jan 2012 | 4:37 pm

  Sun Tzu wisely advises army generals, project managers, and leaders of any ilk to “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.” But what about our “Frienemies?” Where should we keep them? I’m guessing anyone who has had an initiative derailed by a frienemy would recommend a location where the sun does not shine. A frienemy is that confounding blend of a friend and an enemy. In business, the frienemy is best known for saying all the right things and doing all the wrong ones. Spinning meetings out of control with irrelevant questions or tangential diatribes, splintering teams…

• Becoming An Influential Content Marketer

  nicoledefalco

  1 Nov 2011 | 8:16 am

  The Fine Art of Content Marketing credit: DELL Since the dawn of communication, man has been involved in the practice of content marketing.  The level of brand engagement that resulted from the uttering of those first staccato grunts in caves or around fires is unclear, but there was sharing, the message was behavior-driven and the content was geared toward a target audience.  Nowadays, whether you realize it or not, if you are actively involved in pursuing business on social media, then you are a content marketer.  This might not be the work you signed on for when you created your…

• How Leaders Can Build Up or Bring Down an Organization

  nicoledefalco

  11 Oct 2011 | 2:18 pm

  The probability is high that a leader will be less effective than their boss. There are exceptions to this rule, but the trend is very clear. In a study of 5,285 leaders from 5 different organizations, we examined the effectiveness of leaders at different levels of the organization. The measure of leadership effectiveness was derived from our research on Extraordinary Leaders. In that research we identified 16 competencies that best explained the differences between poor, good and great leaders.  49 items are used to measure the 16 competencies where assessments are completed by a leader’s…

• How to Find a Mentor

  nicoledefalco

  23 Sep 2011 | 5:29 pm

  Formal learning and work experience provide the knowledge necessary for success in a given field. Finding a good mentor can further strengthen your skill set and offer valuable contacts for your future. Learning from someone who has years of experience can provide unique guidance and learning opportunities. A mentor can impart a competitive edge and lead to a more clear and efficient path of success. When seeking a mentor, begin with research. Talk to successful people that you know and ask about their mentors or people that they’ve mentored. Ask specific questions about how the mentorship…

• Team Building Carrot-Style

  nicoledefalco

  23 Aug 2011 | 8:14 pm

  Not so long ago, if you’d asked me whether high performing teams could exist without strong leadership, I would’ve given you an emphatic “No.” Well, go ahead and ask me that now, go ahead. Now that I’ve read The Orange Revolution: How One Great Team Can Transform an Entire Organization* by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, I’m changing my tune to an enthusiastic “Yes!” For the last twenty years in training and organizational development, whenever I am called upon to create and/or facilitate a team building workshop, it is always at the behest…

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  Management Blog

• When less choice means more business

  AIM Qld & NT

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:08 pm

  In order to succeed in a sea of endless choice brands must understand the way consumers process information and make decisions, Sheena Iyengar argues in this TED Talk. After establishing that the average person makes 70 decisions every day, Iyengar uses a simple supermarket study on buying jam to reinforce the benefits of a less means more approach.

• Deconstructing Cricket Australia's success story

  AIM Qld & NT

  25 Jan 2012 | 5:28 pm

  Cricket Australia is currently transforming the sport's demographics and revenues in a case study that every marketer and CEOs should be taking notice of, this Smart Company case study suggests.It's claimed the transformation that is the Big Bash League has seen big crowds and impressive television ratings as a result of a shift from a focus on older males to younger Australians.While the introduction of a new game may lead to some branding complexities it's claimed Cricket Australia has employed a series of smart tactics to ensure success.The strategy has seen not just an…

• The art of plugged-in communication

  AIM Qld & NT

  24 Jan 2012 | 3:14 pm

  Despite its name the new book The Plugged-In Manager by Terri Griffith isn't about cyborgs but instead describes a roadmap on how to use technology to better connect with staff and other stakeholders.A recent review by management-issues claims the book reveals three important themes for those managers keen to find contemporary ways of connecting. In brief, these themes are: Stronger people skills – managers need to be plugged in to the lives of staff in order to keep communication flowing and engage on a psychological level Don't avoid connections – rather than being a means of…

• Daily inspiration for business success

  AIM Qld & NT

  23 Jan 2012 | 5:40 pm

  Six simple mantras can help managers stay on top of their game no matter what the working day brings, entrepreneur Lauren Perkins writes in this Inc. blog.While some might think mantras are the sole domain of hippies or Buddhist monks, Perkins offers a strong argument in favour of inserting a little positive reinforcement into daily life.Some of the benefits described include the ability to inspire others through a positive attitude, a narrowing of focus to avoid distractions and an increased ability to follow your moral compass.Positive reinforcement also offers a means of keeping cool in a…

• Article round-up from @aimqld - 16-20 January

  AIM Qld & NT

  22 Jan 2012 | 10:44 pm

  Twitter speedlinks from last week on @aimqld:What's Your Influencing Style? (via HBR) http://bit.ly/xYVzhPWhy Narcissistic CEOs Kill Their Companies (via Forbes) http://onforb.es/vZiFGPLearning to Lead the Old-Fashioned Way (via strategy+business) http://bit.ly/wqpCvA10 Rules to work (and Live) By (via upstartHR) http://bit.ly/AatxzWBetter Presentations with a Small Audience and a Big Room – 9 Success Tips (via Brainzooming) http://bit.ly/zqEFED7 Tips on How to Apologize in the Business World (via CBS MoneyWatch) http://bit.ly/AggFAhVideo: 9 Ways Social Media Can Make You a Better…

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  Leadership Lessons From Triathlons

• Starting Conversations

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:38 pm

  I have heard, on many occasions, how students, friends and associates have found it hard to sleep after an engaging conversation. That is what a great conversation can do to one’s senses and sensibilities. Creating conversations of worth at the workplace can lead to more productive performance. We relish in the meanings and moments found in these interactions, be it face-to-face or through social media.We are responsible for whatever happens at each stage of the dialogue: beginning, middle and end. The process can be as straightforward as ‘How are you today?’ to ‘How do you do it so…

• Can Knowledge Be A Cause of Paranoia?

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:04 am

  Leadership Lessons (for yesterday’s piece): First-aid can be applied to relationships. Upon injuring somebody’s pride or self-esteem, you can reduce further injury by applying apology. Draw into the affected relationship, new value. Add value to the strained relationship by using relaxation. Learn to be less tense in future conflicts. Conflicts are inevitable, even with the best of friends or colleagues. Our choices of interventions matter, if we are to seek the results we desire. Build bridges, not destroy them. You never know if the colleague you disliked could one day be your…

• First Aid & Post-Recovery Strategies

  25 Jan 2012 | 5:15 am

  Most people will skip this post thinking that it is a feature on medical first-aid. In fact, it is more. It also pertains to your leadership.Having healed from injuries, and suffering a few residual ones (stiffness, inflexibility, rheumatism) I have learnt a few useful techniques about self-healing (versus self-medication, which I do not condone especially if you have an existing disease or medical condition or are under medical supervision) that may help you accelerate or exacerbate the painful symptoms of physical injury or trauma.The sports-aid methodology of RICES holds. RICES is Rest,…

• Leadership Begins Outside of Corporate Life

  23 Jan 2012 | 10:35 pm

  Let’s face it: corporate leadership is being questioned for its values and effectiveness. The masses demand that leadership deliver, with their expectations of deliverables, leadership values and strength of character. Disappoint them, and the consumers and Followers can boycott a company’s products and services. Choices are ubiquitous. Companies can choose to lead with their head, heart or hands or self-implode from arrogance and conceit. Number One can slide down the spiral of self-indulgence and self-aggrandisement.Have a holistic view of leadership: from within, and from without.

• Breathing Well In the Dragon Year

  23 Jan 2012 | 2:32 am

  Happy Lunar New Year in the Year of the Dragon!Here is a story to warm your cockles, and even inspire you. It comes from my charity of choice for Ironman New Zealand. Fund-raisers get a t-shirt of participation, and get to meet staff of Breath4CF and the CF children and families. One of the athletes is attempting to get his racing-top signed by all the kids there.‘Here at CFANZ we had a huge success for one of our young people with CF – Kristy Purton, who despite her condition is a fitness FREAK and who has tried several times to do a half ironman but her health has always got in the way.

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  Capgemini

• Thought Leadership: Evolving Demands on the Hedge Fund Administration Industry

  Capgemini

  20 Jan 2012 | 7:03 am

  Changing demands witnessed by the hedge fund industry since 2007Hedge funds have gained significant prominence and acceptance across both high net worth individuals and institutional investors. However, the robust growth of the hedge fund industry came to an abrupt halt between 2007 and 2008 due to the severe downturn in the market value of assets and the large amount of redemptions by customers. The slowdown of 2007 exposed the complexity of the investment strategies deployed by hedge funds and the weakness of their internal controls. During this period, hedge funds were coming to terms with…

• Thought Leadership: Data Privacy in the Financial Services Industry

  Capgemini

  20 Jan 2012 | 7:01 am

  How high-profile data breaches have impacted the privacy landscapeDivulging personally identifiable information during a business transaction has become commonplace for most individuals, resulting in a deluge of personally identifiable information that banks, capital markets firms, and insurance companies must store as part of their day to day business. Due to the rising threat of data breaches, identity theft, and associated fraud across all industries, companies are increasingly focusing on enhancing data privacy programs. While the problem of data breaches crosses all industries, the…

• Thought Leadership: HR at the Executive Table: Linking People Strategy to Business Outcomes

  Capgemini

  18 Jan 2012 | 3:30 pm

  Key Levers to Secure HR a Seat at the Executive TableTo support corporate objectives effectively, HR executives must complete sustainable strategic workforce planning and develop integrated talent management strategies at the global level, enabled by emerging technologies and grounded in a robust operating model—or otherwise risk being viewed by the business as a cost center rather than a value generator and true business partner. Capgemini Consulting publishes its global HR Barometer report to investigate the trends and challenges facing today’s HR leaders and their teams. Download…

• Thought Leadership: Debit Card Interchange

  Capgemini

  17 Jan 2012 | 3:51 am

  The impact of debit interchange regulation and what financial services institutions can do to support a positive outcomeIn 2010, the U.S. Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street and Consumer Protection Act, a sweeping change to financial regulation in the United States. The Durbin amendment, part of the Dodd-Frank Act, allows the Federal Reserve board to implement a comprehensive system of debit card interchange. The amendment establishes standards for an interchange fee, and prohibits issuers and networks from restricting the number of networks over which an electronic debit transaction…

• Thought Leadership: Global Trends in the Payment Card Industry: Issuers

  Capgemini

  16 Jan 2012 | 12:05 am

  Key trends faced by card issuers and their implications for the payment card industryThe payment card industry was relatively resilient to the global economic slowdown primarily due to strong growth in the developing markets of Asia and Latin America. Transaction volumes are expected to continue to grow with developing countries such as China and Brazil as growth engines. The average global value of card purchases has been slowly declining as consumers in developed nations cut down on their big ticket purchases. The key payment card industry stakeholders of card acquirers, card processors,…

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  Talent Talk

• Inspirational!

  admin

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:07 am

  January: end of the month. The point where we begin to discover just how achievable the New Year’s goals we set ourselves really are! If you find you’re lagging or stuck or losing your... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• What is Employee Engagement?

  admin

  25 Jan 2012 | 11:51 pm

  The question What is employee engagement? is one that is often asked and (usually) not very clearly answered. Some organisations come out with the most elaborate answers to this vexed ‘What is... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Management Training Programmes for 2012

  admin

  17 Jan 2012 | 2:35 am

  If you’re looking for management training programmes to put in your 2012 training plan in Thailand, then why not have a look at the following outstanding training sessions that will take your... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Customer Engagement

  admin

  17 Jan 2012 | 1:14 am

  Customer Engagement is a huge issue for companies that want to grow market share, reduce customer attrition, and enhance profitability. This is the second part of a two-part series. Last month, we... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Customer lifetime value (CLV) explained

  admin

  22 Dec 2011 | 7:59 am

  Customer Lifetime Value (or CLV) is a key metric for any business – but one that is too often ignored. This neat graphic (below), provided by kissmetrics.com, summarises in one simple chart how... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• 

  Top Executive Coaching with Tony Mayo

• A conversation with executive coaching client Ron Dimon. Part 4

  tonymayo

  17 Jan 2012 | 9:32 am

      This latest podcast is part four of a funny and useful conversation between top executive coach Tony Mayo and his longtime client Ron Dimon. Ron is an expert on the use of information by executives of large organizations. Listen as two experienced business people play with useful ideas in this episode including; Low [...]

• Will this year be happy for you? Or even “new”?

  tonymayo

  31 Dec 2011 | 10:59 pm

  New Year's greeting--or warning--from CEO coach Tony Mayo, with tools for making this a satisfying year.

• Management Wisdom from a Versatile Leader: Condoleezza Rice

  tonymayo

  31 Dec 2011 | 12:54 pm

      In the first year or so it wasn’t just about proving how tough I was, I had to be tough. I was pretty sharp with people. But I’d learned in the classroom, the last thing you want to do is put somebody down because then they freeze, and not only do they freeze, [...]

• Overthinking ushers in a host of adverse consequences

  tonymayo

  19 Dec 2011 | 9:45 am

  Overthinking ushers in a host of adverse consequences: It sustains or worsens sadness, fosters negatively biased thinking, impairs a person’s ability to solve problems, saps motivation, and interferes with concentration and initiative. Moreover, although people have a strong sense that they are gaining insight into themselves and their problems during their ruminations, this is rarely [...]

• There are no minor defects

  tonymayo

  8 Dec 2011 | 5:41 pm

      Levy: Let’s talk about web services. Amazon Web Services is dominant in hosting—one observer says that you are the Coke of the field, and there’s no Pepsi. How did an ecommerce site wind up in the position where it’s hosting web powerhouses like Foursquare, NASA, Netflix, and The New York Times? … Young startups all [...]

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  QAspire Blog by Tanmay Vora

• Fostering Autonomy in a Team: 7 Lessons

  Tanmay

  22 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

  “…leadership may be defined as: the ability to enhance the environment so that everyone is empowered to contribute creatively to solving the problem(s).” – Gerald M. Weinberg People do their best work when they are “intrinsically motivated” and one of the most important intrinsic motivator for people is autonomy in work. People need a space to perform and they need a say in how their work should be performed. Workplace autonomy feeds self-esteem and fosters creativity. Here are a few things I have learned (from my experiences and seeing other leaders perform) on fostering…

• Purpose Precedes Process

  Tanmay

  15 Jan 2012 | 8:57 am

  If process is a vehicle, purpose is the compass. Purpose gives a definite direction to processes. People (and their expertise) are the drivers. Technology acts as an accelerator. Most system implementation or change initiatives focus enough on the P-P-T – People, process and technology and somewhere along the lines, the focus on purpose blurs. I have seen improvement experts who are always on the quest to find the next new thing, a fancy template or a complex matrix document that they can include in their ‘kitty’ of best practices. Being “process oriented” is definitely an asset,…

• 5 Insights on Creativity from Osho

  Tanmay

  8 Jan 2012 | 10:17 am

  Creativity is at the core of building quality in design. People rarely innovate when they simply follow instructions. This led me to think more about creativity – the act of doing something in an unconventional way, the act of creating something meaningful that changes you and hence the world. Traditionally (in an industrial world), only artists were meant to be creative – painters, dancers, poets and so on. In the knowledge world, every professional has an opportunity (and a need) to be creative – to see patterns that others don’t see, to create and initiate. Around the same time I…

• What We Need The Most in 2012?

  Tanmay

  1 Jan 2012 | 9:52 am

  Business ecosystem is rapidly changing – and as a student of personal and organizational change, I recently re-read Dr. John Kotter’s book (published in 2008) titled “A Sense of Urgency”. I have read it before and somehow felt the need to read it again. In the book, Dr. Kotter argues that single biggest reason most change efforts fail is because we fail to create high enough sense of urgency to set the stage for making challenging leap into a new direction. Sense of urgency does not mean frantic activity, an endless list of exhausting activities or running anxiously from meeting to…

• Gratitude 2011

  Tanmay

  25 Dec 2011 | 10:25 am

  Gratefulness fills me whenever a year ends. Each year brings along new hopes, some challenges, many opportunities. When the year ends, we look back and ruminate on how we did to seize those opportunities, to face those challenges and what we learned out of it all. One of the things I am so grateful about is this blog, and everything it brings along – clarity in thinking, expansion of my world view, some fantastic (and often life changing) lessons and many encouraging friends. I meet these friends through the words they write – through their passion for sharing ideas and make a difference.

• 

  churchrelevance.com

• Whoops! Open Church Delayed but Coming Soon

  Kent Shaffer

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:20 am

  Open Church’s launch has moved to March 1, 2012 for the ministry ideas section and likely April 2012 for the free resources. WHAT HAPPENED? Developing the site wasn’t as easy as our developer expected. After previous delays, we pruned off features to make a mid-January launch possible, but those pruned benchmarks were not hit either. Unfortunately, what is left is unstable and missing most of what we hoped for. It is clear we need to go a different route. The developer has moved on. I apologize for this. Any payment the developer received was underwritten by my company or came…

• What Ministry Conferences Are You Attending in 2012?

  Kent Shaffer

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:14 am

  Church Relevance’s list of 2012 church conference recommendations has been updated to almost 40 ministry conferences. There’s no way it includes all of the conferences worth considering. So check out the list, and please leave a comment letting us know which conferences we forgot and which ones you’ll be attending. Sponsored by: Shelby Systems - Superior Church Management Software Your one-stop-shop for all of your church, HQ & non-profit needs. We create, innovate and serve software to over 9,000 customers in more than 40 countries.

• Leaders Book Summaries

  Kent Shaffer

  17 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  I love books. From the Bible to theologians to business experts, books are a quick way to get wisdom which in the long run helps you make better choices and avoid dangerous pitfalls. Over time my library has grown to about 1,500 books I haven’t read yet, but over time, my responsibilities have also grown to the point that I have to be very strategic about what I read and how long I read it. In 2012, I have purposed to read more by using book summaries from Leaders Book Summaries. I’ve avoided book summaries in the past because I liked the sense of accomplishment from reading a…

• Q+A :: How do I get new career doing humanitarian work?

  Kent Shaffer

  7 Jan 2012 | 7:02 pm

  QUESTION: While I love my ministry job and my church, I am becoming increasingly “burned out” and depressed with what I do. Currently our church is having some pretty major financial difficulties, which makes this a good opportunity for me to resign. I have always felt a unique calling on my life to serve with some sort of humanitarian organization. I see ministries like Feed the Children, Samaritans Purse, Hope for Haiti, Hello Somebody, and Sevenly and I have such a strong desire to do what they are doing. I know that you have very unique ministry, so I am hoping that you could…

• Q+A :: Should I resign from my current church?

  Kent Shaffer

  6 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  QUESTION: While I love my ministry job and my church, I am becoming increasingly “burned out” and depressed with what I do. Currently our church is having some pretty major financial difficulties, which makes this a good opportunity for me to resign. I have always felt a unique calling on my life to serve with some sort of humanitarian organization. I see ministries like Feed the Children, Samaritans Purse, Hope for Haiti, Hello Somebody, and Sevenly and I have such a strong desire to do what they are doing. I know that you have very unique ministry, so I am hoping that you could…

• 

  Management Craft

• I saw the master in action this weekend. #leadership #managment

  Lisa Haneberg

  22 Jan 2012 | 11:41 am

  I spent an afternoon with a dear friend yesterday. We chatted over lunch and walked around his beach town. I have always admired his engaging and caring way - he is a leader who makes others feel like they have his full attention and consideration and they do (that's the important part - it is sincere, not an act). Why? Because he thinks and lives this way. He notices people and things and takes the initiative to be helpful and caring. More so than most people. More so than I do - by a long shot. I have always known this about my friend but I was reminded - in a vivid way - during our walk.

• What's Your Big Idea? How Many Can You Generate? #management #innovation

  Lisa Haneberg

  17 Jan 2012 | 4:36 pm

  This post is inspired by four thoughts coming together. 1. A few years ago I pitched a book idea to Berrett-Koehler's President, Steve Piersanti. He passed on the book because the idea was unremarkable. He asked, "what's your big idea?" And he said, "I don't see it here." He was right, BTW. 2. A mentor of mine was trying to help me lower my expectations for a project that was frustrating me by suggesting that, "most people have only one revolutionary idea in their lifetime." He was wrong, BTW. 3. I was reviewing a piece of writing for a friend. He took a perfectly logical approach to laying…

• Managers: Embrace your flawedness - and everyone's. @brenebrown

  Lisa Haneberg

  17 Jan 2012 | 6:33 am

  I love this article from Brene Brown called, Want to be Happy? Stop trying to be perfect. When I teach management, I often talk about how we are all highly flawed and highly talented and embracing it all is a recipe for success (not just the talent part). I don't freak out when people do annoying or strange little things - we all do this. I don't let a botched delivery get in the way of great intent. I have stopped hiding my scars because I know everyone can see them. We are our idiosyncrasies. I was talking to someone recently who pointed out a typo on one of my blog posts. I thought,…

• Managers, Are You Telling TOO Many Stories? Be a little more messy. @tylercowen

  Lisa Haneberg

  16 Jan 2012 | 1:18 pm

  I really like this TEDx talk from economist Tyler Cowen called Be suspicious of stories. I think anyone in a leadership role should watch it and think about what it might mean. Like Tyler, I am not advocating we stop using story - but it is useful to think about the potential ramifications of oversimplifying things through story. Stories, by their nature, are easy to remember and draw broad conclusions. For managers and leaders, stories can pull people in, galvanize them, and build momentum. The down side is that many situations are more complex than can be told in a story and are not helped…

• Hallmarks of Good #Communication Systems and Practices

  Lisa Haneberg

  16 Jan 2012 | 6:06 am

  Here is a list of criteria I use to evaluate communication systems and practices. While no system will demonstrate all of these elements, the more the better. More PULL than PUSH. More than being inclusive, it engages people and is interesting. Nimble and changeable with built in feedback loops. No reduction of core content (intent, emotion, connective elements, calls to action). (Content degradation is common when information cascades from high to lower levels, for example.) As simple as possible. Low hassle factor. Works when imperfectly executed. Never build a system that only your top 10%…

• 

  All Things Workplace

• 5 Meeting Traps and How To Fix Them

  Steve Roesler

  23 Jan 2012 | 3:30 pm

  I just returned from a good meeting. Everyone was engaged, no one dominated (unless it made sense because of specific expertise), and every speaker followed up to check for understanding. It was more like sitting around a warm fireplace in winter than a typical business meeting.  So, it made me think about the planning that went into it and how it was led. If you've struggled through more than a few bad meetings, I'm guessing you've experienced the following traps. Here they are and how to fix them. 1) People think they are experts. Many people tell me that they know how to run an…

• Leadership & Influence: Raise The Standard

  Steve Roesler

  15 Jan 2012 | 11:06 pm

  "Fitting in" is a big deal, and in many organizations it's seen as the way to career longevity. That's a problem. People are influenced by those they see as being "ahead of them." If you simply match the rest of the workforce and blend in, your influence is diminished. Eventually, you become invisible. If you want to lead, be willing to raise your personal standards to exceed the common expectations of your organization or work group. "Raising" equates with "elevating." Once you raise the bar for yourself, you begin to view things from a heightened position that expands your perspective. When…

• 5 Tips To Make Things Happen

  Steve Roesler

  8 Jan 2012 | 11:01 pm

  Decisions get made. It's time to start. The goal is clear. There is a picture of what the result should look like. Now we just have to "do it." Some don't make it... .. .individually or organizationally. Given that there are entire industries built around "doing it"--continuous improvement, change management, life coaching-- there must be some trick to that whole in between area. If you are involved in any kind of a change, here are 5 tips that you can take to the bank. (Ignoring them may put you in the collection agency). 1. Language matters. "We're going to make a transition…

• Change: A Spiritual Issue

  Steve Roesler

  18 Dec 2011 | 11:01 pm

  We business types seem to enjoy--and gravitate towards--discussions about Change. And, it's almost always in the context of managing Change, leading it, overcoming resistance to it...as if Change is somehow different than life.  It isn't. It is life. Which means that how we approach our lives and what comes our way will influence how we approach things that are new and different at work. How we choose to respond to changes will determine our sense of success and  contentment, regardless of what comes our way. The Spirit of Change It is, in fact, a spiritual issue. The world view that…

• 5 Tips Leaders Can Use Today

  Steve Roesler

  11 Dec 2011 | 11:01 pm

  One of the benefits of working with lots of leaders in many different organizations is the chance to see what really works, regardless of the individual personality or industry.  So, here are: 5 Tips That Make A Difference 1. Leading starts with clarity. The time that a leader spends getting clear about what needs to be done will pay off in quickly-focused effort as a result of increased understanding.  When things aren't clear, the day doesn't  go well. Minds and bodies gravitate toward something that does seem clear. The world abhors a vacuum. When a vacuum is created, people will…

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  Lip-Sticking

• Facebook for Places from Mari Smith

  Yvonne

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:38 am

  Professional Facebook expert, Mari Smith, shares insight into the way businesses can use Facebook Places. Do you use this tool? How is it working for you?

• Chevy's got a Super Bowl App and a big Game Time Sweepstakes

  Donna DeClemente

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:34 am

  By Guest Blogger, Donna DeClemente, Donna's Promo Talk For anyone that is a true football fan, last Sunday was by far one of the most exciting NFL conference championship game days you can have. Yes, it will take a while for Raven fans to get over the missed chip-shot field goal and the 49er's to wonder what if they didn't turn over the ball in overtime. We're now moving on to Super Bowl XLVI with a big rematch between the Patriots and the Giants. As I said in my last post, I'm betting on Eli Manning and the New York Giants to be this year's champions. The Super Bowl has now become the most…

• How Much Do You Love To Write?

  Yvonne

  21 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am

  Guest post by Blog Manager Robbi Hess As an entrepreneur you wake up every morning with an itch to get in front of your computer and start writing, right? You're looking forward to jumping into your social media updates, writing a blog post or two, putting together a proposal or even composing business correspondence. Raise your hand if you love it. Hhhmm I am not seeing too many hands. Do you find writing to be a chore? Just not something that you enjoy because you don't know what to write about, you stress about grammar and punctuation or is it simply the blank screen that makes you…

• Women and Health: Designing Your Second Half of Life

  Yvonne

  20 Jan 2012 | 10:39 am

  by Yvonne DiVita Yes, there is a 2nd half to life for women. It comes around age 50. Unlike our mothers, who considered 50 'old', today's women know that 50 can be enlightening, invigorating, freeing, and full of expectation. We disdain the rocking chair on the porch. If we knit, it's because we need a blog post! If we cook, it's because we have a passion for taste - and love sharing. If we're married, we're happier than our mothers were (because we have a friendship as well as a marriage), and if we're not married, we're content and full of the wonder of life as it beckons us with…

• “Teach us,” is the cry of the women

  Mary Schmidt

  20 Jan 2012 | 9:45 am

  By Guest Blogger, Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter This is a quote from the Global Hope Network International's web site about a village in Afghanistan the group is helping become self-sustaining.   Qala e Nadar is a small village framed by rugged mountains on one side and less than fifteen kilometers from Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan on the other. Overlooked and forgotten, Qala e Nadar is small and too close to the city to merit help. Thirty years ago, the traditionally nomadic community settled on this dry, arid and barren plain. There is no accessible school, no local…

• 

  Learn to Duck

• There is Something Beautiful About a Book

  Micah

  20 Jan 2012 | 1:02 am

  This week there was a ton of rumblings, leaks and rumors about Apple’s big “eBook” event that took place earlier this am. Apple is going to change education! Apple is going to destroy publishing! (Interesting that no one really said “Apple is going to sell more iPads!” but we live in a world that hopes that everyone leans towards doing good for goods sake.) Did it happen? Did the world turn upside down causing the worlds publishers to weep? No. Apple’s move into the education market is an important one. This year, for the first time ever, Amazon sold more…

• The Day The Comic Book Died

  Micah

  18 Jan 2012 | 1:38 am

  When I first was out raising money for Graphicly, I got to meet comic book publishers. At each meeting, I asked the same question, “What do you think of digital?” And each one answered the same. “There are more people pirating my comic books than there are buying them. Perhaps as high as 5 to 10 times.” The comic book industry, which saw its heyday in the 1990s, when highly successful books would sell in the hundreds of thousands, is now ecstatic if a book sells even fifty thousand. Online piracy has absolutely decimated the industry. How bad is it? Comic books come…

• Embracing the Doomsday Clock

  Micah

  10 Jan 2012 | 12:51 am

  Today I heard that a friend got a term sheet. “Whew.” he sighed. “Excited to turn the Doomsday Clock back a minute?” The Doomsday Clock was invented in 1947 during the Cold War. Set at seven minutes to midnight, it represented how close the world was to global thermonuclear war. Seven minutes in 1943. A high of 5 minutes in 1984. A low of 17 minutes in 1991. Currently, as of 2010, we are at 6 minutes. A cold, numeric, non-emotional reminder that as a world we are always that close to complete and total destruction. (whew. thats pretty emo.) So many of the founders…

• Capturing Dreams

  Micah

  3 Jan 2012 | 2:08 am

  My grandmother was a storyteller. She wrote 10 or 11 books, mostly of children’s stories, and always had a story to tell. (As she got older, the stories got more fantastical. She worked as a simultaneous translator in the 1950s, and was a spy. Well, not really a spy, but she had to take documents to some shady people.) Storytelling resonates with me more strongly than any other single sociological/community building concept. Think about it. The first written communication was a story. Pictures of deers and hunters with oversized spears (even then, we men exaggerated), running through…

• I Hate Employees

  Micah

  2 Jan 2012 | 11:36 am

  Lets state for the record, not my employees.  Well, not after we hired them. When I was a kid living in Mountain View (532 Thompson Avenue!) a rather large, but old tree fell down in our backyard during a storm. “Geez, Dad, how are you going to get rid of that tree?” “Remember that bike you wanted, Micah?” “Of course” Ive been wanting a multiple gear bike for months, constantly annoying my parents with pictures, magazine articles, strategic walks through the mall, basically anything I could do to get them to take a gawd damn hint. “Then you’ll…

• 

  Secret Women's Business Network

• Bad Times Happen

  Lisa Hartwell

  15 Jan 2012 | 1:39 pm

  Yes, things have been pretty quiet around here lately. There’s a reason (or series of reasons) for that. And it’s prompted me to write a post about something that not many people talk about in the business world – especially not the online business world. The Bad Times. Most business coaches/mentors/gurus/leaders that you have contact with on a regular basis will never mention that bad times exist, whether in your personal or business lives…it doesn’t make for good reading. Many of them are selling “the dream” and I guess they figure you won’t buy into their program, teachings…

• Something for the Weekend: 29th October 2011

  Lisa Hartwell

  30 Oct 2011 | 4:30 pm

  For those of you keeping track, there was no Something for the Weekend last week. Quite simply, I didn’t read or watch anything business-related online. I was away visiting family and friends and stayed offline as much as possible. This week it’s the opposite…I have have been inundated with fabulous blog posts. Most of them are below but I will save a few for next week’s round-up. I’ve tried to group them together into obvious categories. Search Engine News and Advice Google To Begin Encrypting Searches & Outbound Clicks By Default With SSL Search - Google…

• Best Business Podcasts for a Long Drive and Maintaining Sanity

  Lisa Hartwell

  20 Oct 2011 | 7:21 am

  Over the last few weeks I have done a hell of a lot of driving to see family and friends. Unlike many people I know, I actually like driving long distances, which is just as well since I choose to live in Plymouth which is miles from anywhere. You know when you’ve traveled a particular route too often, when you find a desire to Tweet about the disappearance of the plastic camels from the side of the road, or have a rating system for the Service stops along the way. However, in order to keep myself sane on a long drive I find that listening to business podcasts can be a great help. While…

• Something for the Weekend: 15th October 2011

  Lisa Hartwell

  15 Oct 2011 | 12:27 pm

  I’m heading off for a mini break to visit family and friends, but if you’ve got some time on your hands then I hope you enjoy this week’s picks: All Things Business Related How To Save Money On AdWords Placements With Google Analytics - Fantastic post about linking Adwords to Analytics for improved campaigns. How to Turn Facebook Fans Into Paying Customers - Another fab post from Jen at FBAdsLab, this time on the importance of having a Facebook conversion strategy. The New Content Marketing Keyword Strategy - I wouldn’t call this a new strategy but Michelle does lay…

• Moo Christmas Cards Discount Code

  Lisa Hartwell

  13 Oct 2011 | 5:08 pm

  I’m about to do 2 things I never do on this blog: Blatantly promote an affiliate product Talk about Christmas in October As I’ve already mentioned, I’m a huge fan of Moo Printing (and based on the popularity of that post I’m assuming many of you are too). Well, they sent me an email containing a 15% off “secret” discount for their Christmas cards. Not too much of a secret though as they said I could pass the discount code onto my friends, and that includes you. The code expires on 20th October – just add the code CARDSYAY at checkout. It seems wrong…

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  Lean Six Sigma Academy

• 10 Books Every Continuous Improvement Practitioner Should Read in 2012

  Ron Pereira

  12 Jan 2012 | 6:30 am

  I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year and that things are off to an awesome start for you and yours! To help kick off the new year I thought I’d share a list of the 10 books I recommend all Continuous Improvement Practitioners read in 2012. I’d also love to hear your thoughts on books you recommend. Finally, if you purchase any of the books below after clicking the links LSS Academy will earn a small commission. This helps us pay for site maintenance and hosting. 1. The Tipping Point This is, without a doubt, one of my all time favorite books. And while it may not be on every…

• Learn How to Receive 115 Lean Training PowerPoint’s & Lean Strategy Kit For Free

  Ron Pereira

  9 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  Gemba Academy has partnered with the Lean CEO organization on an exciting promotion. Specifically, between January 1 and January 31 anyone that purchases a 6-month or 1-year subscription to the Complete Lean Package will receive both the Lean CEO Bundle of 115 PowerPoint training presentations and the Lean Enterprise Strategy Kit absolutely free! Sold by themselves… the Lean CEO PowerPoint’s and Lean Strategy Kit retail for $499. This promotion will remain open to the first 500 customers or until January 31, whichever comes first. For more details on this limited time promotion…

• And with your spirit

  Ron Pereira

  3 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  Roman Catholics around the word recently saw a huge change to the way Mass is celebrated. Specifically, there were several changes to the prayers we say. For example, prior to the change if you walked up to any Catholic and said, “The Lord be with you…” he or she would surely reply, “And also with you.” Now, when the priest says, “The Lord be with you” we reply, “And with your spirit.” Change is Hard I won’t get into the reason this is a far more accurate reply… that’s not the point of this article. The point of this article is to explain how difficult change can be.

• The Best of LSS Academy – 2011 Edition

  Ron Pereira

  29 Dec 2011 | 6:00 am

  Well, friends, another year has come and gone.  As always, I’d like to sincerely thank each and every one of you for taking the time to visit LSS Academy. We now have more than 16,000 subscribers which is simply mind blowing! I remember sitting on my couch a few years ago pounding out my first blog article… never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the site would grow like it has. But before we move onto 2012 here’s a look back to some of the more popular LSS Academy articles in 2011.  Enjoy! January: Practice Makes Champions (9 comments) February: Are Dishwashers Lean? (42…

• 2011 Management Carnival Annual Roundup

  Ron Pereira

  26 Dec 2011 | 10:35 am

  I’m excited to take part in this years Annual Management Carnival. I chose three of my favorite blogs and hope you enjoy the following articles as much as I did. Dan Pink Jim Collins on 3 ways to avoid demotivating people at work: In this insightful 3-minute video Jim Collins explains three ways organizations demotivate their employees. How to understand regret — and 2 ways to avoid it: Dan explains two different techniques we can all use when we’re stuck in a rut and can’t make a decision. The Genius Hour – How 60 minutes a week can electrify your job: Learn how short burst of…

• 

  Frame of Reference

• The Father of Caves And Clear Water – Part 1

  Chris Fillebrown

  22 Jan 2012 | 7:03 pm

  Frame of Reference presents The Father of Caves and Clear Water – Part 1 by Chris Fillebrown ©2012, chris fillebrown, all rights reserved

• Announcing Facebook Profile

  Chris Fillebrown

  18 Jan 2012 | 8:33 pm

  Frame of Reference is pleased to announce Chris Fillebrown’s Facebook profile. To go there now, click here.

• soggy socks by chris fillebrown

  Chris Fillebrown

  31 Dec 2011 | 8:35 pm

  Frame of Reference presents: soggy socks by chris fillebrown ©2011, chris fillebrown, all rights reserved

• 

  The Management Blog

• Invited Guest Talk by Prof. Norbert Kerr on 'others feelings and own cooperation' 29 February 2012, 1-2pm, Room 1014, Whitelands College, Roehampton University

  Piers Cain

  25 Jan 2012 | 10:24 am

  Prof Kerr is one of the most prominent social psychologists of our time and his research on group motivation, social dilemmas, social exclusion, jury decision-making and research methodology has been widely acclaimed across and beyond psychology, namely in economics, sociology, health sciences, anthropology and law Related Content:  Calling a halt to mindless change - 13 years on, have we learnt the lesson yet? You are not watching this post, click to start watching

• The average employee spends £3.20 per day on coffee

  Adrian Gaskell

  24 Jan 2012 | 9:24 am

  A blog last year reported that free tea is a major perk offered in the workplace, with employees that don't work for such tea friendly employers forking out £110 a year on caffeinated refreshments.   This isn't enough for some though, at least if a report into the drinking habits of our American cousins is any guide.  It found that the average American spends a whopping $1,000 per year on coffee whilst at work, or $5 per day if you prefer. The study looked into the expenditure of the typical American employee.  In addition to gorging on coffee it found that…

• Opportunity to put your questions entrepreneur Celia Gates

  Piers Cain

  23 Jan 2012 | 7:15 am

  Celia Gates, author of From Brainwave To Business, shortlisted for the CMI Management Book of the Year Innovation and Entrepreneurship category.  This Friday at 1pm Celia is hosting an online Masterclass with Stylist Magazine.  To participate, please follow this link:  http://www.stylist.co.uk/stylist-network/lunchtime-masterclass/celia-gates Related Content:  I'd expected more headhunters to callMy business book of the week - Understanding the small business sector - by David StoreyWhat have the Archbishop of Canterbury, a boy who makes jam and the author of a book…

• I'd expected more headhunters to call

  Graham Wilson

  22 Jan 2012 | 7:04 am

  Don't wait for headhunters to call - if you're a senior executive looking for a job and they haven't already then it is too late.  You need to drive the process - with the right approach and the right effort almost anyone (though I am personally concerned with senior executives) can land a role and do so quickly.  The answer is not to focus on intermediaries (like agencies, recruiters, and headhunters) but to go for ambassadors (people who know you, like you, and trust you) who will put the word around (and keep their eyes and ears open) on your behalf. Related Content:  My…

• The perils of starting your career in a recession

  Adrian Gaskell

  20 Jan 2012 | 8:24 am

      It's widely regarded that starting ones career in a recession can severely hit your bank balance.  Research conducted in 2006 for instance suggests that you can suffer for a decade before your earnings get back on track. What about managers that are already experienced though?  How does a recession impact upon their career?  Research from MIT attempts to shed some light on the matter. The research suggests that executives who begin their career during a recession generally rise to the top of the career ladder faster than peers who began their career…

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  Leadership and Management / Turning Adversity to Advantage

• Failure Frontier

  brucelynn

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:17 am

    Perhaps the pinnacle of scientific achievement, space travel, illustrates failures as dramatic at its triumphs. Apollo 1, Challenger, Columbia. Most intriguing is that all three of these historical failures stemmed back to someone’s assumption that they wouldn’t fail. James Oberg, NBC Space Analyst, recently wrote a piece ‘Space disasters still have lessons to teach’ going through each in turn… · The Apollo fire, on Jan. 27, 1967 , was made possible by a decision to believe that flammability in pressurized pure oxygen couldn’t be that bad, even if no tests had been run…

• Soul Surfer

  brucelynn

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:58 am

  Happy Australia Day mates! Australia is just as full of poisonous biting things as it is of cheery sunshine. In fact, recently Australia is suffering an unprecedented rash of shark attacks. They typically get about 3 attacks each year, but they have had that many in the past 3 weeks already in 2012! Everyone fears the Jaws star, the Great White, but actually the real hazard is the Tiger Shark. A tiger shark has been behind the recent spate and was also the culprit in a recent release, Soul Surfer. The film is about the story of Bethany Hamilton, a champion surfer who had part of her arm…

• GE Whiz

  brucelynn

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:08 am

  Among the corporate results announced last week was that dragon on the corporate landscape, GE. No stranger to the concept of embracing failure as I have already posted about on their leader emeritus Jack Welch. Welch’s protégée Jeffrey Immelt carries on the tradition as reflected in a USA Today cover story interviewing him((thanks Dad) “GE Sees Growth Opportunities”… “The only way to run a company like GE, without size and mass and everything is: Bad news has to travel as fast as good news. You have to have a management team and culture where people are trained to give you the…

• Year of the Dragon

  brucelynn

  23 Jan 2012 | 1:59 am

    "Our greatest glory is never in failure, but in rising every time we fall." – Confucius Happy Chinese New Year of the Dragon!

• Motivated by Failure

  brucelynn

  22 Jan 2012 | 1:45 am

  Go Pats! My hometown team is back in the Super Bowl fight with the AFC Championship in front of them today en route to a possible 5th Super Bowl in in the past decade. For many, a Super Bowl trip is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For the Pats, it happens every other year. And yet, it is their failures in those off years that drive them forward according to Mike Freeman’s report on CBS Sports, “Motivated by failure, the Pats are the playoffs’ most-dangerous team”… "You lose a few playoff games it sits on your mind for quite a while," Patriots quarterback Tom Brady…

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  Robin Sharma's Blog

• The Mark Wahlberg Factor

  admin

  24 Jan 2012 | 3:05 am

  On a recent flight home from a high-performance leadership presentation in Napa Valley for the executive team of a fast-growth multinational, I flipped through the pages of the latest issue of Men’s Journal (I usually buy four or five magazines for each flight I take and rip out the few articles I’m interested in – but I’ll leave that process for a future issue of this newsletter). I reached a feature on Mark Wahlberg. The piece details his rise to fame. From tough + violent beginnings (he allegedly blinded an innocent bystander in a fight). To his brother (of New Kids…

• 35 Fast Tips to Make This Your Best Year Yet

  admin

  15 Jan 2012 | 11:05 pm

  I’m sitting on an airplane thinking about what the best performers and most successful people do to continually outperform everyone around them. As we enter what I hope will be the single best year of your life yet, I’ve come up with 35 Tips that I invite you to concentrate on. Share these tips, reflect on then, post them where you can see them – and allow them to infuse your mindset: Remember that the quality of your life is determined by the quality of your thoughts. Keep the promises you make to others – and to yourself. The project that most scares you is the…

• My Personal Tactics To Win In 2012

  admin

  12 Jan 2012 | 3:05 am

  Last year I was blessed to serve as the personal business/success advisor of some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world. I also was privileged to have been called on by companies – in over 43 countries within 12 months – like Starbucks, The Coca-Cola Company, RIM and groups like The Young President’s Organization to help them take their leaders to all-new levels of productivity and performance. It was an intense year of events, airports and hotel rooms. But all outer performance and productivity begins with you getting your mindset and inner life to its best.

• How To Defeat Fear and Worry

  admin

  11 Jan 2012 | 3:05 am

  The fears you don’t face become your limits. And the doubts you don’t deal with become your walls. Out of all of the conversations I have with my readers on my Facebook page, the issue of fear and worry – and how these twin demons keep us small is one of the biggest. Especially as things fall apart in the global economy. You really deserve to shatter your doubts and conquer the fears that prevent you from doing what you are built to do and having everything you want in life in 2012. And you really should not have to be spending the best hours of your days worrying (about…

• A Simple Way To Make This New Year Fantastic

  admin

  10 Jan 2012 | 3:05 am

  From my family to yours, Happy New Year. I sincerely hope this is the year you change the game – and get to your absolute best at work and within your life. My team and I are devoted to helping you make this happen. To inspire you to get 2012 off to a superb start, I’ve recorded this 10 minute training video on one of the best ways to drive brilliant results for yourself in the New Year: Getting Up Early (yes you can do it! I KNOW you can :) The video will energize you and show you exactly what to do to install this habit into your daily life. Imagine having 60 minutes every…

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  Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

• Be A Manager Who Makes Decisions

  26 Jan 2012 | 8:37 pm

  A manager who can't make a decision or who can't make a timely decision will frustrate his/her employees. Equally bad, a lack of decision will impede the progress of the manager's team.Some managers make endless requests for data as a way to postpone their having to make a decision. Employees end up spinning in circles, slicing and dicing the information far beyond what is truly needed for the manager to make a decision.Some managers are simply afraid to make a decision in fear of making a "wrong" decision. These managers don't necessarily request needless data, but simply just never decide.

• 4 Words You Should Never Say To A Customer

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:46 pm

  Author Harvey MacKay wrote the following spot-on advice awhile back in his column in the Kansas City Business Journal. He wisely points out that all employees at every level should never use these four words in front of a client/customer for both obvious and perhaps not so obvious reasons:Can't -- As in, "We can't do that." "We can't meet that deadline." Unless you honestly cannot produce and then be honest and help them find another vendor.Busy -- As in, "I'll call you when I'm not so busy." "I'm really busy right now." The word "busy" gives your customer the impression they are a low…

• 10 Tips For How To Be A Healthier Leader

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:33 am

  If you're like many leaders, you're "too busy" to exercise on a regular basis. And, you don't give yourself time to renew and refresh. Truth is, there are ways to fit exercise and healthful habits into your busy day that will pay off in dividends.From Experience Life magazine, here are 10 tips for how to fit even just moments into your day (at work, on the road and at home) to help you become more healthful:Make a plan to exercise. Include exercise times, even if they are just in 10-minute increments, on your calendar.Find time to exercise and build on that time. Start off by walking for five…

• REI Sets The Example For Creating And Living Core Values

  22 Jan 2012 | 10:36 am

  Are you a leader who is struggling with how to write your company's core values?You can learn from Recreational Equipment Incorporated, better known as REI -- an outdoor gear and apparel co-op.  As described in Amy Lyman's new book, The Trustworthy Leader, REI concisely articulates its core values in this series of statements:Authenticity -- We are true to the outdoors.Quality -- We provide trustworthy products and servicesService -- We serve others with expertise and enthusiasm.Respect -- We listen and learn form each other.Integrity -- We live by a code of rock-solid ethics, honesty,…

• Good To Great -- Still A Must-Read For Leaders

  22 Jan 2012 | 10:26 am

  Near the top of virtually every list you'll see of the best leadership books, you'll find Good To Great, by Jim Collins.The book, five years in the making, and published in 2001, addresses the all-important question of: Can a good company become a great company, and if so, how?Some of the lessons from the book are:"Leadership is equally about creating a climate where the truth is heard and the brutal facts confronted.""Leading from good to great does not mean coming up with the answers and then motivating everyone to follow your messianic vision. It means having the humility to grasp the fact…

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  Kevin Eikenberry on Leadership & Learning

• Putting More Opportunity into Your Life

  Kevin Eikenberry

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:24 am

  Living in Indianapolis, and being a sports fan, makes it easy to like Mario Andretti.  Mario won one Indianapolis 500 (in 1967) and came close to winning several others.  Mario won many accolades in his racing career, including being named by the Associated Press as the Racer of the Century in 2000. In other words, [...]

• What’s Your Word Count?

  Kevin Eikenberry

  24 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  Sales trainers and professionals have said it for years.  The best sales people talk less during their encounters with customers than others do.  They get the prospect to share their thoughts and concerns. They recognize that the sale isn’t made by their perfect words as much as by the feelings and thoughts of the prospect. While this [...]

• The Case for the Bold Leader

  Kevin Eikenberry

  23 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  In 1776, the colonists in the British American Colonies were unhappy. So unhappy, that they formed a Continental Congress which suggested Declaring Independence from Great Britain. 56 men signed the document, and in doing so publicly announced that they were declaring treason on Great Britain. That is bold. Most of them lost their families and [...]

• Doing the Impossible: The 25 Laws for Doing the Impossible

  Kevin Eikenberry

  23 Jan 2012 | 4:30 am

  Today’s Resource Recommendation is Doing the Impossible: The 25 Laws for Doing the Impossible by Patrick Bet-David. I’m not exactly sure how this book ended up in my Amazon shopping cart and then in a box on my desk. I don’t know nor had never heard of the author and don’t remember someone referring it [...]

• The Danger of Imitation

  Kevin Eikenberry

  20 Jan 2012 | 6:58 am

  Maybe you wouldn’t state it this way, but chances are, if you are reading this, you want to become great at something.  Maybe you’d use different words.  Maybe “being great” doesn’t resonate with you. It doesn’t matter what words you put to it; if you want to become more effective and move closer to your [...]

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  LeaderLab

• The Least Important Question in Leadership

  david

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  Are leaders born or made? This is by far the least important question in leadership. It’s not even the real question. The real question – the question behind the question – is: can leadership be developed and cultivated in someone, or should we just try and find the natural leaders and push them to the front of the line? So why do we ask the other question – the born or made question? We ask it because it is so unimportant. Because any time we ask the question we begin a great debate about qualities and behaviors of leaders. We dance around and around question behind the question. We…

• This Time It’s Personal

  guest

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  In a time of unprecedented challenge, leaders don’t just need to lead their companies. They also need to lead themselves. They need strategies for improving their effectiveness while sustaining a sense of professional well-being. Every leader has an internal source of strength and stability. Without care and consideration these renewable resources are seriously at risk. They need to practice personal leadership. Defining Personal Leadership Personal leadership is the leadership of the self.  In addition to the visible and interactive work of organizational leadership, personal leadership…

• Book Review: StandOut

  david

  23 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  Marcus Buckingham is a soloist in the strengths movement choir. He has been a mouthpiece for the idea since seemingly the very beginning. Marcus is a gifted communicator with a talent for understanding the need for rigorous research. Which is why when he finally decided to create a market a self-assessment, StandOut, it should peak everyone’s interest. I’ll admit, I was actually a little confused at why Marcus had decided to create an assessment – I am a big fan of Go Put Your Strengths to Work and the accompanying Trombone Player Wanted film series. Both of these works rest on the idea…

• Portable Guide to Leading Change

  david

  20 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  [The following is an excerpt from our latest ebook published through LeaderLab Papers entitled The Portable Guide to Change. If you like the blurb, download the ebook for free. If you don't, download it anyway and then take satisfaction in dragging it to your recycle bin.] Most people view organizational change the same way they view a clown standing down the street from them. It may be a positive experience, but we’d rather it be someone else’s positive experience. Despite our best efforts, the world continues to change and grow. In order to remain competitive, organizations need change…

• A Team of Rival Perspectives

  david

  18 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  One element that fosters creativity is the ability to see an issue from multiple angles. When leaders build mechanisms that give them these various perspectives, they are more likely to see creative solutions. One fascinating example is that of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was the surprise winner of a hotly contested primary that included personal attacks and attempted coup d’etats. Once he had secured the nomination, and later the presidency of the United States, Lincoln assembled his cabinet primarily of the very men he quarreled with for the nomination. This “team of rivals” was able to…

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  Linked 2 Leadership: The Leadership Collaboratory

• Gaining Leadership Control: One Simple Thing

  Jonathan Magid

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  Most every busy leader longs for some magic wand that will help them simplify the monstrosity that is their life and role.   Wouldn’t it be great if there was one simple thing any leader could do to stimulate a positive team culture, deepen the bonds between teammates, and create a “virtuous circle” of effective group [...]

• Leaders and Technology: Top 10 Essentials

  Hassan Bawab

  26 Jan 2012 | 12:07 pm

  Leaders MUST make the most of the tools at their disposal to lead effectively. As a leader it is your responsibility to lead in an effective and efficient way. Otherwise, you will find your people peddling through their days with an increasingly weighty payload. Yuck… Leading Today’s Technology Regardless of whether you are tech savvy, or scared [...]

• The Surprising Results of Servant Leadership

  Lee Ellis

  25 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  As a POW in Vietnam, I was typically the junior ranking and youngest person in my cell block. This meant that I was always a follower and never a formal leader. I used to think that this meant that I didn’t have influence.   But in retrospect, I see that I did have influence. And [...]

• How Important Are Informal Leaders?

  Cheryl Dilley

  24 Jan 2012 | 6:56 pm

  There are many articles out there asking questions like:  Are great leaders born or bred? And there are many answers to this question. I like this quote as an answer: “Leaders born to be bred.” Hierarchy or Not Most of us realize that leadership does not have to come from the top in order to be [...]

• Leaders: How to Be a Lying SOB

  Dr. Greg Howes

  24 Jan 2012 | 6:30 am

  Liars – Are Leaders Honest Enough? I expect most everyone would argue that leaders must have high ethics and be honest with their dealings with each other, but are leaders really being honest? Big Question:  As leaders, at all levels in the organization, are we honest enough to have “real” conversations? On Being Genuine I [...]

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  Blanchard LeaderChat

• Quit and Stayed – Pearls of Wisdom from Leadership Livecast

  Randy Conley

  26 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am

  Nearly 5,000 people joined dozens of leadership experts yesterday for the Quit and Stayed Leadership Livecast. Over the course of four hours there were presentations and online discussions about what causes employees to be disengaged on the job and strategies leaders can take to address this epidemic in the workplace. The Quit and Stayed phenomenon was studied from several angles. Leadership gurus, managers, employees, and team members examined the role an organization’s culture plays in fostering or inhibiting engagement, the value of leaders cultivating personal relationships with…

• A first step any leader can take to improve employee engagement

  David Witt

  23 Jan 2012 | 9:23 am

  The Gallup Organization estimates that 27% of workers worldwide are actively disengaged at work.  This is a state of mind where an employee is so discouraged at work that they essentially quit and stay—doing only what is marginally required of them to keep their job, but little more.  In some extreme cases it can be even worse with disengaged workers actively working against an organization’s goals and spreading their discontent to other workers.  In the U.S. alone, this level of disengagement is estimated to cost employers over $300 billion dollars a year in lost productivity. While…

• Three Steps to a Customer-Centric Organization

  Vicki Halsey

  19 Jan 2012 | 8:26 am

  The 2011 American Express Global Customer Service Barometer reports that 60 percent of U.S. consumer respondents believe that businesses have not increased their focus on providing good customer service.  Even more surprising, 26 percent think companies are actually paying less attention to service. Wow—now is your chance to be the one who CAREs about service!  Here are three places to start being the one who leads the charge so everyone in the organization has a customer service mindset: Declare “legendary customer service” as an imperative. Put it out there. Say, “We want…

• Advice for leaders: How Dr. Martin Luther King points the way

  David Witt

  16 Jan 2012 | 7:43 am

  Today is Martin Luther King Day in the United States, a time to reflect back on the life and teachings of the great civil rights leader and activist. While most of us will not be called to engage in social activism on the scale that Dr. King did, we can still have a great impact on the people around us through our actions and behaviors. Here are three ways to honor the spirit of Dr. King’s message in your corner of the world. Be inclusive. It’s never a good idea to create artificial divisions between people even though, as humans, we seem to love to do it.  People have a fundamental…

• Leaders: You get the work environment you deserve

  David Witt

  12 Jan 2012 | 8:14 am

  Work used to be a lot more fun. Companies were looking up and looking out. There was a lot more growth and a lot more opportunities inside and outside of organizations. But today’s economic situation has created a long-term change in the work environment and some resulting resentment and control issues among employees that will require extra attention and new ideas on the part of leaders. This passive-aggressive behavior is popularly known as “quitting and staying” and it happens anytime you combine a large number of employees with limited opportunities together with unresponsive…

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  RoundtableTalk

• RIM’s leadership woes: 5 lessons on how to go from hero to zero

  LeaderTalker

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:25 am

  After rocketing the Blackberry to success in the mid 2000’s, RIM Co-CEO’s Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie stepped down this week and were replaced by new CEO (and former RIM COO) Thorsten Heins.  Analysts and investors seem to be panning the move as too little too late and the new CEO has been on the defensive since the announcement was made.  What can we average leaders learn from this shake-up?  Here are a few of my thoughts: 1)  Success can make you complacent… it’s almost becoming hard to remember the time when all you ever saw people carrying was their Blackberry.  Now…

• Zombie Boy deals lesson in perspective shifting

  LeaderTalker

  19 Jan 2012 | 8:28 am

  Have you seen Rick “Zombie boy” Genest? He’s a 26 year old guy that has tattooed himself to look like a, you guessed it, a rotting corpse.  In probably one of the most effective product demo campaigns of all time, DermablendPro showcases its product by covering up Genest’s tattoos.  The opening screen asks “how do you judge a book?” and after watching it and reflecting on another conversation I had this week, it got me thinking about why it’s important to challenge your perspectives about both people and situations. Most of us would agree that being open-minded to others based…

• Fast Friday with Aristotle

  LeaderTalker

  13 Jan 2012 | 8:56 am

  So… it’s January 13th. Have you broken all of your New Year’s resolutions yet?  Maybe it’s time to start some new rituals instead.  Recently I was lucky enough to be able to part of a dynamic leadership project for next gen leaders that went far beyond traditional classroom training.  It’s been a great learning experience for me, particularly around the power of rituals to actually get those “resolutions” to stick.  One of the presenters used a quote from Aristotle that I’m inspired to share: “We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a…

• The Roundtable Recap 2011 in review

  LeaderTalker

  3 Jan 2012 | 2:44 pm

  The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for our Roundtable Talk blog.  Thanks to everyone who’s been reading, subscribing and commenting.  It’s been a great year and we’re looking forward to more leadership ideas, strategies and train wrecks to explore with you in 2012! Here’s an excerpt: The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 15,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it. Click here to see the…

• Fast Friday with Ayn Rand, author and philosopher

  LeaderTalker

  30 Dec 2011 | 8:50 am

  As this year comes to a close, it’s often a time for reflection and to start to think about how 2012 is going to be your next big year.  In reflection of some themes I’ve been thinking about, the fast Friday quote of the week this week comes from Russian/American philosopher and author of Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand: “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me?” One of my take-aways from this year is that there’s lots of things about work that just aren’t working.  People are overstretched, senior executives are out of touch and amazing leaders…

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  JT Pedersen

• What I’ve Read Lately: Why People Fail

  JT

  26 Jan 2012 | 8:53 am

  “Why People Fail: The 16 Obstacles to Success and How You Can Overcome Them” by: Siimon Reynolds ISBN: 978-1-118-10617-4 Why People Fail is actually a twist on words.  It could just as easily been titled along the lines of How to Be Successful. Siimon provides an easily read book that highlights 16 key points underlying how people set themselves up to fail. Step by step, Siimon discusses ways readers can incrementally work to improve themselves, from self-image, through proper health and exercise, to rituals and persistence…to name a few. The notion of kaizen came to mind…

• How To: Get Your Sales Team Onboard with SaaS

  JT

  20 Jan 2012 | 12:21 pm

  Your Sales team is where your company’s efforts meet the world.  They’re where the rubber meets the road.  Your organization’s efforts can live, or die, based on the performance of your Sales team.  The happier they are, the more positive they feel, the more confident they are in your offerings, the better they sell.  And the better revenue flows. But what if the apple cart gets upset? This is a challenge currently facing a lot of companies, particularly in the B2B (business-to-business) space.  As SaaS offerings become more common-place, traditional…

• Costa Concordia: Lesson In Failed Leadership

  JT

  16 Jan 2012 | 10:26 am

  By now, if you’ve tapped into almost any media source, you’ve heard of how the Costa Concordia ran aground, sank, and created a world of mayhem for all involved. The initial cause as I read about it in the media, is,”…made an unauthorized, unapproved deviation from its programmed course, a “human error” that led to the grounding of the vessel…,” says the chief executive of the ship’s Italian owner. We all make mistakes. To do so is to be human.  And, while tragic, that mistake is not itself where the real failure of leadership was demonstrated.

• The Making of Squishy History

  JT

  10 Jan 2012 | 11:23 am

  As we move forward, history’s solidity will become increasingly squishy. As digital books become increasingly popular, so does awareness that a medium we once considered immutable, no longer is. Nicholas Carr penned an article for the Wall Street Journal, “Books That Are Never Done Being Written.”  He highlighted how, having published his own book on Amazon, he decided a tweak was needed, and how easily he did it.  No one but Amazon’s database and he knew that the book had changed. The article points out, “Digital text is ushering in an era of perpetual…

• Product Visioning—How Often Do You Do It?

  JT

  6 Jan 2012 | 7:25 pm

  Product Managers need to define, own, and communicate the dream they have for their product(s).  The process they go through in developing the dream, can be referred to as Visioning.  Earlier this week, Dr. Jim Anderson discussed the process in, Why Product Managers Need To Learn How To Do Visioning. The question was then asked, how often should you go through the process?  In discussions that followed, it was interesting to see the range of responses.  Some suggested quarterly, others more frequently. Visioning, defining the dream, for me is a function that varies by product, by…

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  Leader's Beacon | The Leadership Experts

• Develop Your Leadership Competence Asynchronously

  Ian Cook

  23 Jan 2012 | 7:30 am

  It being New Year’s time again, Bill George recently blogged about “Five Resolutions for Aspiring Leaders.” He talked about things you can do to develop yourself, beyond what you do in your direct job: such as finding a mentor, setting up a mastermind type group with other emerging and aspiring leaders,volunteering in the community in [...]

• What is Your Philosophy on Leadership?

  Doug Dickerson

  21 Jan 2012 | 3:56 pm

  phi·los·o·phy   [fi-los-uh-fee noun, plural -phies. -The rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct. The setting is taken from the 2009 hit movie Invictus starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. Freeman plays the role of South African President Nelson Mandela. Damon plays the role of Francois Pienaar, the captain of the [...]

• Talent Magnets

  Ian Cook

  19 Jan 2012 | 7:30 am

  In my leadership workshops and keynote speeches I sometimes ask the group/audience to think of the best boss and worse boss they’ve ever had, what each did, and what effect it had on you. People come up with all kinds of descriptors and behaviors of both bosses. But one thing emerges about the best boss [...]

• Praise their Process Over their Competence

  Ian Cook

  16 Jan 2012 | 7:30 am

  The name and work of Carol Dweck keeps coming up in discussions among experts in cognitive development. I wrote a review of her important book, MindSet. In it she talks about two fundamental mindsets in people (and, therefore, of course, in employees): Fixed and Growth. Someone with a Fixed mindset believes they can’t get any [...]

• Leadership Lessons from Tim Tebow

  Doug Dickerson

  14 Jan 2012 | 1:23 pm

  Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. – William Shakespeare Tim Tebow earned my respect back in 2009 when he played his senior year at the University of Florida. When other college athletes with lesser talent opted to enter the NFL draft, Tebow [...]

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  Samuel Bacharach Blog

• Creative Leadership

  wbriggs

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:06 am

  Leadership takes creativity sometimes. It can be scary, difficult, and distracting–but that’s also what makes it a great challenge. In order to be creative, we’d be wise to turn to Tham Khai Meng, Worldwide Creative Director of Ogilvy. In the video below he doesn’t talk about leadership. Or management. Or organizational behavior. He talks about the unnerving process of coming up with fresh ideas. Next time you’re face-to-face with a challenge try Mr. Meng’s approach. Take a sheet of paper, draw boxes on it, and start to think.

• Paulson’s Loans

  Howard Zhang

  9 Dec 2011 | 10:05 am

  $700 billion from the Trouble Asset Relief Program of 2008 was barely enough to insulate banks from their losses. By itself, TARP was insufficient to guarantee that US banks would not fail. Due to the regulatory conditions attached to TARP, banks who accepted the publicized bailout would have difficulty getting additional loans. Without additional capital, many US financial institutions would risk collapse. Paradoxically, banks could not ask congress for even more funds because TARP, already being rejected once, barely passed in 2008. The only way to insure the survival of US Banks is a…

• David Stern’s Fight

  Sean Lee

  21 Nov 2011 | 10:21 am

  Leaders and organizations often go hand in hand. Sometimes it is hard to separate the man from the brand for obvious reasons (Henry Ford, William Chrysler) but there are other times when leaders are synonymous with the company they lead. One perfect example of this is the NBA’s David Stern. Stern did not invent the idea of organizing teams playing basketball for money, but in many ways he has perfected it. When he took over as NBA Commissioner in 1984 the league was just starting to grow again (thanks to two guys named Magic and Larry) after a long period of neglect and falling attendance.

• 6 Leadership Lessons from the NBA Lockout

  Samuel B. Bacharach

  17 Nov 2011 | 11:43 am

  Leadership is fundamentally about moving agendas and sustaining momentum. It’s about vision and pragmatism. It’s about the capacity to grab opportunities while maximizing gain. It’s, as we argue on this blog, not about drama and not about charisma, it’s about the nuts and bolts of execution. The recent NBA lockout can teach us six lessons about how to better lead and pursue your agenda while negotiating with another party. 1. Know where they’re coming from. Make sure you know the resistance points of the other side. Neither side understood how far the other side was willing to…

• Leadership: Limos, Taxis & Subways

  Samuel B. Bacharach

  14 Nov 2011 | 11:27 am

  Recently, I was sitting around having a discussion with three friends of mine: a young entrepreneur who’s just trying to figure out how to make it, a small business owner who tries to keep it going, and a CEO who is trying to master the universe. We were just meeting for a cup of coffee on 7th avenue, but the conversation quickly spilled into leadership. It usually does when business people meet academics. “You guys don’t understand–we run a monster.  Everyday I worry about thousands of people,” said the CEO. “Try to do what I do and you’ll have a…

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  Ravi Pratap Singh

• Lesson From The Bumble Bee

  Ravi Pratap Singh

  1 Jan 2012 | 10:51 am

  According to the laws of aerodynamics, a bumble bee is incapable of flight. In 1934, French entomologist Antoine Magnan applied the laws of air resistance to insects and concluded that the bumble bee's flight is impossible. This is primarily because its body weight is not in the right proportion to its wing capacity (in terms of size and beats per second). But thankfully, the bumble bee is not exactly an aerodynamics buff and therefore does not care too much for scientific equations and calculations. So it does what it was born to do... FLY!!! There's a lesson…

• Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!

  Ravi Pratap Singh

  24 Dec 2011 | 11:01 pm

  May the year ahead for you and your “dear” ones look more happy, healthy and prosperous than the ones gone by! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!

• Don't Keep A Dog & Bark Yourself

  Ravi Pratap Singh

  18 Dec 2011 | 8:12 am

  Successful managers have one common trait... and that is, effective delegation skills! Many a times one sees outstanding team players fail miserably as team leaders primarily because they are unable to delegate tasks appropriately. There could be two major reasons behind a manager's "fear of delegation": Quality Would Suffer: Firstly, the manager feels that he is best qualified to do the task. Therefore, if he delegates the same to a team member, the quality of work is bound to suffer and finally the task would have to be redone by…

• Stubborn on Vision, Flexible on Details

  Ravi Pratap Singh

  15 Nov 2011 | 1:44 am

  Just read an incredible interview of Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com. Jeff's interaction with Steven Levy allows us a peek into the mind of one of the greatest innovators of our times. There are several nuggets of wisdom strewn through the interview. But if i were to pick a single thought as my take-away from the article, then it has to be Amazon's mantra of being "stubborn on vision and flexible on details". A powerful philosophy, simply told. No wonder Jeff Bezos owns the web in more ways than you think.

• Freedom To Fail !!!

  Ravi Pratap Singh

  12 Nov 2011 | 10:45 pm

  It is that time of the year when corporates queue up at colleges to recruit (or rather, shortlist and book!) students for their organisations. And placement activities at campuses are at their zenith. As is the norm, the smart students are spoilt for choice as far as job offers are concerned. In a not-so-cruel twist of fate, it is the students who are finally left with the arduous task of deciding which organisation they should join. The fact that these offers are from some of the biggest Indian and multi-national companies only adds more…

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  RESULTS.com Business Growth Tips

• SWOT Analysis – part 2

  21 Jan 2012 | 12:59 pm

  As mentioned in SWOT Analysis – part 1, you need to start with a clear strategy, before you even look at doing a SWOT Analysis.    Then you need to keep the concept of “Dual Vision” in mind.   Strategic planning requires us to look at how to improve our current business - “improving what is”, balanced with what we need to build to succeed in the long term - “creating what will be”. Make it obvious. Capture your SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) in a three to five word phrase format.  E.g. it is meaningless…

• SWOT Analysis – part 1

  19 Jan 2012 | 8:03 am

  Early in my business career, (prior to joining RESULTS.com) I had the experience of having external consultants come into my firm to do “strategic planning” with us on an annual basis.    We would go to an offsite meeting.  They would start by having us do a SWOT analysis (an assessment of company Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), and then we would create a long list of action items and go back work and do our best to get these things done – with varying levels of success. I am embarrassed to admit that for many years I mistakenly thought…

• It's time to review your high level strategy again

  7 Jan 2012 | 10:35 am

  "If you don't have a competitive advantage, don't compete" - Jack Welch The pace of change is such that many industries are being transformed seemingly overnight, and in many cases, entire new industries are being created.  According to science-fiction writer William Gibson, "The future is here. It's just not evenly distributed yet."   Albert Einstein once said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended upon the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask.  Once I knew the proper question, I could solve the problem…

• Business execution: Tips for getting things done

  11 Dec 2011 | 10:31 am

  Define what “done” looks like. As part of the quarterly strategic planning process, we see too many companies choosing projects to improve their business without clearly defining the end point.  One of the keys to business execution success is to specify very clearly what the completed project looks like (or the specific milestone that you intend to reach this quarter), and enter a specific due date for each project.  It needs to be obvious exactly what “done” looks like, so you know precisely when to “pop the champagne cork” to celebrate your…

• Evidence-based people management

  6 Dec 2011 | 9:11 am

  Stanford university professor, Robert Sutton has written a number of very insightful business books which present evidence to expose many of the commonly held management practices – as being nothing more than myth.  Just because “all the books say that’s what you should do” does not make it true. Here is our take on a presentation Prof Sutton gave to a group of Human Resources managers.     Belief:  Find rock star employees and pay them whatever is necessary to keep them happy (the "Wall Street" mentality) Fact: The best performing…

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  Enclaria: Change Starts Here

• Even the obvious causes of behavior are easy to miss

  Heather Stagl

  24 Jan 2012 | 10:31 am

  There are some things right in front of you that, until you look for them, are completely invisible. For several months, we’ve noticed independent behavior changes in our 11 year old dog, Sadie. She had become increasingly disobedient, especially not coming when she was called. She had become a whiner. Whenever she wanted something, she would whine, but whenever we went through the list of options (“Are you hungry?” “Do you need to go outside?” “Do you want to play?”), she would just sit there and keep whining. Either her reaction time was slowing or…

• Interview: How to Host Effective Meetings that Drive Change

  Heather Stagl

  17 Jan 2012 | 10:31 am

  On this episode of The Change Agent’s Dilemma, you’ll hear my interview with Al Pittampalli, author of Read This Before Our Next Meeting. On the show, we talk about how to host effective meetings that drive change. Tune in to hear why the way we conduct meetings is so bad, and learn a new format for meetings that will bring about results and use time, our most limited resource, more effectively. Listen to the show here (30 minutes): Be sure to visit the radio show page to listen to past episodes and subscribe to the show.

• A Road Map for Gaining Support for Change

  Heather Stagl

  10 Jan 2012 | 7:24 am

  Effective support for change means leaders and managers do their part to lead the change with those with whom they have authority. While you can offer guidelines for what support is needed and build mutual accountability within a larger group format, for leaders whose support is crucial to the success of the initiative, it is often a good idea to solicit their support individually, which requires a one-to-one conversation. There are many things to consider before starting these conversations. Prepare in advance to boost your confidence and plan to get what you need. You may only get one…

• The urgency detector

  Heather Stagl

  3 Jan 2012 | 8:33 am

  Over the weekend, we returned home from a week-long holiday vacation to the occasional high-pitched, short chirp of the smoke detector that signaled that the battery was getting low. It was late – almost midnight. The kids were exhausted and needed to get to bed. For some reason, the batteries in smoke detectors are not easy to access or change. And they seem to be the only device in the house that requires a 9-volt battery, which explains why we had no spares anywhere in the house. The last thing either of us wanted to do after 13 hours in the car was to drive to the store to buy a…

• 2011 – The Year In Review

  Heather Stagl

  27 Dec 2011 | 9:11 am

  Thank you everyone for reading my blog this year!  I thought I would share a list of the most popular posts for 2011. Perhaps there are some you missed! The top 5 Enclaria blog posts from this year are: Seven Roles of a Change Agent My boss won’t listen to me – what do I do? Three Signs You’ve Crossed the Line from Influence to Manipulation The Five Challenges of Every Change Agent Six Roles of a Leader During Change These are a few more of my favorites: The most misleading – and exploited – statistic about change The Four Layers of Change Three Conversations…

• 

  Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School

• Law, Security, and Technology in the 21st Century

  PON_Staff

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:30 pm

  With two Harvard Law School graduates potentially running against each other in the 2012 U.S. presidential contest, you do not have to look far to spot the links between Washington, D.C. and the law school. Katie Bacon of the Harvard Law Bulletin discusses such ties in her article “Double Strength” featured here in the Winter 2012 issue. Beginning in September 2011 these ties were furthered with the launch of the Harvard Law School-Brookings Project on Law and Security, a partnership between the law school and the venerable Brookings Institution. This collaboration is being…

• Religious fundamentalism in Palestine and Israel and its impact on women

  PON_Staff

  24 Jan 2012 | 9:39 am

  “Religious Fundamentalism in Palestine and Israel and its Impact on Women” with Laila Atshan Mason Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government and psychologist in Palestine and Dina Kraft Free lance journalist based in Tel Aviv, Israel and Nieman Fellow    Date: Monday, January 30, 2012 Time: 4:00-6:00 PM Where: Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Knafel Building North, 1737 Cambridge Street, Room N-262 (Bowie Vernon Room). Contact Chair: Donna Hicks (dhicks@wcfia.harvard.edu). Speaker Bios Laila Atshan is a Mason Fellow at Harvard University’s John F.

• Resolve Conflict by Asking the Right Questions

  PON_Staff

  24 Jan 2012 | 6:30 am

  Sometimes asking a simple question can move you from deadlock to deal. Yet negotiators often neglect to ask key questions because it doesn’t occur to them to do so or  because they don’t want to appear weak or uninformed. Even when we do remember to ask the other side questions, we sometimes ask questions that are unlikely to shed much light on the situation. Imagine, for example, that you and your business partner have just interviewed representatives from two different PR firms with the intention of giving one of them your business. You have a strong preference for one firm,…

• Offer Your Counterpart a Graceful Retreat

  PON_Staff

  24 Jan 2012 | 6:30 am

  Sometimes negotiators back themselves into a corner by taking a tough stance that brings talks to an impasse. In such cases, they are likely to view retreat as a sign of weakness – a surefire way of losing face. To move talks forward, you’ll need to help the other party make a graceful retreat, write Deborah M. Kolb and Judith Williams in their book Everyday Negotiation: Navigating the Hidden Agendas in Bargaining (Jossey-Bass, 2003). As an example, the authors tell the story of Lois, a university researcher  whose team of fellow graduate students was having trouble getting study…

• Managers: improve your team members’ negotiating power

  PON_Staff

  23 Jan 2012 | 3:30 am

  Research on stereotypes has reached conclusions about how lack of power and status can affect performance on negotiation and other tasks. Laura Kray of the University of California at Berkeley and her colleagues found in their research  that women negotiators performed worse than men when they were led to believe that their performance reflected negotiating ability. The mention of “ability” seemed to trigger the stereotype that women are less effective negotiators than men. Simply knowing that others may be judging according to negative stereotypes can impair our performance,…

• 

  Vineet Nayar

• Management mantras from the road

  admin

  19 Jan 2012 | 3:14 am

  I love taking road trips into the hills. It’s a great way to clear the head in the vast landscape. On a long weekend recently, I decided to drive out to the hills with some friends. We made sure we had the right vehicle and detailed directions to get to our destination. En route, we kept tabs on the weather and kept at a trot to avoid the showers heading our way! It was a great trip and we came back completely rejuvenated. But, on our return, we heard  stories from acquaintances who had got stuck on the very same route that weekend. Looking back, I am amazed at the management mantras we…

• Why ‘employees first’ and how it works

  admin

  10 Jan 2012 | 6:29 am

    Business Today Q&A with Vineet Nayar on ‘Employees First, Customers Second’.

• Second Coming – Fortune India Interview

  admin

  9 Jan 2012 | 5:47 am

  Vineet Nayar talks to Fortune India on the success of HCLT’s transformation journey and its strategy for the future. Click here to download pdf (part 1) Click here to download pdf (part 2)

• Let’s rediscover the power of child’s play

  Vineet Nayar

  29 Dec 2011 | 10:29 am

  As we call curtains on a tumultuous 2011, we have certainly learned one lesson: Solving the problems encountered this year was no child’s play. Or was it? I invite you to view a short video clip of ‘World Peace and Other Fourth Grade Achievements,’ my favourite game in the world. In it, John Hunter, a Virginia based school teacher who created this political simulation game, puts all the problems of the world on a 4’X5’ plywood board – and lets his 4thgraders solve them. As he describes it, there is layer upon layer of complex, global crises requiring hyper collaborative…

• Spirited weekend, or a weakened spirit?

  admin

  23 Dec 2011 | 1:42 am

  In an impulsive Facebook post last Friday, I wrote about a friend’s routine practice to spell ‘weekend’ as ‘weakened’ to describe his state after a work week and wondered if it was because he was yet to fall in love with his work. Going by the number of ‘likes’ the post received, it appeared to have struck a chord with many people. Several people responded to it, including Swaty Verma, Kamesh Bavaratnam, Varun Singhal, Ramani Balakrishnan, Zaheer Pervez, who reiterated the importance of loving our work. It is an adage that we have grown up with and yet, in this age of TGIF, we…

• 

  Utpal Writes

• Was that confrontation essential?

  Utpal Vaishnav

  28 Jan 2012 | 4:28 am

  That’s the question you need to ask post each confrontation. Sure, it’s a powerful tool in bringing your team members to the next level but pausing and measuring the progress is even more important. Confrontation is more of a cost v/s benefits issue so measurement is required. And, the thing about progress is that the progress will be always positive if you let it. Key here is to look dispassionately at the whole set of confrontation events and take corrective actions whatever those might be. What’s the point of continuing an activity if there are no returns?

• Distinguish the Distinctions of Your Business

  Utpal Vaishnav

  23 Jan 2012 | 11:10 am

  …no matter what your business is. Leading a Business is unlike any other role of an organization, because it’s always dissimilar. Unstructured, unpredictable, atypical…a right brain activity. No predefined set of rules or guidelines are much of help because everyone leads their business differently, and what flourishing business leaders have in common is that they are flourishing. The only way you and your organization is going to make a difference in the market is the way you lead. Not by reading some leadership books, attending some leadership courses or following external…

• The Inordinate Team Member

  Utpal Vaishnav

  19 Jan 2012 | 3:11 am

  There are a few grounds to stand a team member who makes inordinate requests: You anticipated you would; His skills are peerless; He’s a great grapeviner – has good political influence that you think would help you one day; Consequences of informing the client that you’ve sacked him are much worse ; He’s indispensible… It’s probably worth sacking a team member if: He intentionally spoils inter-team relationships; Your project is suffering from him doing less than great work consistently; He’s politically unwise – makes you vulnerable; He diverts you from creating…

• Oh Yes!

  Utpal Vaishnav

  14 Jan 2012 | 4:01 pm

  Oh yes, that’s also a part of our service offerings (although it’s not explicitly mentioned) Oh yes, we must open three of new branches in new geographies this year (although my main business is not doing well) Oh yes, we should alter some of our principles to fit the need (although this will essentially kill the chief motive of the business) Oh yes, I’ll have a dinner with them (although my spouse has to be alone) Oh yes, you called me few minutes back (although I should do that important task instead, let me ask at least) Oh yes, I can solve your problem (although I don’t understand…

• Keep Delivering

  Utpal Vaishnav

  7 Jan 2012 | 1:42 am

  Often, Delivering is burdened with threats and perils. Every time you stand up, send a text message, write a piece of software code, publish a blog post or write a tweet, you’re exposing yourself to disparagement. Not just disparagement, but the possible negative consequences that come with your actions. It’s no wonder why most of us are afraid to deliver. It’s uncertain if you are provided with more options, though. A life spent in safe harbor of the known seems less risky, but in fact, avoiding change and living a passive life is the most dangerous home for a human. Considering the…

• 

  Achieved Strategies

• Ted and Shawn Launch New Blog

  Shawn Murphy

  2 Jan 2012 | 10:57 am

  An overused cliche says there is strength in numbers. And in this digital age where tribes, communities spring up reveling in a shared purpose, it’s not hard to find strength in numbers. Over the past 1.5 years, Ted and I have found that we have a shared purpose: help managers and provide insights into a more human-centered, customer-focused approach to business. Given a similar yet different enough arc in our message for leadership in the 21st century, or for a new era of leaders, we’ve decided to launch a new blog together. So, as of today, we will be sharing our insights, our message…

• Top Blog Post 2011: 5 Workplace Buzz Kills

  Shawn Murphy

  30 Dec 2011 | 7:30 am

  Telling someone their “baby” is ugly is not easy. Baby can be a project. It can be one’s leadership style. It can be the workplace. To face up to the ugliness pervasive in your company or team is a bold leadership act. In our most popular post in 2011, we identify five contributors to workplace ugliness. Read here for the five contributors, or buzz kills. Thank you for making this our break out year. We value your interaction and insights shared here. We’ll announce a big change that will amp-up our message for 2012. Details coming within the next day. Graphic by Shawn Murphy

• 2nd Top Blog Post 2011: Inspire. Don’t Wait for Upper Management

  Shawn Murphy

  29 Dec 2011 | 7:30 am

  You can make a difference. You don’t need to wait for someone to encourage you to believe this and act on it. You can simply chose right now to make a difference. Our 2nd most popular blog post of 2011 encourages you to stop waiting for upper management to do something about low morale, low employee engagement or satisfaction. Read the post here for inspiration. Tomorrow we share our top blog post from 2011. Hint: it’s about workplace environment and impact to employees. Graphic by Shawn Murphy

• 3rd Top Blog Post 2011: Your Leadership Brand

  Shawn Murphy

  28 Dec 2011 | 3:00 pm

  What do you stand for as a leader? Or another way to ask this question is what’s your leadership philosophy. Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner include this as an important behavior for Model the Way – a leadership practice. The ambiguity and rate of change in companies can swallow leader-identity if we don’t lead from an evolving sense of awareness of who we are. This is what leaders in the 21st century must reconcile. Your leadership brand is one way to address the complexity in today’s world. Our third most popular post from 2011 explores leadership brand. Read here for more insights.

• 4th Top Blog Post 2011: 4 Ways to Recover after Being a Jerk

  Shawn Murphy

  28 Dec 2011 | 7:30 am

  As we continue to countdown our top 7 blog posts of 2011, we come to #4. We’ve all had those moments when we say something we regret as soon as it comes out of our mouth. How you recover can make a big difference. Our fourth biggest blog post of 2011 identifies how to recover from being a jerk. Read the full post here. Graphic by Shawn Murphy

• 

  What Do You Want From Them Blog

• Managing Is Difficult

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:35 am

  When I was in business school, I thought management was easy. Organizational behavior, business statistics, finance, HR policies – no problem. When I took my first real job as a manager at a fast food restaurant, my perspective changed quickly. Management tasks are indeed easy. What makes a traditional manager’s job difficult, IMHO, is dealing with uncertainty, irrational behavior and carrying the responsibility to press forward. I suspect these are common challenges for people anywhere, regardless of job status or position. But I bet managers and supervisors encounter these challenges…

• Cognitive Dissonance

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:25 am

  What do you see? The bar in the middle of this image seems to blend from light gray to dark gray. In reality, the horizontal bar is solid gray and only the background is a color gradient. Our brains are quite susceptible to deceit. Just hold a pencil up to one eye and look out the window – the pencil will appear see-through because your brain fills in missing information to complete the view. Magicians and illusionists have taken advantage of these shortcomings of our minds for centuries. If you think you are generally less deluded than other people, think again. A delusion is similar to a…

• You Can't Always Get What You Want

  6 Dec 2011 | 11:50 am

  Heard on the radio this weekend: "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by The Rolling Stones. I thought it was a great example of an opportunity-based narrative - uplifting and comforting.Are you stuck in whack-a-mole-management mode? Trapped in a vicious short-term mindset cycle? Do you struggle dealing with uncertainty?This song might cheer you up... You can't always get what you wantYou can't always get what you wantYou can't always get what you wantBut if you try sometimes you just might findYou get what you need

• Overcoming Short-Termism: Understanding Cognitive Biases In Times Of Uncertainty

  14 Nov 2011 | 11:26 am

  This is a positive message and an important one. Management processes may be broken, our economy is struggling and long-term value creation has taken a backseat, but we can turn these pressures into opportunities. John Hagel, co-chairman of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, shares incredible insights on his blog about the world we live in and our natural responses to facing times of high uncertainty. He has painted a picture of hope and collaboration, and I would like to share it with you here, in form of an actual picture. You can use the ideas below to expand the long-term mindset in your…

• Trick Or Treat Customer Service

  25 Oct 2011 | 6:54 pm

  This past weekend I took my 2007 Kia Spectra to Tire Kingdom to get my rear brake pads replaced. I also asked the friendly attendant if they could repair the wire connections that caused my air conditioning system to not work. I had already taken off the glove compartment and unscrewed the damaged part so it was visible to the attendant. It was obvious that the part needed repair: The friendly attendant said: "We would have to run an a/c system diagnostics test first.” Excuse me? The wires are NOT connected. No diagnostics test necessary! "Ma’am, I know, I could fix this for you on the…

• 

  It's Worth Noting | By Levi Smith

• What can you teach me?

  Levi Smith

  21 Jan 2012 | 6:12 pm

  About two years ago, I asked a new friend of mine to join me for lunch. I had just celebrated my daughter’s first birthday. Gene Ellerbee had just celebrated his 70th birthday. I was upfront... This is a summary only. Visit my site for the full post, to subscribe via email and to view my toolbox, about and speaking pages.

• Buying into lies about running late

  Levi Smith

  4 Jan 2012 | 10:42 pm

    First off, let me be upfront that I’m often guilty of running late, so what I share here comes from self evaluation. I have committed to solving the problem because as you’ll see... This is a summary only. Visit my site for the full post, to subscribe via email and to view my toolbox, about and speaking pages.

• Importance of preserving big blocks of time to think and create

  Levi Smith

  30 Dec 2011 | 10:15 am

    Take a look at your calendar. Is it full of scattered appointments, meetings and tasks? Thirty minutes here, sixty minutes there with varying breaks in between? You’re busy. So busy in... This is a summary only. Visit my site for the full post, to subscribe via email and to view my toolbox, about and speaking pages.

• That’s why we mow the grass

  Levi Smith

  23 Dec 2011 | 10:34 am

    I grew up on a large cattle ranch. We raised Registered Brangus. The best cattle were sold for 10′s of thousands of dollars to ranchers looking to improve the genetics of their herds.... This is a summary only. Visit my site for the full post, to subscribe via email and to view my toolbox, about and speaking pages.

• Feeling overwhelmed with tasks? Here’s a 15 min solution.

  Levi Smith

  9 Dec 2011 | 9:44 am

    Feeling overwhelmed, anxious or stressed about all your tasks at work or home? A simple and surprisingly therapeutic solution is to take a few moments and write everything down. I promise... This is a summary only. Visit my site for the full post, to subscribe via email and to view my toolbox, about and speaking pages.

• 

  Eblin Group

• 3 bad habits of fake leaders — and how to avoid them

  maryellen

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:21 am

  There was an interesting movie that came out last year called "The Adjustment Bureau" starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. In it, Damon plays a rising young congressman named David Norris. He’s headed for a big victory in a campaign for the U.S. Senate until a picture comes out of him mooning his fraternity brothers at a college reunion. He loses big and starts giving his supporters the big, inspirational, we’ll-be-back concession speech. He says things like, “Where I grew up, it wasn’t that you got knocked down, it was about what you did when you got back up.” The crowd initially…

• Gabrielle Giffords: The Courage and Wisdom to Step Back

  Scott Eblin

  23 Jan 2012 | 8:28 am

  This past weekend, I watched one of the more moving and inspirational videos I’ve seen in awhile. It’s this two minute announcement from Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords that she is resigning from Congress this week. It’s been just over a year since a gunman shot Giffords in the head and almost killed her at a constituent meet and greet outside an Arizona supermarket. Since then, her recovery has been beyond remarkable. The video clearly shows how far she’s come. Click headline to continue...

• Early Contender for Worst Leader of 2012

  Scott Eblin

  20 Jan 2012 | 10:36 am

  Based on the observable evidence, passenger accounts, his own statements and audio transcripts with an Italian coast guard officer, it sure looks like Captain Francesco Schettino is a very strong early contender for worst leader of 2012. By now you’ve probably seen the pictures and read the stories of the tragedy with the Costa Concordia cruise ship just off the Italian coast. The Captain ordered the early evening maritime equivalent of a fly-by just a few hundred yards from the coast to impress the citizens of a local town. The ship hit a rock which tore a gash in the hull and within an…

• How to Get Your Leadership Resolutions Back on Track

  Scott Eblin

  18 Jan 2012 | 8:23 am

  A new year brings with it the promise of change, but desire quickly gets crowded out by reality. Lists of resolutions are made and then fade. Part of the problem is the length of the lists themselves. When it comes to making meaningful change in how you show up as a leader this year, less is more. You can improve your odds of success by reducing the number of items on your leadership improvement list down to the one or two things that would make the biggest difference. For now, forget about the other eight or nine things that might have been on your list. Practice what the Japanese call…

• Six Leadership Communication Lessons from Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Scott Eblin

  16 Jan 2012 | 9:12 am

  On this Martin Luther King Day, I’m going into The Next Level Blog archives for this post on what we can learn from the speaking virtuosity of this great leader. Several years ago I was given the gift of the recordings of the sermons and speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. The sermon set is called “A Knock at Midnight,” and the speeches set is titled “A Call to Conscience.” There are companion books of the same title for each set. Over the course of a couple of weeks, I listened to every sermon and speech in the recordings. I learned a lot about King from that experience and came to…

• 

  StrategyDriven

• Recommended Resource – The No Asshole Rule

  StrategyDriven

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:46 am

  The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t by Robert Sutton About the Reference The No Asshole Rule by Robert Sutton provides methods for constructively dealing with the workplace bullies, creeps, jerks, tyrants, tormentors, despots, backstabbers, and egomaniacs – regardless if they are seniors, peers, or subordinates. His research provides insight to the financial costs such hostilities have on an organization as well as the proven methods for effectively dealing with such ill-mannered individuals. Benefits of Using this Reference…

• Corporate Cultures – Supervisor Initiated, Rules and Standards Controlled Environment

  StrategyDriven

  24 Jan 2012 | 5:10 am

  The Supervisor Initiated, Rules and Standards Controlled Environment is the centerpoint of StrategyDriven Culture-base Work Performance Model. This culture set represents a moderation of most benefits and risks. Subsequently, organizations can more easily flex in the cultural direction needed to implement a change. Conversely, these moderated cultural characteristics may lack the significant intensity necessary to rapidly drive change. The following characteristics, benefits, risks, and risk mitigators are representative of the Supervisor Initiated, Rules and Standards Controlled Environment.

• Complimentary Resource – Overseas Business Travel Risk

  StrategyDriven

  22 Jan 2012 | 5:39 am

  Overseas Business Travel Risk by Zurich Financial Services Ltd. Get FREE access to Zurich’s white paper on preparing for overseas business travel risks! This white paper shares potential overseas business travel risks: Health risks Security risks Safety risks StrategyDriven has partnered with TradePub.com to offer you complimentary one-year subscriptions and/or free trials to dozens of leading business publications. No coupons, credit cards, special codes, or purchases are necessary. Publications are entirely FREE to those who qualify. Click here for more information on Overseas…

• How to Prepare Yourself for the Executive Chair

  Linda Henman

  20 Jan 2012 | 5:11 am

  Comedian Steve Martin once said that if you want to be a millionaire, the first thing you have to do is get a million dollars. Most advice for positioning yourself for executive positions mirrors Martin’s sentiments: If you want to land in the executive chair, the first thing you need to do is get executive experience. I’ll counter with my own observation: If you want to land in the executive chair, start planning to do so when you’re in high school. Landing in the Executive Chair: How to Excel in the Hot Seatby Linda Henman   In today’s fast-paced, unprecedented, and…

• Complimentary Resource – How to Master Facebook Marketing in 10 Days

  StrategyDriven

  18 Jan 2012 | 5:45 am

  How to Master Facebook Marketing in 10 Days by HubSpot, Inc. Wondering how to quickly build a faithful following on Facebook? Whether it’s Facebook’s complexity or simplicity that has you stymied, if you put in just a little effort– for 10 days–you can boost your Facebook interactions by 10, 20, even 30 percent or more. In HubSpot’s new eBook “How to Master Facebook Marketing in 10 Days” you’ll learn how to: Evaluate successful Facebook pages Understand Facebook best practices Speak Facebook-ese Create custom Welcome Pages Create a content calendar…

• 

  Dr. Gruder’s IntegrityWatch Blog

• 2012 Energy Psychology Conference Now Open for Registration

  David

  20 Jan 2012 | 11:45 am

   read more

• "Getting a Grip on Your Eating Habits" Teleclass

  David

  6 Jan 2012 | 3:20 pm

  If you're like most of my IntegrityWatch Blog readers, you're already committed to your health. But, do you know the latest information that is emerging about what is healthy and what isn't? Even if you do, do you have a dependable system to translate these breakthroughs into effective habit change in your life? You probably said no to one or both of those questions.read more

• “POWERFUL WOMEN AREN’T MEN IN DRAG”

  David

  3 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pm

  read more

• The Seven Biggest Lessons Mom’s Life Taught Me - Reflections a Day After Her Death

  David

  13 Nov 2011 | 3:01 am

  There’s nothing quite like death to illuminate what’s most important in life. As I sit at my keyboard in yet another wave of grieving a day after my nearly 87-year-old mother died on 11/11/11, reflecting on the lessons I feel gifted by her life and death, here is what most wants to come out:read more

• Join Dr Gruder at Leaders Causing Leaders and Get a Discount

  David

  14 Sep 2011 | 1:40 am

  This Jedi training program for WORLD TRANSFORMATION is seriously off the charts. Activate your life and step into leadership, abundance, magnificence... be unstoppable. This remarkable event includes...read more

• 

  Management is a Journey

• In 100 Words: Where Do You Start When Your Employee Fails?

  Robert Tanner

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  When we expect certain behaviors of others, we are likely to act in ways that make the expected behavior more likely to occur. – Robert Rosenthal and Elisha Babad Employees generally rise to our expectations of them.  This is known as the self-fulfilling prophecy or Pygmalion Effect. It’s true because we treat people a certain way [...]

• What Does George Lucas’s Film Red Tails Teach Us About Leadership?

  Robert Tanner

  23 Jan 2012 | 5:25 am

  George Lucas’s latest film Red Tails is the true, inspiring story of the Tuskegee Airmen who were American pilots and heroes in World War II. It recounts the story of American men who wanted to fight for their country in real combat but were not initially allowed to do so because they were considered unqualified [...]

• Saturday’s Quote From Henry McCoy

  Robert Tanner

  21 Jan 2012 | 9:26 am

  If we lose our core values, we lose ourselves. – Henry McCoy

• January Management Journey Carnival

  Robert Tanner

  16 Jan 2012 | 6:25 am

  Happy New Year and welcome to the January 2012 edition of the Management Journey Carnival! We’re off to a good start with the first Carnival Edition for this year.  Topics for this month’s Management Journey Blog Carnival include time management, change leadership, employee engagement, interpersonal effectiveness, social business, generational management, motivation, innovation, organizational learning, teamwork, [...]

• Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King

  Robert Tanner

  15 Jan 2012 | 10:40 pm

  Had he not been taken from us so young, being only 39 years old, Dr. Martin Luther King would have been 83 years old today.  His commitment to non-violent, direct action to address our country’s sad history of race relations is now acknowledged worldwide as one of America’s greatest achievements in the last century.  Dr. [...]

• 

  Hauke Borow . org

• Leadership and Flexibility

  haukeborow

  19 Jan 2012 | 2:07 pm

  Perhaps you ask yourself now: What the … has flexibility to do with leadership? Perhaps you agree with the statement that flexibility is nice to have. But flexibility as an essential tool of holistic leadership? Mhmm…. So please let me explain. What would you consider to be the most important task of a leader? Motivating [...]

• The Truth About Change Managers

  haukeborow

  21 Oct 2011 | 3:20 pm

  Nowadays it’s very popular to talk about change. It seems as if change is something that accompanies us all through our whole lives. And you know what? It’s true. We don’t need to go so far and look at the content of our lives. It’s already sufficient to have a look at life itself. Life [...]

• How Learning Management Systems Can Improve Efficiency

  haukeborow

  2 Oct 2011 | 9:02 am

  Learning management systems go well beyond simply providing training programs to employees. In addition to a tool for delivering content, a learning management system will have tracking features that allow managers to check which courses have been completed. It may also have social learning features that give user the opportunity to share and communicate ideas, [...]

• My Personal Motivation Strategy

  haukeborow

  23 Sep 2011 | 4:14 pm

  Being motivated is a skill. Did you know that? Please be honest… Most people I know are convinced that motivation is something like a lucky emotional state. Today I feel motivated to do something. Yesterday I didn’t. Tomorrow…? Maybe. I can’t say. Motivation comes and goes like the daily sunrise. But unfortunately not so regularly… [...]

• Why Do We Trust Someone ?

  haukeborow

  11 Sep 2011 | 6:50 am

  Do you really trust somebody? Now, ask yourself that question and try to evaluate what that exactly means. Is trust something like a feeling? Perhaps something like love or appreciation? Or is trust rather something like a rational decision? “Yeah, he’s okay. I know that he never deceived me, so I’m going to trust him [...]

• 

  Communication in the Workplace

• Emails Capture our History

  KathyCondon

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:21 am

• Contact Cards are NOT Advertising

  KathyCondon

  23 Jan 2012 | 2:25 pm

• Small Face-to-Face Gatherings Build Relationships

  KathyCondon

  19 Jan 2012 | 2:37 pm

• Why do we make our writing so complicated to read?

  KathyCondon

  17 Jan 2012 | 10:30 pm

• Effective Way to Combine Social Media and Face-to-Face Networking

  KathyCondon

  14 Jan 2012 | 5:16 pm

• 

  The Leadership Advisor

• Coopetition: Embracing Millenials In The Workplace

  William Powell

  11 Jan 2012 | 8:38 am

  Many workplaces are competitive environments, partly because of the desire for advancement and partly because of the traditional structure of most incentive plans. They encourage “friendly” competition, which can often not be too friendly. The promotion of only high performers based on incentive numbers creates a one-sided approach to the available talent in your organization. The real tragedy is how this affects morale, talent retention and the overall culture. This approach has rewarded the “front line” people, but has left much of the support staff in the lurch.

• Twas The Night Before Christmas

  William Powell

  22 Dec 2011 | 7:00 am

  It looks like this may become a perennial favorite. I posted it last year and thought it was time to revive it again this year. Enjoy and have a Merry Christmas and a very Happy (and safe) New Year!   Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house This troubled leader was stirring, annoying the mouse. As things move along will the employees still care This new and bold vision, will we ever arrive there I so wanted to relax, get snug in the bed But fear of the unknown danced in my head My wife with her book, and me with my Mac Hoping to settle down for long winter’s nap.

• 10 Commandments Of A Great Culture

  William Powell

  15 Dec 2011 | 7:00 am

  Many folks have a view of the Ten Commandments as nothing more than a laundry list of things you shouldn’t do because God will be mad at you. Oh…and I think there is some smiting in there too. I have a little different view of them. If you set aside the religious implications most people struggle looking past, they are some great suggestions for living in harmony with one’s self, those around them and to have an overall healthy environment. Organizational culture has a similar set of commandments that aren’t excuses for punitive action, but rather a set of suggestions…

• Character Development + Skill Development = Leadership

  William Powell

  13 Dec 2011 | 7:00 am

  As we work to develop and expand our global network, we continually connect with amazing organizations and professionals. We are thrilled to have a guest post by our newest contributor, Marlene Chism. Make sure you have a quick read through her bio below!   There are as many ideas about leadership development as there are workshops, programs, and philosophies about leadership development. Even leadership development consultants and gurus argue about the definition of leadership, whether leadership is inborn or can be taught, what skills are needed to create a leadership development…

• The Introvert’s Guide to Success in Business and Leadership – Book Review

  William Powell

  7 Dec 2011 | 7:00 am

  When my friend Lisa Petrilli asked me to review her book, I immediately said yes. I knew that she wouldn’t put something together unless it was gold. What I wasn’t prepared for was to be knocked back in my chair. Her approach to the subject of being an introvert and in business/leadership was nothing short of fascinating. No, brilliant. No, insightful. No….you get my point. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from it because I spend most of my time as a wild-eyed extrovert who is always on the hunt for the next big adventure. I can honestly say I had no preconceived…

• 

  Sword Tips

• Leadership Lessons: Hope Springs Eternal … but it’s not enough!

  Lary

  17 Jan 2012 | 2:12 pm

  Hope Springs Eternal … But it’s nowhere near enough …. For most of us, this is the time of the year when hope springs eternal. We’re revved up for an exciting new year, determined to change all of the things that didn’t work last year so we can pound the ball out of the park in 2012. Nothing wrong with any of that. Commitment, momentum, focus … these are the energies that will fuel our engine and help us jumpstart 2012 with the vigor and rigor that we need to make this year the most successful ever. Does your gum lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight? Yet, like…

• It’s not about stuff – it’s about them!

  Lary

  10 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  To tell the truth, I really just wanted to cry. That was my reaction as I scanned the dining room at the Assisted Living facility into which my 93-year-old mother just moved. Not because it isn’t a terrific facility. It’s one of the nicest I have ever seen, visited or heard about, with a wonderful and genuinely caring staff. No, it’s not that at all. It wasn’t weariness, either, although it did follow on the heels of a draining four-day transition, including a crushing array of painful and tedious sorting, organizing, shopping and hauling to massively downsize and, sadly, to discard…

• Leadership Lessons | Delaying the tough call only makes it worse

  Lary

  9 Dec 2011 | 7:00 am

  What Does It Take to be a Great Leader? Every Tuesday, we’re sharing valuable and practical leadership tips and tools to help you BE a better leader so you can BECOME a better leader. Remember … you won’t BECOME a better leader until you start BEING a better leader … implementing NOW the changes necessary to adopt the proven strategies of successful leaders. You might start by building on the communication matrix and making sure you’re defending the castle to get done what only you can do. Make sure to take some time so you’re thinking past today.

• Leadership | The past offers no forgiveness for past transgressions!

  Lary

  7 Dec 2011 | 7:00 am

  What Does It Take to be a Great Leader? Every Tuesday, we’re sharing valuable and practical leadership tips and tools to help you BE a better leader so you can BECOME a better leader. Remember … you won’t BECOME a better leader until you start BEING a better leader … implementing NOW the changes necessary to adopt the proven strategies of successful leaders. You might start by building on the communication matrix and making sure you’re defending the castle to get done what only you can do. Make sure to take some time so you’re thinking past today.

• Lewis & Clark didn’t load the canoe with Mojitos!

  Lary

  30 Nov 2011 | 7:00 am

  What Does It Take to be a Great Leader? Every Tuesday, we’re sharing valuable and practical leadership tips and tools to help you BE a better leader so you can BECOME a better leader. Remember … you won’t BECOME a better leader until you start BEING a better leader … implementing NOW the changes necessary to adopt the proven strategies of successful leaders. You might start by building on the communication matrix and making sure you’re defending the castle to get done what only you can do. Make sure to take some time so you’re thinking past today.

• 

  The Practical Leader

• Thoughts That Make You Go Hmmm … on “Good Company”

  Jim Clemmer

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

  “A team of scholars led by University of Southern California management professor Theresa Welbourne discovered that investments in human resources are the strongest predictors of the survival of firms five years after an IPO…”The reason HR factors had a positive effect on longer-term performance was due to their effects on what we call ‘structural cohesion,’” Welbourne writes. “Structural cohesion is an employee-generated synergy — essentially a close-knit, high-energy culture — that propels the company forward.”…

• Book Review of “Good Company: Business Success in the Worthiness Era”

  Jim Clemmer

  24 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

  Good Company ties together the lessons we’re still learning from The Great Recession, and explains what’s fueling the occupy movements, shows how social responsibility and environmentalism is dramatically shifting business approaches, and identifies the rising power of customers. Good Company is an inspiring and uplifting read for those of us working to bring about a values-based leadership revolution. It’s fairly bubbling over with hope, optimism, and deep insights into the change tsunami washing around the globe. Critics of this book will likely try to dismiss it as left…

• Juggling Five Balls of Life

  Jim Clemmer

  19 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

  January is the time Heather and I review the past year and refocus our vision on the years ahead. We look at family, house or home, our careers, our physical health, our financial health, community involvement, spiritual growth, and social life. We’re living out one of those visions right now on a Hawaii and South Pacific cruise to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. Hawaii is our first stop since we had our honeymoon there in 1977. Brian Dyson’s September 1996 comments at the Georgia Tech 172nd Commencement Address (he was then President and CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises) have…

• Valuable Insights from New Study on Top Companies for Leaders

  Jim Clemmer

  17 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

  The RBL Group in partnership with Aon Hewitt and Fortune magazine has just released the latest version of their “Top Companies for Leaders” study. Every few years since 2002 this study has been conducted to look at the talent management practices of the best companies around the world across hundreds of data points. 470 companies completed a detailed questionnaire for this study. These were analyzed and hundreds of interviews were then conducted with senior executives. A panel of judges chose the top 25 companies for leaders. The top four were: IBM General Mills Procter &…

• Why Organizational Change Resolutions Are Easily Broken

  Jim Clemmer

  12 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

  Over the past few decades many organizations have jumped on the change bandwagon with a long list of resolutions to change their ways and develop new habits. Here’s a partial list: Safety culture Customer centric/focus/service Teamwork Innovation Flexibility/adaptability to change Best place to work/top employer Excellence Market/industry leadership Higher employee engagement Like too many New Year’s resolutions, these good intentions have a high failure rate. About 50 – 70% of these organizational efforts fail to change organizational lifestyle and habits. On the other hand…

• 

  Management 4-1-1

• Zen Manager – What Zen Can Teach You About Managing Your Business Better

  Chuck Hebert

  18 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am

  At first pass, the word Zen conjures up images of dark rooms, with incense burning in the corner.  There’s probably a person sitting in full lotus murmuring, “ohhhooooommm” over and over again.  Not exactly the person you may take business advice from.On the other hand, the word Zen conjures up images of inner peace and tranquility.  There are several principles and concepts often linked to the practices of Zen, such as: simplicity, focus, and awareness.Perhaps as managers, we can take some concepts from the practice of Zen and apply them to our own management practice, achieving a…

• Build An Organization You Would Want To Do Business With!

  Chuck Hebert

  10 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am

  Picture yourself as a prospective customer of your product or services.  Go ahead – close your eyes.  Let’s really get into this.Now that you have this vision locked in your head, ask yourself…“Would you do business with yourself?”This is a simple, but extremely powerful question.  Yet, it’s a question any engaged manager should be thinking about frequently.  And if it doesn’t fully meet your criteria, what are you doing to change it?I’m not talking about just the company you work for – after all, you may not be able to completely influence that.  However, I am talking…

• Happy New Year’s Message from Management 4-1-1

  Chuck Hebert

  2 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am

   Happy New Year from Management 4-1-1!Take a listen…  We’ve got some great ideas lined up for 2012!  While we remain committed to providing you valuable content on best practices for management and leadership,  we’re going to mix up a few of our goals for 2012. For 2012, Management 4-1-1 will:go more multi-media with some of our postsline-up interviews with other successful manager’s and leaders to get more real-world perspectives on what it takes to manage and lead effectivelyreduce the number of posts to once per week (occasionally I’ll do more)focus on…

• 20 Successful Habits for New Managers

  Chuck Hebert

  20 Dec 2011 | 7:50 am

  Whether you are new to management (or you’ve been at it for awhile), it’s critical to build the right skills and success habits to stay in top management form.Here are some sure-fire habits you should have in your management tool-kit:Managing Your Business1. Know what you were hired to do2. Become a student of your business (e.g., revenue channels, expenses, resourcing, staffing, etc.)3. Schedule time to “think” about your business4. Define your organization’s Areas of Focus and have a roadmap for the year ahead5. Keep a sharp-eye on your “key metrics” Managing Your…

• 4 Great Reads for Creating Simplicity and Habit Building

  Chuck Hebert

  13 Dec 2011 | 7:00 am

  2011 was one of my top years for consuming non-fiction writing.  Over the course of the year, I read over 20 non-fiction books.  Topics ranged from personal achievement, leadership, management, writing, to more esoteric topics such as minimalism.Simplicity & Habit BuildingAs I looked at the list of books I most enjoyed this past year, I started to notice two distinct themes drawing my attention:SimplicityLeveraging habits to create long-term successBooks that most influenced me in 2011Out of all of the books I read, the following books (in no particular order) have really shaped my…

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  Author Chris Brady's Leadership Blog

• Top 10 Reasons People Quit Something Worthy

  Chris Brady

  24 Jan 2012 | 10:41 am

  For nearly twenty years I've worked with people in an entrepreneurial setting, encouraging and coaching them to fulfill their dreams and goals. I've seen people come and I've seen people go, and... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Ewe Don't No What Ewe Don't No

  Chris Brady

  20 Jan 2012 | 9:18 am

  Eye am knot perfect, aisle admit it wright off the bat. Your likely two have sum issues as well. Butt sometimes the weigh people right or type in this new social networking world can bee funny. Hear... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Preparation

  Chris Brady

  17 Jan 2012 | 9:42 pm

  I love watching people who are at the top of their game. Whether it be the type of performance readily seen (such as sports, preaching, musical performing, acting, or public speaking), or those which... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• "How Are You?" at Greetings?

  Chris Brady

  16 Jan 2012 | 10:36 am

  "How are you?" "What's up?" "Morning." These and perhaps hundreds of other greetings are muttered throughout our culture with no thought and even less sincerity. We have almost a knee-jerk reaction... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Money View

  Chris Brady

  4 Jan 2012 | 9:13 am

  "World View" is a term recently popularized by philosophers and media pundits who debate spiritual and political matters. It refers to the lens through which people see (and therefore interpret) the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

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  Forum Corporation

• Developing Global Leaders

  Steve Barry

  24 Jan 2012 | 9:38 am

  Five years ago, we projected the business and leadership challenges of 2012. One trend that caught my eye was Bridging Divides;  people of different cultures, geographies, and organizations working together as a cohesive unit. As multinational corporations seek growth in new geographies, many try to standardize practices in regions overseas that are derived from, and are successful in, their own culture.  A 2007 Conference Board study, “Painting with Two Brushes,” revealed why this is a risky approach: 97.2 percent of Western leaders, as compared to 70.6 percent of leaders from…

• How to Measure the Impact of Training

  Tom Atkinson

  20 Jan 2012 | 8:25 am

  I am still scratching my head after reading two articles on training measurement.  The first was by James and Wendy Kirkpatrick in the November 2011 issue of T&D, describing a method for demonstrating the value of training by measuring “ROE,” or “return on expectations.”  Building on Donald Kirkpatrick’s four-level framework, James (Donald’s son) and Wendy advocate for beginning with Level 4 results in mind and then identifying how to achieve those results by following this process: Focus on the organizational mission (Kirkpatrick Level 4: Results) Identify leading…

• Forum Focus: Innovation in 2012

  Steve Barry

  11 Jan 2012 | 8:18 am

  Turning the calendar to 2012, we put the spotlight on innovation in this issue of the Forum Focus. In his article for Harvard Business Review, Michael Schrage observes that large organizations are handing greater responsibilities and resources to smaller innovation teams – some as small as five individuals.  Building on the “less is more” theme, Schrage says that the “key performance indicator here is, ironically, slow growth. A fast-growing innovation team means either the wrong people were hired or that the wrong challenge was picked. The team delivers measurably…

• A Strategy Execution Tune-up for the New Year

  Jocelyn Davis

  3 Jan 2012 | 8:19 am

  Here we are again: starting a new year. If you’re like me, you’re looking back on everything your business unit or team accomplished in 2011 and feeling a touch of pride — but also a touch of frustration. As usual, there’s a bunch of stuff that either didn’t happen, happened too slowly or didn’t achieve the desired result.  If this sounds familiar, I have a great gift idea for your leadership team: an execution tune-up. Recently, the senior leadership team of a large hospitality and entertainment company engaged us to ‘climb under the hood’ and diagnose the things that were…

• This Holiday Season, Give the Gift of Gratitude

  forumcorp

  20 Dec 2011 | 11:46 am

  Warren Bennis was once asked what he felt was the most important leadership practice. Mr. Bennis thought about it for a minute, reflecting on his years as a soldier, business leader, researcher, and author … and out came the answer. So simple. Acknowledge others. Flash forward to this 2011 holiday season.  Last week, as a senior leadership team of a hospital celebrated their holiday dinner, the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) stood up and tapped her glass with her knife.  All eyes shifted to her. As a business-minded woman and tough negotiator with a ‘hard shell,’ her team expected her to…

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  Stop Workplace Drama

• Make Friends With Accountability to Get Results

  Stop Workplace Drama

  20 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  I'm here to tell you it's not accountability we are afraid of. It's judgment. It's the shame, the guilt and the negative feelings we want to avoid, not the information.

• Engagement, Systems and Rewards Equals Productive Down Time

  Stop Workplace Drama

  20 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  Make use of down-time by employee engagement, systems, and rewards.

• Improve Relationships by Speaking Your Truth

  Stop Workplace Drama

  11 Jan 2012 | 2:11 pm

  up until now, no one has had the courage to tell this person the truth. Everyone walks on egg shells. Everyone sacrifices or rescues. Until now. You are the one who is willing to be a truth teller. You are the one who will finally tell this person what doesn't work for you. You won't blame. You won't tell him that "everyone else feels the same way."

• The Answer to Relationship Drama

  Stop Workplace Drama

  10 Jan 2012 | 2:06 pm

  Let's talk about speaking your truth and setting boundaries.

• Procrastination is Resistance

  Stop Workplace Drama

  10 Jan 2012 | 12:09 pm

  Procrastination is a sign of resistance. Here are three tips to help you stay in the loop and get your employees to get their work done.

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  Jesse Lyn Stoner >>> Seapoint Center

• Lessons from the Costa Concordia: A Case For Company Values

  Jesse Lyn Stoner

  22 Jan 2012 | 1:25 am

  The events before, during and after the January 13 tragedy aboard the Costa Concordia point to a true failure of leadership at every level, from the captain who ran the luxury liner aground during a drive by “salute” off the island of Isola del Giglio to the chief executive Pier Luigi Foschi who is denying any responsibility. Two days ago Foschi told a newspaper they were unaware of this practice. Why didn’t they know? What was operating in the culture of the company that would give rise to these dangerous practices and where senior leaders were disconnected? Curious what company…

• What Team Members Can (and should) Do to Help Their Team Become High Performing

  Jesse Lyn Stoner

  17 Jan 2012 | 1:48 pm

  Team members make two common mistakes: Mistake #1:  Thinking it’s the team leader’s responsibility to pull the team together and waiting passively for that to happen. Mistake #2: Accepting mediocrity because they assume there is nothing they can do. Ultimately a team’s success depends on the team members, not the team leader. In fact, over-dependence on the team leader can prevent a team from reaching its full potential.  What you can do as a team member to support your team on its journey to high performance. Teams move through predictable stages of development, but how quickly and…

• No More Boring Meetings, Please!

  Jesse Lyn Stoner

  8 Jan 2012 | 4:52 pm

  I spent my 50th birthday at the most boring meeting of my life. At one point I had to pinch myself under the table to keep from falling asleep. I’ve attended a lot of meetings that are a waste of time – it’s part of my job. (I help teams improve their performance and often observe to understand their issues before I intervene). However, I must say this was the most boring meeting of my career. I was observing a four-hour team meeting of the company’s president and his eight direct reports. Sitting around a table, one at a time each person reported what was happening in his or her…

• 2011 in Reflection: My First Year of Blogging

  Jesse Lyn Stoner

  31 Dec 2011 | 12:16 pm

  2011 closes the first year of my blog.  It’s been a year of learning – the biggest of which was learning how to condense what I want to say into a readable chunk. I still find the shorter the post, the longer it takes me to write. I’ve had the good fortune to connect with and learn from some of the great leadership bloggers. Early on Bret Simmons advised me that “content is king.” His excellent advice helped me focus. Wally Bock has generously offered feedback in finding my voice. I am also grateful to have connected with Becky Robinson, Mary Jo Asmus, Tanveer Naseer, Art Petty,…

• Before you begin, pause…

  Jesse Lyn Stoner

  28 Dec 2011 | 11:40 pm

  This is a lovely week – the last week of the year. The darkest week of the year, here in the northern hemisphere. If we pay attention, we can’t help but pause. What does any great athlete do before they… …. dive into the water …. throw the discus …. grab the rings They pause. What are they thinking about? Nothing — absolutely nothing. Shabbat means stop, cease. That’s what this week beckons us to do. Wait a moment. Before you think ahead to 2012. Go a little slowly. Be a little gentler. Take in the opportunity this week offers. Pause, and then reflect. Let your mind traverse…

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  LeadBIG

• Leadership Friday Favs 1.27.12

  Jane Perdue

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:43 am

  Our Friday leadership favorites are an eclectic collection of articles, blog posts, quotes, pod casts and whatever else engages our interest. Some items are recent, others aren’t. Some are mainstream, others are off the beaten path. Enjoy! Be inspired! The Leader And The Peacock In The Closet (Terry Starbucker) Striking the fine balance between confidence and humility is a perpetual challenge for many leaders. Terry shares some of his early lessons from powerful mentors who helped him learn how effective leaders think more about we and less about me. Management Debt (Ben Horowitz,…

• 5 reasons it’s OK to say “no”

  Jane Perdue

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:39 am

  “I so want to tell him ‘no’ but I don’t want to let him down.” From the pained look on her face, I guessed Casey didn’t want to disappoint someone who was important in her life or career. That guess was wrong. When I asked about the relationship, Casey said she had only met the gentleman a few days ago. As she described it, she had been sharing success stories at a cocktail party about her magazine articles and having had two pieces picked up by national magazines. Hal approached Casey saying he had an interesting story about how his business got…

• 5 Lessons for Leaders

  Jane Perdue

  24 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am

  Today’s guest post is from Mark Miller, co-author with Ken Blanchard of Great Leaders Grow: Becoming a Leader for Life.  Mark is vice president, training and development, for Chick-fil-A. During his career he has served in corporate communications, restaurant operations, quality and customer satisfaction, and numerous other leadership positions. For more information on the book please visit Great Leaders Grow. Some of you are Tim Tebow fans and some of you are not – got it. Regardless of your feelings, let’s not miss the chance to learn something here about leadership. Here…

• Leadership Friday Favs 1.20.12

  Jane Perdue

  20 Jan 2012 | 5:43 am

  Enjoy our weekly leadership post round-up! Train Your Brain to Focus (Paul Hammerness,MD, and Margaret Moore, HBRBlog Network) It’s kinda nice to see the spotlight shining on multi-tasking in a negative way. Maybe that’s a little mean but the BIG team has seen too many people drop too many balls because they believe it’s good leadership/management for them to do 27 things simultaneously. 10 “It’s Your Biz” Brainpower Tools (Dr. Ellen Weber, Brain Leaders and Learners) Ellen serves up ten brain empowered insights for entrepreneurs based on It’s Your…

• Research: Women in Business & The Paradox of Power

  Jane Perdue

  19 Jan 2012 | 5:54 am

  NEW REPORT REVEALS STEPS WOMEN MUST TAKE TO ATTAIN MORE SENIOR LEVEL POSITIONS Researchers Also Detail What Corporations Must Do To Be Part of The Solution A new paper, WOMEN AND THE PARADOX OF POWER, based on research by Jane Perdue of Braithwaite Innovation Group and Dr. Anne Perschel of Germane Consulting, reports that corporations are leaving money on the table and forgoing future success by failing to move more women into senior leadership roles. Perschel and Perdue also claim that businesswomen must prepare themselves to take on these executive roles by understanding and using power…

• 

  Skywalk Group

• Organizational Change Doesn’t Come in a Brown Paper Bag

  Skywalk Group

  5 Jan 2012 | 8:04 am

  The new year has a way of making us all think about change.  We create new goals for ourselves.  Fitness goals.  Diet goals.  Career goals.  At the same time that we are making our personal goals for the new year, senior leadership at companies across the nation are doing the same thing.  Although the focus may be slightly different, i.e. how they can capture more market share, reduce costs, create a succession plan, or increase employee engagement, the end result will likely involve some type of change. How Successful are People at Making Lasting Changes More often than not, people do…

• How to Create Fun at Work

  Skywalk Group

  6 Dec 2011 | 11:47 am

  Like most workplaces, life at Skywalk Group isn’t always as exciting as it may seem. I know, I know; you would think a human resources consulting company located in the heart of downtown Cedar Rapids would be one big Mardi Gras day in and day out. Especially in the riveting world of organization development and training! As fun as we are (or like to think that we are), even we are subject to being lulled into that familiar ho-hum state from time to time. We are a resourceful bunch though, and willing to take control of our own destinies. So, for our own amusement, we’ve decided to…

• How to Run an Effective Meeting

  Skywalk Group

  15 Nov 2011 | 8:23 am

  Sometimes I would rather stick a fork in my eye and twist it than go to another meeting.  In most corporate environments meetings are a vital element of life in the office.  They dictate our days; form our schedules and consequently, we often find ourselves getting few things accomplished as a result of them.  So why do we need ANOTHER meeting anyway? Obviously, meetings are a necessary evil in running successful businesses.  They bring people together by uniting creative minds and are vital in achieving the strategic goals of the company.  Leaders who know how to run productive meetings…

• Smart Technology Impacts HR Policies

  Skywalk Group

  2 Nov 2011 | 11:05 am

  We recently blogged about how employee’s using cell phones can cause dangerous and distracted driving On a continuation of the topic, let’s discuss the mobile platform and how it is changing the workplace.  While the ability to obtain email from our mobile device has been around for years now, thanks to web-enabling and mobile applications, the cell phone / smart phone has become a PC in your pocket. Technology is increasing the need for real-time communication and streamlining work processes. Technological advances have allowed employers to embrace the use of modern tools &…

• 11 Key Factors to include in a Cell Phone Policy

  Skywalk Group

  2 Nov 2011 | 11:00 am

  Are you thinking about putting together a cell phone or electronic communications policy for your organization?  Or are you asking yourself if your organization needs a cell phone or an electronic communications policy?  There is no doubt that smart technology is impacting HR policies in organizations. 11 Key Factors to include in a Cell Phone Policy Company expectations. Harassment and discrimination policies. Wage and hour policies that may impact compliance with state and federal law. Company provided equipment. Monitoring of equipment usage. Trade secrets protection. Customer, employer,…

• 

  Leaders Institute Team Building and Public Speaking Skills

• Build Morale when Times are Tough

  Doug Staneart

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:45 pm

  Times are tough, and as a result, morale can suffer. So what can the leaders of an organization do to help team members feel more confident and at ease? Below are a few simple tips: Give Sincere Compliments: When times are tough, we can easily be distracted (sometimes just trying to stay above water). That is the time that your team members need reassurance, and a sincere compliment can go a long way in helping your team feel more comfortable.  Remember that the team member doesn’t have to be perfect — just improving. Share Information: People fear the unknown a lot more than…

• Galderma Laboratories hosts Creating a Team Culture and Structures team building workshops in Dallas, TX

  ellenpatnaude

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:29 pm

  I had the pleasure of working with a dynamic group of women from Galderma Laboratories in Dallas recently as they completed a full day of team building workshops, including Creating a Team Culture and Structures Team Building Event. Founded in 1981 as a joint venture between Nestlé and L’Oréal, Galderma now employs more than 3,200 people around the world. They are one of the world’s leading dermatology companies. This group of women that I had the pleasure of working with provides all of the administrative support to the sales, marketing and production department leaders. We began…

• Symantec Build-A-Bike team building event in Las Vegas, NV brings energy and fun to annual corporate retreat

  ellenpatnaude

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:23 pm

  As part of it’s annual conference in Las Vegas, Symantec included a Build-A-Bike team building event to add energy and fun with a philanthropic component. Symantec has been helping consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world for more than 25 years. With more than 18,500 employees in over 50 countries around the world, they have become one of the largest software companies out there. This annual conference in Las Vegas was for 200 software engineers from around the globe. Build-A-Bike is a fast-paced, high-energy workshop gives participants the opportunity to…

• Wells Fargo Build-A-Bike Team Building Event Contributes 34 bikes To Children in San Francisco California

  Craig Wagganer

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:19 pm

  When people come together with a common purpose and contribute their individual talents a lot of good things can happen. That was the experience of nearly 200 Wells Fargo employees as they joined together for a Build-A-Bike Team Building Event in the San Francisco Bay Area (Concord,California). The event was very active and solicited each individual to make contributions to the team effort. The final analysis was 34 bikes were given to a local boys and girls club, each participant was able to contribute to the effort and teamwork was defined as when common purpose collides with individual…

• What is Your Favorite Team Building Game or Team Activity?

  Doug Staneart

  20 Jan 2012 | 8:23 pm

  Everyone has been a part of or led some type of fun team building game or team activity. What was your favorite? Was an event, an outing, or just a fun game that everyone loved?

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  Transformational Leadership Blog

• My Social Transformation Project

  Mighty

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:24 pm

  When I graduated from College back in 2003, I knew what I wanted–that is to go back to my home province, find some meaningful work there, and somehow, help make the world a better place. I was idealistic! It didn’t matter that I didn’t know what kind of work awaited me there, it didn’t matter that I had to help our family earn some money, nor did it matter that I was unschooled in the ways of the world, particularly, the ways of the world in our province. At least I tried. You can’t fault me for not trying. But after one year of teaching high school at a private…

• Tips to Developing Leadership Skills

  Mighty

  25 Jan 2012 | 7:03 pm

  In the game of chess, a pawn can go all the way to the other side and transform into a Queen. But it’s not easy, because most pawns got sacrificed early in the game so as to win strategic battles against the enemy. In an organization, some people may be considered pawns, or “mere” followers, others are rook, knights, and bishops, holding important positions. The pawns may consider themselves as “mere” followers, but the truth is, they make a lot of things possible within the game. In an army, even privates can rise through the ranks through effort and victories. Even if you consider…

• Introducing the “What If…” Section

  Mighty

  25 Jan 2012 | 12:42 am

  Yup! That’s what I want to blog about. I will still write about leadership and management, but towards social entrepreneurship, social innovation, addressing problems in the society, while at the same time, applying the same concepts to life. Transforming one’s life is a process. And it just might work so much so that it overflows into the society. Case in point, what if one day, all Filipinos woke up and decided to be on time, and to follow traffic rules. Wouldn’t EDSA be a better highway, and the whole Philippines a better country? There’s plenty of things to talk about in personal…

• How to Increase Productivity in 2012

  Mighty

  24 Jan 2012 | 6:06 am

  Following some ambitious goals I set for this blog for 2012, I feel daunted. There’s that not-so-soft voice at the back at my head saying “you can’t make it, you won’t achieve your goals this year!” So I need to put up several commitment devices. You know, it would be like binding myself up to work on my goals even if I don’t feel like to! If you’ve set any New Year’s resolution for 2012, you know that you will fail unless you put bind yourself through some mental chains! So for this year, I would like to increase my productivity, efficiency and effectiveness, by binding…

• How to Make Choosing Easier

  Mighty

  19 Jan 2012 | 11:33 pm

  In this video, Sheena Iyengar talks about the importance of making choices, the difficulties of making choices in our time, and gives pointers on how to make better choices. What makes the video even more interesting is that the speaker is blind! Cool! She also talks about the modern-day person’s problem with overwhelming choices. How are you managing your choices? Share this on del.icio.us Share this on Facebook Post on Google Buzz Share this on Mixx Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Technorati Digg this! Clip this to Evernote Email this to a friend?

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  Business Fitness

• Ready for the Big Stage or Too Freaked Out? | Handling Pressure

  Dawn Lennon

  25 Jan 2012 | 1:43 pm

  [Reminder: Only 6 more days left to take advantage of my buy one, get one free offer on my book: Business Fitness: The Power to Succeed--Your Way. Go to http://consultbigpicture.com, order one and I'll ship two, signed. Thanks.] A some point you’ll likely ask yourself: “Do I have what it takes to be really successful at what I do?” Role models provide clues to the answer. Look hard at what they’ve achieve and you’ll see they were willing to put themselves “out there.” Now ask yourself, “Can I handle it when all eyes are on me?” Your answer…

• Help Giver or Help Seeker? Let Gratitude Fuel the Ride

  Dawn Lennon

  20 Jan 2012 | 3:22 pm

  I’ve always been at odds with the adage: “Good guys (and gals) always finish last.” It implies that being a team player, going the extra mile, or helping coworkers is a negative career strategy. Often we’re warned that if we’re too generous with our time and talents at work, we’ll get taken advantage of. Well, maybe, but it’s worth the risk. Most of us lend a hand because we: Can’t help ourselves; it’s how we’re wired, raised, or compelled Can put our knowledge and skills to good use Care about the person or group in need Enjoy…

• When You’ve Had Enough, How Far Should You Go? | Managing Emotions

  Dawn Lennon

  16 Jan 2012 | 3:16 pm

  No one likes criticism or unfair treatment. Most of us just suck it up until one day we’ve had enough. Then watch out! Think twice Knee-jerk reactions never pay. When we’re fed up, we need to keep our wits about us. Most of the time, we’re reacting to situations that have been brewing. I’m a big proponent of not becoming a doormat for anyone at anytime. We’re entitled to respect and fair treatment, both of which we need to stand up for in the right way at the right time. I’m also a big proponent of understanding the consequences of the actions we want to…

• How “Now-I-Get-It” Discoveries Expand Career Savvy

  Dawn Lennon

  11 Jan 2012 | 1:19 pm

  Careers are mysterious. We skip naively into them, assuming that our generally optimistic assumptions about the company, our boss, and coworkers are true. Then wham, the gilt flies off the lily. That’s okay, actually. Careers teach us to pay attention continuously. A pulse exists below the surface of every business. It may be: Unseen or foreign to us Outside our understanding Separate from the work we perform daily That pulse drives business all decision-making, actions which include both simple and wildly complex variables. Directly or indirectly, that business pulse impacts us in ways we…

• Winner, Loser, or Also-ran? How Attitude Defines You

  Dawn Lennon

  7 Jan 2012 | 2:25 pm

  Attitudes reveal us—what we value, how we think, and what we’re after. They’re the stuff of statements like: “With an attitude like that he’ll be an obstacle on our project?” “We don’t need a supervisor with an attitude like hers?” “I can’t give him a good rating with that attitude.” People observe our attitudes and then define us through their own attitude-shaded lens. Like it or not, we’re locked in an inexorable cycle of labeling. Attitudes revealed Attitude is defined as either a positive or hostile disposition or state of mind. Our feelings, thoughts, and points…

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  Baldrige.com

• Societal Responsibility

  Joseph A. De Feo

  26 Jan 2012 | 10:12 am

  Without socially responsible leaders, organizations striving towards performance excellence in today’s market will get left behind.  Ethical behavior and considerations for societal well-being are crucial elements to running a quality business.  Leaders need to be role models for their organization by focusing on ethics and the protection of public health, safety, and the environment. The protection of these three elements includes the organization’s operations, as well as the life cycles of products.  Effective planning will help to anticipate adverse impacts from production,…

• Juran Institute Acquires Baldrige.com

  Joseph A. De Feo

  23 Jan 2012 | 8:49 am

  Juran Institute, Inc. is pleased to announce the acquisition of Baldrige.com into our family of quality solutions and services. Our legendary founder, Dr. Joseph M. Juran, was a particularly vocal advocate for the Baldrige program. Prior to the passage of the congressional act that created the Baldrige Award in 1987, he testified in front of Congress on behalf of creating the award to help bring the focus of quality to the United States. Dr. Juran was also one of the original overseers of the Baldrige Award process.  Juran Institute has offered its own staff in support of the Baldrige…

• Juran Institute Acquires Baldrige.com

  Steve George

  23 Jan 2012 | 8:09 am

  I am pleased to announce the sale of Baldrige.com to the Juran Institute. Founded by quality guru Dr. Joseph M. Juran in 1979, the Juran Institute offers a broad range of services to help organizations improve performance, including Baldrige Assessment and consulting, Lean and Six Sigma, change management, quality planning, team building, and the Juran Management System. You can learn more about the company here. Dr. Juran was a vocal advocate for the Baldrige program. I interviewed him in 1991 for my first book on the Baldrige model and he was kind enough to write a reference for the book.

• Benefit-to-Cost Ratio for Baldrige: 820-to-1

  Steve George

  19 Jan 2012 | 8:43 am

  A new study of the net social value of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program concludes that the program “creates great value for the U.S. economy.” Economists Albert N. Link from the University of North Carolina and John T. Scott from Dartmouth College published their evaluation of 45 Baldrige Award applicants on December 16, 2011. The report is available here (pdf). The Baldrige program asked the 274 organizations that submitted applications from 2007 to 2010 to participate in the study and 45 accepted the invitation. Link and Scott used a counterfactual evaluation method to…

• A Systematic Approach to Change

  Steve George

  16 Jan 2012 | 8:59 am

  The decision to do a Baldrige assessment is a decision to change the organization. Questions will be asked that prompt leaders to reconsider the way they do things. Gaps in the day-to-day conduct of business will be exposed. Unacceptable results will shine light on ineffective processes. Cursed with new knowledge, senior leaders can either ignore it and accept that the current management system is unable to achieve the results they desire or embrace change. The opportunities for improvement revealed by a Baldrige assessment contain the logic for acting upon them: Your results are flat or…

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  Leadership Learning Community blogs

• Guest Blog Post by Curtis Ogden: If You Till It, They Will Come: Nurturing Collective Leadership Webinar

  bcelnik

  25 Jan 2012 | 11:21 am

  This article was originally posted on Interaction Institute for Social Change (IISC) (the webinar powerpoint is available here)Picking up from Gibran’s post yesterday and continuing in the vein of follow-up to our LLC webinar on collective leadership, I want to respond to some of the questions we did not have a chance to answer or answer fully from participants, including requests for examples of collective leadership in action and inquiries about blocks and how to work through or overcome them.With respect to stories, Gibran and I mentioned a few in passing about which we have blogged in…

• Nonprofit Leadership News Brief: January 2012

  Zoe Madden-Wood

  24 Jan 2012 | 5:12 pm

  On Collective Leadership... Curtis Ogden highlights four key concepts underlying the roots of the Interaction Institute's approach to collective leadership: epistemology, cosmology, ontology, technology.  Epistemology is that it’s not just about what we know, but how we know it – intuitively, intellectually, analytically. Cosmology is looking to the complex living systems and networks as the complicated reality we all live in. Ontology is the idea that each of us is evolving and capable of both learning and unlearning. Finally, technology/methodology is the idea of looking…

• Upcoming Webinar: Confessions of a Network Strategist: Lessons Learned from the 1st Year of Education Pioneers' Network Strategy

  bcelnik

  24 Jan 2012 | 2:13 pm

  Presenter: Jason Weeby, Education PioneersDate: Wednesday, March 14 11:00AM-12:00 Noon PDT (2:00PM-3:00PM EDT) In late 2010, Education Pioneers decided to shift from a traditional alumni engagement strategy to a new and innovative network strategy.  The change required a new way of thinking and acting for Education Pioneers’ staff and 1,200+ network members.  It has been the source of excitement, confusion, successes, and challenges.  Jason Weeby, the Director of Network Strategy for the national nonprofit, will talk about their new direction, lessons learned in the…

• Guest Blog Post by Gibran Rivera: If You Till It, They Will Come: Nurturing Collective Leadership Webinar

  bcelnik

  24 Jan 2012 | 1:13 pm

  This article was originally posted on Interaction Institute for Social Change (IISC) (the webinar powerpoint is available here)Last Tuesday, Curtis Ogden and I had the privilege of hosting an LLC webinar on collective leadership.  Much of what we did was point to observable patterns in ways of working together and how these tend to open up possibilities for shared leadership.  The metaphor of tilling the soil is most appropriate precisely because we have run up against the limitations of industrial implementation.  The appropriate response to increasing complexity is one that…

• LLC Survey: Help Us Understand How to Support Your Leadership Work

  Zoe Madden-Wood

  19 Jan 2012 | 5:22 pm

  It's the New Year and we want to learn more about our community!First, thank you for being an integral part of the LLC network. Together, we work to leverage leadership as a means to create a more just and equitable society. We are committed to transforming the leadership development field, and to understanding how leadership is practiced and evaluated in the nonprofit sector and beyond.Over the past two years, our membership community has grown significantly to over 2,500 members across the nation, comprising a broad network of funders, practitioners, researchers and consultants. You are…

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  virk.wordpress.com

• Project Manager’s Happy New Year Message

  virk

  1 Jan 2012 | 11:55 am

  “Happy new year 2012! May all your projects finish on time without any cost or schedule variance.  May all team members stay healthy, happy;and meet all milestone dates.  May the executive sponsor stay happy as it is and does not change mind.”

• Learning from 2011 ( #3lessons )

  virk

  31 Dec 2011 | 7:24 pm

  When reflecting on 2011, as most of us do each year, I find the year very successful and I find myself fortunate enought to have made significant improvements in personal and professional lives. It made me interested what others are thinking.  Twitter was good source and here is compilation of 3 lessons hash tag on [...]

• 10 Early Indicators of Problems & Framework To Solve

  virk

  1 Oct 2011 | 1:05 pm

  We all strive for higher productivity, quality and efficiency.  We implement processes in place to achieve great results but with time, we got to review and renew so that our organization continue to deliver good value to customer. Early indicators of unhealthy organization requiring a thorough check of processes - Increase in employee overtime Over budget and [...]

• The Best Advice I’ve Ever Been Given..

  virk

  6 Sep 2011 | 6:54 pm

  Don’t ask for what you don’t want. You carry five balls in the air; all but one is made of glass. Glass is health, family, friends, spirituality. Rubber is career. Juggle well. Be passionate but not emotional. Master hard skills early in your career. Master soft skills to get ahead later in your career. Know [...]

• How to Become a Trusted Advisor?

  virk

  30 Jul 2011 | 12:31 pm

  How to build trust with the Boss or Customer? What do you think of your boss or customer?  I guess more important question for your success is - what does your boss (or customer) think of you? Does your boss (or customer) trust you? Trust is invisible currency of faith. Once you have earned it,  you become trusted advisor. [...]

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  Taking Smart Risks - Doug Sundheim

• Follow What’s True…For You

  Doug Sundheim

  9 Jan 2012 | 6:03 am

  Your personal truth. It's a feeling. Before you can even put it into words, it's there. It's a knowing about who you need to be - and what you need to be doing. Sometimes it's unclear. And when it is, the great chewing complacency of the world will try to rip it from your grasp. It will offer you mediocrity in return. Don't take it. Trust the feeling - however faint. It will grow stronger. It will get clearer.

• Beware of Talk Parading as Action

  Doug Sundheim

  3 Jan 2012 | 8:20 am

  It's subtle and pervasive in many corporate cultures. Talk substituting for action. I've often found a frequent offender to be the manager who's gung-ho about a new management book. He likes the concepts. He talks about them often. He gets others to read the book. They like them too. The book's jargon makes its way into their everyday language...

• It’s a Fine Line Between Crazy and Brilliant

  Doug Sundheim

  13 Nov 2011 | 9:18 pm

  By definition, if you want to create something extraordinary you've got to leave the majority. You've got to break free from commonly accepted ideas and practices and go out on a limb. The catch, of course, is that you risk your sanity in the process. It's never easy to be a non-conformist, dissenter, or rebel. You end up walking the fine line between crazy and brilliant.

• “I Could Use a Hug”

  Doug Sundheim

  26 Sep 2011 | 11:55 am

  Last week I facilitated a planning offsite for the senior leaders of a financial services firm. They're a sharp group known for taking smart risks and have been very successful at it over the last 20 years. Never ones to hold back, the conversation became very intense at one point. Two executives angrily argued back and forth on an issue for 10 minutes. The temperature in the room felt like it had tripled in that time. We needed to break the tension.

• Lead From Your Gut

  Doug Sundheim

  22 Aug 2011 | 8:32 am

  Greatness isn't calculated and it's never by the book. It's born from the moments when - after studying the book - you put it down and let your instincts take over. The moments when you stop thinking, trust what's in your bones, and let loose. However, it never happens on its own. Preparation is key...

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  Leadership Success Now

• Do You Know Who’s Steering You Away From Successful Leadership?

  ADail

  26 Jan 2012 | 8:03 pm

  Who’s Hampering Successful Leadership?  Lifestyle affects how effective we are at work and hence whether or not we are as consitent as we would like in demonstrating successful leadership. Do you think I’m exaggerating? The truth is how a person manages grooming, space, and time can drive you to distraction and keep you from doing your best work.   I’m what is called, a visual organizer. Another term for that is “sloppy work space.” However, I do like my tools that I’m not using tidily stored away.   If a person with a sloppy desk area drives you nuts – I’m the roommate…

• See How Important Traditions Are To Successful Leadership

  ADail

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:25 pm

  Your Journey To Successful Leadership  Values are really about comfort; and, comfort will effect how well you exhibit successful leadership. Just think about it.  Imagine you work at a place where traditions require you on Halloween to come dressed as your favorite Star Trek character – except you hate Star Trek. Or perhaps your company’s tradition is more bureaucratic like going through channels to get things done, whereas you enjoy free flowing collaboration and direct access to the person who has what you need.    When enough values are out of sync we can feel a range of emotions…

• Discover Your Path To Successful Leadership Using Values

  ADail

  23 Jan 2012 | 6:14 pm

  Experience Successful Leadership: Use Values As Your Compass To Success  If you stayed with updated on my posts about how to realize successful leadership by being value driven you know your:  General personal values Values regarding social responsibility, Recognition values (aka mastery), and Values regarding self development  Each while related in the sense are values that are discrete in significant ways. Because they are separate topics you want to work through each. Let me tell you the truth, the more of these areas you define now the easier it will be to show successful leadership,…

• See How Values Make Successful Leadership

  ADail

  16 Jan 2012 | 4:20 pm

  Do You Know Your Strongest Values? See How Values Make Successful Leadership  If you kept up with me by now you know many reasons why your values are important. In a nutshell values are your compass to successful leadership.   Values give you direction. A value driven life is especially important at times when the differences between choices is narrow or when circumstances test you fully.   If you are unclear about your values it is easy to vacillate. The result can be: you lose out on an opportunity; take a full blow because you hesitated; or you struggle trying to salvage good out of a…

• What Does Valuing Mastery And Successful Leadership Mean To You?

  ADail

  14 Jan 2012 | 4:23 pm

  See Why Values Are An Important Link To Successful Leadership  In the last two articles I emphasized the power of values and how intertwined they are with successful leadership. We also examined personal values and your values regarding social responsibility.   If you have yet to read those articles I strongly recommend doing so now. They will help you towards reaching higher levels of successful leadership. Do that by clicking here. If you already read those and did the work you are right on target.   Are you Aware Of The Folly Of Being An Information Junkie?   Warning: don’t be…

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  Team Building Blog - Corporate Team Building

• Corporate Politics: 10 Sure-Fire Strategies to Reduce Turf Wars and Power Struggles

  Anne Thornley-Brown, M.B.A. @executiveoasis

  12 Jan 2012 | 9:52 am

  In large corporations, corporate politics (with its accompanying turf wars and power struggles) seems to be inevitable. These dynamics are not limited to large profit-making corporations. Unfortunately, I don't have a magic bullet that will eliminate turf wars but I do have some ideas about what is behind some of the in-fighting and a few ideas for leadership practices that can reduce it. The following suggestions will help executives and senior team leaders avoid practices that foster a climate of fear, insecurity and mistrust that fuels in-fighting.

• Corporate Team Building Blog – 2011 in review

  Anne Thornley-Brown, M.B.A. @executiveoasis

  5 Jan 2012 | 6:36 pm

  The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 15,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

• Is Decision-Making a Dying Senior Leadership Competency?

  Anne Thornley-Brown, M.B.A. @executiveoasis

  5 Jan 2012 | 12:45 pm

  Is decision-making a dying art and a disappearing leadership competency? I believe that it is. It shows up in many ways. Scenario: A Canadian company sends out a bid for a major equipment acquisition. The process drags on for months. Eventually, they decide to stick with what they have. Why do companies seem to have so much difficulty making decisions these days? Why do some CEOs put their teams and suppliers through weeks of work that is then scrapped? Is decision-making a dying leadership competency? Is so why and what can be done about it? What is behind some of the poor judgement that is…

• Instant Team Building: What’s up with the 30 Minute Debriefs?

  Anne Thornley-Brown, M.B.A. @executiveoasis

  19 Dec 2011 | 11:47 am

  It's happened before and it seems to be happening with increasing frequency. It's the focus on instant results. "Hurry sickness" is a disease that is now plaguing corporations all over the globe. It is not surprising that this has been showing up in team building sessions in North America for well over a decade and it's not getting any better. It's spreading. Companies are pushing and burning out employees and expecting them to produce results in ridiculously short timeframes. When team members try to set realistic boundaries, they are branded "inflexible". As a result, companies are losing…

• Team Building in the Midst of Turbulence

  Anne Thornley-Brown, M.B.A. @executiveoasis

  5 Aug 2011 | 9:45 am

  What a week! First the debt ceiling crisis kept the world at the edge of its seat. Then, financial woes in Europe and concerns about the Euro and the Yen. Now stock markets around the globe are spiraling downward. In the midst of this, I uncovered more incidents of wasteful spending on playtime for executives and employees by companies with declining performance. Have some executives learned nothing from the events of the past 3 years? No amount of playtime, golf, jamming in a rock band, or other placebos can substitute for good old fashioned brainstorming to tap into the collective wisdom of…

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  Leadershipwatch - Aad Boot

• Leading Innovation: Why Executives Should Stimulate People to Make (Better) Mistakes

  Leadershipwatch - Aad Boot

  22 Jan 2012 | 8:47 am

  Photo: Seth1492/Flickr (Creative Commons) Some while ago I was working with a senior executive team. The team was leading a global division and was facing a complex change that involved four continents. They organized a session together to align as a team on the change strategy, the short-term priorities, and the global execution plan. They asked me to be their facilitator and sounding board. At a certain moment the discussion turned to the question how to stimulate innovation in and across the regions. And at that point something strange happened … the discussion changed, the atmosphere…

• Leading Change in the 21st Century: 4 Myths About Cultural Change

  Leadershipwatch - Aad Boot

  6 Jan 2012 | 12:18 pm

  Photo: Sean MacEntee/Flickr (Creative Commons) These days cultural change is a topic that is high on the agenda of many corporate executives. It looks like almost each change initiative within companies is linked to changing its culture. Many leaders proclaim that the ability to change/adjust the culture is crucial for the future success of their company. Cultural change is hot! But it is also difficult to accomplish. It always was, and is maybe even more difficult in the fast changing environments in which companies find themselves today. I witness many leaders struggle with this. Cultural…

• Cross-Cultural Leadership: How Misinterpretations of Dishonesty Can Destroy Team Alignment

  Leadershipwatch - Aad Boot

  17 Dec 2011 | 7:46 am

  Photo: kkimpel/Flickr (Creative Commons) When leading change, for instance in post merger integrations, leadership teams are very often confronted with cross-cultural differences. These can be corporate or national culture differences. Not dealing with these cultural differences effectively can have a serious impact on leadership teams. As executive and leadership team consultant and facilitator I have seen many situations over the years where mutual distrust seriously hindered a team’s alignment and performance. And almost every time this lack of trust was related to perceptions of…

• Leading Change: Three Major Misconceptions That Hinder Innovation

  Leadershipwatch - Aad Boot

  16 Nov 2011 | 11:52 am

  Photo: Hampton Roads Partnership/Flickr (Creative Commons) These days almost every organization is discussing the need for innovation. There is no CEO that talks with me about the company’s strategic drivers without mentioning ‘building more innovation power’. Every government is claiming innovation to be one of its key economic drivers. Innovation is hot. And of course it makes sense! In my previous post I described the difference between focus on sustainable value creation versus focus on short term financial growth, and how the latter can jeopardize a company’s future success. It…

• Amplifying Business Performance: Successful Leaders Approach Financial Growth Differently

  Leadershipwatch - Aad Boot

  23 Oct 2011 | 8:11 am

  Photo: alancleaver_2000/Flickr (Creative Commons) We all see significant economic changes taking place around us. The financial crisis, emerging markets, new technologies are putting their stamp on our economies, on market places, and on businesses. Organizations face changing circumstances that require different approaches. Yesterday’s success formulas are no longer a guarantee for future success. Leaders will need to adjust, review, transform, innovate their business performance models. And maybe that requires a new way of thinking about financial growth. I work internationally with…

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  Travis Robertson » Travis Robertson | Peak Performance Coach | Author | Professional Speaker | Business Strategist | Life Coach

• Are These 2 Words Sabotaging Your Success?

  Travis Robertson

  11 Jan 2012 | 10:09 am

  As some of you know, Lisa and I recently took custody of my soon-to-be-12-year-old cousin and are raising him as our son. We couldn’t be more excited. He’s a great kid and he’s fitting in really well with us. At the same time, we didn’t raise him for those first 11 years and he has patterns in how he thinks and how he speaks that are the antithesis of what we as a family believe and operate under. I don’t blame him for the things he was exposed to and the habits he developed prior to coming to live with our family. However, we do expect him to take full…

• The Myth of Readiness

  Travis Robertson

  5 Jan 2012 | 8:45 am

  It’s that time of year: New Years. On one hand, it’s filled with excitement as we set out our goals for the year (please tell me you’re setting goals and NOT resolutions). If you’re like most people, you’ll start strong. You’ll be filled with renewed energy and resolve to finally take the steps toward accomplishing that elusive goal. You’re going to start that business. You’re going to go for that promotion. You’re going to start dating again. You’re going to hire that new employee. And so on… But then something happens.

• 7 Magical Business Tips From the Fat Man (Santa) Himself

  Travis Robertson

  16 Dec 2011 | 10:22 am

  I normally don’t accept guest posts on my blog. However, I recently ran into Nicholas “Santa” Claus, the CHO (Chief Holiday Officer) of Santa Industries, Worldwide. It turns out he’s an avid reader of my blog and we thought it would be fun for him to write a guest post sharing with you how he manages such a large organization and what advice he has for entrepreneurs and business owners looking to grow. The title was his idea. Ho ho ho! Most people don’t know it, but I started Santa Industries, Worldwide roughly 1,600 years ago. I’ve survived the dark ages,…

• Are You A Control Freak? The Surprising Truth

  Travis Robertson

  13 Dec 2011 | 9:27 am

  Hello. My name is Travis Robertson and I’m a control freak. But I’m not alone. You’re a control freak too. Control is a funny thing. We usually associate control with certain personality types. We say that someone has a “dominant personality type” or that they are a “control-freak.” We may even describe ourselves this way. We associate control with obvious, overt actions such as… Micro-managing The need to get your way The need to be the boss The need to be the team leader Taking over decision-making processes Not valuing the opinions of others…

• Want Next Year to Rock? 30 Questions You Can’t Afford Not to Answer

  Travis Robertson

  6 Dec 2011 | 8:56 am

  It’s the final few weeks of the year and most of us are focused on all the stuff we have to get done for the coming holidays. There’s shopping, cooking, planning, travel, parties, and creating “strategic avoidance plans” for people you’d rather not see. I used to treat December like the night before a big test and try to cram in everything I didn’t do in the previous 11 months. As a result, I’d often dread December and the holiday. Even though the Christmas season is my favorite time of year, I’d get depressed, burnt out, and frustrated. I just…

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  Thinking is Hard Work

• Open Leadership: You Might Be Wrong

  Colleen Sharen

  26 Jan 2012 | 8:10 am

  Open leadership is the next great thing. Charlene Yi, in the Winter 2012 issue of Rotman Magazine defines open leadership as: …having the confidence and humility to give up the need to be in control, while inspiring commitment from people … Continue reading →

• Leadership and Action: Elizabeth 1

  Colleen Sharen

  23 Jan 2012 | 8:10 am

  We associate effective leadership (and followership) with action. The leader identifies and issue or opportunity and takes action. When we hire, there is evidence that someone perceived to be “agentive” (those who take action) is more likely to be considered … Continue reading →

• Confusing Leadership and Role Models

  Colleen Sharen

  19 Jan 2012 | 8:10 am

  Who is a leader? That question has become very loaded today. It has become politically incorrect to say that someone isn’t a leader, or doesn’t have leadership potential. The democratization of leadership has led to beliefs that anyone can be … Continue reading →

• Mental Models of Followership

  Colleen Sharen

  16 Jan 2012 | 8:10 am

  Do you have a mental model of a good follower? Of a bad follower? In my last post I wrote about Implicit Leadership Theories, and in this post, I’m going to talk about Implicit Followership Theories. Recent research from Thomas … Continue reading →

• Implicit Leadership Theories

  Colleen Sharen

  12 Jan 2012 | 8:16 am

  As quickly as you can, think about your vision of a leader. What does this person look like?  What is their personality? What skills do they have? How do they behave? What don’t they do? Just use the first ideas … Continue reading →

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  mick's leadership blog

• Social Media Revolution 2011

  mickyates

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:43 am

  All leaders today need to understand the digital social universe. So here is a fascinating look at what’s going on from http://www.socialnomics.net/ Part of the world’s most watched Social Media video series; “Social Media Revolution” by Erik Qualman. Based on #1 International Best Selling Book Socialnomics by Erik Qualman. This is a shorter version that includes new social media statistics for 2011.

• Students Day in Russia – why don’t we value education as much?

  mickyates

  25 Jan 2012 | 12:54 am

  Today is Student’s Day in Russia (Saint Tatiana’s Day, the patroness of students). Examinations in Russia’s higher schools start at the beginning of the year and last until January 24. So the 25th. tends to be a happy day, as students across the country celebrate. They’ll join friends at college, drink with lecturers, sing songs and generally enjoy life. Traditionally, Moscow State University is the centre of the festivities, as the 25th. is also the birthday of the University – the largest, oldest and most prestigious college in the country, and one of the world’s…

• New Business opportunities in the Year of the Dragon

  mickyates

  23 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Whether you believe in horoscopes or not, it was Louis Pasteur who said “Chance favours the prepared mind”. So if you are doing business in Asia, and especially the Chinese markets, you had better respect how millions of people see 2012 – the Year of the Black Water Dragon. Chinese astrology has a 12-year cycle of animals, and 2012 is the year of the Dragon. There is also a cycle of five Elements – Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth. So 2012 is the Year of the “Black Water Dragon” as the color of water is associated with the color black. Chinese dragons, unlike western…

• 50 Best Twitter Chats for Business Students

  mickyates

  22 Jan 2012 | 1:17 pm

  Twitter isn’t just a fun way to keep in touch with friends and follow your favorite celebrities; it’s also an incredibly valuable tool for marketing, branding, customer service, and business education. These days, few big businesses operate without a Twitter presence, and more and more business gurus, CEOs, and teachers are flocking to the site to share their expertise and inspiration with young professionals like yourself. One of the best ways to connect with these experts and other businesspeople is through Twitter chats, which are often held weekly and cover a wide range of topics.

• 30 Proven Ways to Be More Persuasive – Online MBA

  mickyates

  15 Jan 2012 | 7:29 am

  Here’s another great set of ideas from Online MBA. “Whether we realize it or not, we use persuasive techniques every day to get the things we want by influencing others. While it may seem like some people are born to charm their way through life, persuading others with an enviable ease, the whole shebang at its heart is a science — something that anyone can learn to master with enough practice. If you’re looking to brush up your persuasion skills, whether to get your foot in the door at a business, sell a product, or even get a promotion, here are some tricks and tips that…

• 

  Frame of Reference

• The Father of Caves And Clear Water – Part 1

  Chris Fillebrown

  22 Jan 2012 | 7:03 pm

  Frame of Reference presents The Father of Caves and Clear Water – Part 1 by Chris Fillebrown ©2012, chris fillebrown, all rights reserved

• Announcing Facebook Profile

  Chris Fillebrown

  18 Jan 2012 | 8:33 pm

  Frame of Reference is pleased to announce Chris Fillebrown’s Facebook profile. To go there now, click here.

• soggy socks by chris fillebrown

  Chris Fillebrown

  31 Dec 2011 | 8:35 pm

  Frame of Reference presents: soggy socks by chris fillebrown ©2011, chris fillebrown, all rights reserved

• 

  mgmtideas.com - Latest Content

• New Idea: Listen First, Comment Later

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

  Several studies have shown that when groups fail to arrive at decisions, it’s often because they devote too much time to finding common ground rather than weighing the pros and cons of what each person is saying. Meetings are especially ineffective when attendees begin by disclosing which way they are leaning; upon voicing an opinion about a decision, people are more likely to ignore information that others introduce, even if it could potentially change their opinion or contribute to a better decision. Thus, managers should reduce the number of distractions that may impede group members…

• 

  Management Stories

• Would You Invest in Your Own Company?

  Administrator

  5 Jan 2012 | 1:43 pm

  The CEO of one company was determined that his employees understand the issues surrounding the company’s recent poor results and become fully engaged to help turn the company around. Here’s how he accomplished this. The company held four brown bag lunch meetings over four weeks where employees could attend for free for one hour and hear from an outside professional about how to invest in the share market. Importantly, there was no obvious link between the meeting topic and the organization the employees worked for. At week three, they were analyzing annual reports and generally…

• The Importance of Self-Discipline

  Administrator

  1 Nov 2011 | 10:09 am

  During the 1960s, psychologist Walter Mischel conducted “the marshmallow test” with four-year-olds in the preschool at Stanford University, to assess each preschooler’s ability to delay gratification. Each four-year-old was given one marshmallow. They were told that they could eat it immediately or, if they waited until the researcher returned in 20 minutes, they could have two marshmallows. Some kids in the group just couldn’t wait. They gobbled down the marshmallow immediately. The rest struggled hard to resist eating it. They covered their eyes, talked to…

• Win-Win Negotiation Agreements

  Administrator

  15 Oct 2011 | 5:24 am

  Take the classic fable of the two sisters, quarrelling over a single orange. The sisters, who focus too much on cooperating with one another, cooperatively agree to cut the orange in half – a compromise agreement. One sister uses the juice and throws the rind away; the other sister uses the rind and throws the juice away, and then they realize – too late – that both sisters would have been far better off by giving all the juice to one sister and all the rind to the other sister. This is what is meant by “win-win” negotiation agreements, which are described as…

• Staying on Top

  Administrator

  12 Sep 2011 | 12:59 pm

  A turkey was chatting with a bull. “I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree,” sighed the turkey, “but I haven’t got the energy.” “Well, why don’t you nibble on some of my droppings?” replied the bull. “They’re packed with nutrients.” The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon he was…

• Hey, You Got the Elephant

  Administrator

  16 Aug 2011 | 2:11 pm

  Recognition can be given in traditional ways—a complimentary e-mail, or a pat on the back for a job well done. But you can also get creative with it. One of my favorite examples is the one business consultant Alexander Kjerulf cites about a Danish car company that instituted “The Order of the Elephant.” The elephant is a two-foot-tall stuffed animal that any employee can give to another as a reward for doing something exemplary. The benefits come not just in the delivery and reception of well-earned praise, but afterwards as well. As Kjerulf explains, “other employees stopping by…

• 

  mgmtarticles.com - Latest Content

• New Article: Making Your Company Inflation Ready

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

  Inflation has a corrosive effect on business performance, but like any economic threat, it tends to separate the wheat from the chaff. Those companies able to protect themselves from inflation’s negative effects can exploit an inflationary period to improve their competitive advantage. With prospects for inflation on the rise over the midterm, companies need to start now to make sure their organizations are “inflation ready.” This report, the second in a series, describes a two-step preparation process. Author(s): Daniel Stelter, Ulrich Pidun Source(s): Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

• 

  mgmtquotes.com - Latest Content

• Peter de Jager

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

  The biggest obstacle to future change is past success, the strongest motivation is recent failure.

• 

  Peter Barron Stark Companies

• 9 Steps to Effective Problem Solving

  Peter Stark

  23 Jan 2012 | 12:06 pm

  Every day we are each faced with problems to solve: the large problems can be intimidating and the small problems can be mind-numbing. Either way, there is no avoiding problems. You are in your leadership position, title or not, because you have the reputation for spotting and solving important problems while rallying others, and yourself, to action. However, every now and then a problem sneaks past even the best leaders and causes a stir. Where do you begin and how can you help deter the issue from becoming an even bigger problem? The best outcomes usually come from problems that are dealt…

• Keep Yourself Uncomfortable

  Peter Stark

  16 Jan 2012 | 11:29 am

  Change Brings Discomfort – Even to Leaders I have a challenge for you today. Take your watch off the wrist on which you normally wear it, place it on the other arm and leave it there for the rest of the day. How does this feel? Count how many times during the day you look at the arm where you normally wear your watch, only to find that it is no longer there. Even this most simple of changes is uncomfortable to fully incorporate into your life. Since you’re reading this, you probably realize how difficult change can be on a scale much larger than wrist watches. Change is not possible…

• The Case for Introverted Leaders

  Peter Stark

  10 Jan 2012 | 11:50 am

  Sign up for our Quest for Leadership Excellence A quick search for introvert on Thesaurus.com retrieves synonyms such as brooder, egoist, loner, self-observer, solitary and wallflower, while the synonyms for extrovert include character, gregarious person, life of the party, show-off and showboat. Neither of these references paint a completely positive or accurate picture of either preference but perpetuate the overall misconceptions floating around about introverts and extroverts. This explains the question I have been asked on several occasions: “Can introverts make great leaders?” My…

• The Beauty of Failure

  Peter Stark

  9 Jan 2012 | 10:30 am

  Sometimes, despite your best effort, things just don’t go as planned. You experience challenges, setbacks and outright failures. You look back at your life and begin to count the few failures, losing sight of your many successes. What you forget is that so many success stories have resulted from failure to accept failure as an end result. If everyone gave up at their first failure, no one would learn how to ride a bike, read or tie their shoes. Accomplished people realize that failure is just a part of the path to success. Here are few examples of famous individuals who had a taste of…

• Local Focus Pays Off for Arizona State Credit Union

  Peter Stark

  4 Jan 2012 | 1:48 pm

  By Paul Stull, senior vice president, strategy and brand, Arizona State Credit Union, Phoenix. In October 2011, Arizona State Credit Union received its highest monthly membership growth in more than a decade. We did it by focusing on local roots. We’ve been monitoring consumer sentiment for some time and knew there was a strong preference to buy local. Even big chain grocery stores feature locally produced products. It was clear this was a trend that could serve credit unions well. We created a campaign featuring television, radio and newspaper ads around the values of being part of a…

• 

  Encob Blog

• Il meglio della blogosfera lean #125

  Dragan Bosnjak

  28 Jan 2012 | 1:30 am

  Gli articoli di questa settimana (dal 20/01/2012 al 26/01/2012) sono di: Mike Wroblewski (Got Boondoggle), Matthew E. May, Dan Jones (The Lean Edge), Bruce Hamilton (Old Lean Dude), Daniel Markowitz (TimeBack Management) e parlano di lean thinking, filosofia lean, problem solving, kaizen, sviluppo delle persone, talento, lean accounting, target costing, kaizen costing, controlli visuali, innovazione. [...] Articoli simili: Il meglio della blogosfera lean #116 Il meglio della blogosfera lean #115 Il meglio della blogosfera lean #113 Il meglio della blogosfera lean #118 Il meglio della…

• Libertà di sbagliare

  Dragan Bosnjak

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:30 am

  Riguardo l’articolo di ieri e dell’altro giorno riguardanti gli errori, vorrei oggi riportare, per la nostra riflessione, alcune citazioni di un grande, Mahatma Gandhi: La libertà non ha alcun valore se non include la libertà di fare degli errori. Le oneste differenze sono spesso il sano segno di progresso. L’onesto disaccordo è spesso un buon [...] Articoli simili: Sbagliare è bene! Importante è saper sbagliare Cosa è hansei? Esercizio di logica Consegnare la felicità #5: Essere avventurosi, creativi e con la mente aperta

• Pratica mirata e deliberata

  Dragan Bosnjak

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:30 am

  L’altro giorno ho commentato l’articolo di amici su QualitiAmo Imparare a non fare errori, e nei commenti hanno, come supponevo, esposto il loro punto di vista, confermato negli articoli successivi sul loro blog. Infatti, non bisogna imparare a non fare degli errori, ma imparare a prevedere gli errori, ossia le azioni preventive contro le azioni [...] Articoli simili: Il codice del talento #2: Profonda pratica Sbagliare è bene! Perché poka yoke? Consegnare la felicità #9: Fare di più con meno Imparare a non fare errori? No! Imparare a farli!

• 5 domande di miglioramento

  Dragan Bosnjak

  25 Jan 2012 | 1:54 am

  Quale è la condizione target? Quale è la condizione attuale? Quali sono gli ostacoli che adesso non vi permettono di raggiungere la condizione target? Quale è il prossimo passo (il prossimo PDCA)? Che cosa vi aspettate da esso? Quando potremo andare a vedere cosa abbiamo imparato facendo questo passo? Estratto da Toyota Kata di Mike [...] Articoli simili: Come si insegna il miglioramento? Kanban in casa (con una azione di miglioramento…) Cosa è miglioramento? 8 domande di Dan Jones Toyota Kata 2

• Imparare a non fare errori? No! Imparare a farli!

  Dragan Bosnjak

  24 Jan 2012 | 1:30 am

  Gli amici di QualitiAmo ieri mattina hanno pubblicato un articolo interessante dal titolo Imparare a non fare errori. In esso loro dicono: Abbiamo imparato fin da bambini a entrare in competizione con gli altri per ottenere l’approvazione dei grandi, per distinguerci all’interno del gruppo, per un premio, per un posto importante nella recita scolastica, per entrare nella scuola migliore o nella nostra squadra del cuore. Al [...] Articoli simili: Imparare ad agire Festival degli errori Perché non impariamo dagli errori passati? Imparare dai bambini I cartoni per…

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  The Modern Servant Leader

• Joe Paterno Quotes – Great Quotes from a Great Leader

  Ben

  23 Jan 2012 | 11:31 am

  I only spoke with Joe Paterno for about 5 minutes. Yet, his influence on me and my perspectives of leadership was immense. Unfortunately, near the end of his life, tragic events that occurred under his leadership challenged his perfect record of character. So when he passed away, I wanted to remember him for his greatness. “JoePa”, as his is affectionately known by his Nittany Lion family, was the greatest coach in NCAA football. He taught me the best of what it means to be a man of character, a Nittany Lion and a leader. Joe Paterno Quotes The name on the front of the jersey is…

• Southwest Airlines 2011 Results Reflect Benefits of Servant Leadership

  Ben

  20 Jan 2012 | 4:21 am

  Southwest Airlines (LUV) announced the 39th consecutive year of profitability yesterday. The company has been a role model of servant leadership since its founding by Herb Kelleher (and others). During the financial earnings call, CEO Gary Kelly, CFO Laura Wright and Executive VP Robert (Bob) E. Jordan reflected the company’s commitment to servant leadership. Improved Results by Acquired AirTran Southwest is in the process acquiring former competitor, AirTran Airways. During mergers and acquisitions it is common for companies, especially the acquired, to experience a dip in…

• Steve Jobs vs. Herb Kelleher – Hero Worship vs. Servant Leadership

  Ben

  17 Jan 2012 | 4:32 am

  Top Row: Steve Jobs, Herb Kelleher; Bottom Row: Steve Wozniak, Tim Cook, Colleen Barrett, Gary Kelly I am a fan of many Apple products and believe Steve Jobs played a critical role in Apple’s success. However, following his passing, there were many people who referred to him as a great leader. He was – if you refer to technology and innovation. However, if you refer to people or organizational leadership, I believe there are better examples. The synonymous association of Steve Jobs with Apple’s success disturbs me as a classic example of hero worship in business. More…

• Lemonjello’s Leads by Example with Zero Waste Sustainability Policy

  Ben

  12 Jan 2012 | 4:17 am

  It is a common occurrence now: coffee shop patrons holding their trash in hand, searching in vain for a garbage can. However, there are no trash cans for patrons. Lemonjello’s pursues a zero waste policy. To do so, they’ve removed public trash cans and asked customers to place any trash in the dish bin. Employees then sort recycling and compost materials. This popular hangout for Hope College students is located in downtown Holland, Michigan. It also happens to be one of my favorite haunts. Lemonjello’s not only practices what they preach, they educate their customers at the…

• Donald Trump’s Face Tells the Story of Power-Based Leadership

  Ben

  10 Jan 2012 | 4:35 am

  Donald Trump is the epitome of power-based leadership. For example, the man wanted to trademark his catch phrase, “You’re fired!”, which would require every organization using this phrase to pay him tribute. Therefore, “The Donald” makes for an excellent study on the personal effects of power-based leadership. Former Fan When I graduated college, I idolized Donald Trump. At that time, entrepreneurs were making millions in new ventures and I wanted in. I studied Trump and admired his dominant success in business. In fact, I was thrilled when I met Mr. Trump,…

• 

  C-Level Strategies - Visionary Leadership

• Do Extroverts Have an Advantage in Political Campaigns?

  Lisa Petrilli

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:07 am

  I had a private exchange on Twitter a few days ago with Carol Roth in which I mentioned to her that I’m a “political junkie.” I minored in poli sci during my undergrad years, absolutely love political conversation, and the few moments each day I spend watching TV are generally spent watching political news shows. As I shared this with Carol I remembered a dream I had many years ago – to “grow up” to be a Senator. But as much as it was a dream, I knew I would never pursue it. Why? I’m an introvert, and the thought of campaigning – which is…

• Thomas Edison’s Secrets to Creating Innovation Leaders

  Lisa Petrilli

  23 Jan 2012 | 3:07 am

  If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Sarah Miller Caldicott, you’re in for a treat this Tuesday evening at Leadership Chat! Sarah is a great grandniece of Thomas Edison, an innovation author, and a professional trainer who guides organizations to ignite innovation. Sarah began researching and writing about Edison’s world-changing innovation methods after spending more than 15 years in corporate life as a senior Marketing executive. Her book, “Innovate Like Edison: The Success System of America’s Greatest Inventor” delineates Edison’s five…

• How to Design a Conference Introverts will Love

  Lisa Petrilli

  19 Jan 2012 | 6:17 am

  As an introvert, I know the excitement of attending a conference is often tempered by the anxiety of knowing I will likely be out of my comfort zone on more than one occasion. Having attended everything from corporate sales meetings to doctor’s conferences in my marketing days, to social media and entrepreneurial conferences most recently, I thought I’d share some insights on how to design a conference that will keep introverts in their comfort zone, thus making them more likely to come back next year! 1. Have a Chief Relationship Officer I play this role at CEO Connection,…

• 

  ELCircle

• Lead from the Inside Out

  Jim Canterucci

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:09 am

  The following is a short book preview contributed by the Ohio State University Leadership Center. 75 Principles of Conscious Leadership: Inspired Skills for 21st Century Business From: Michael Schantz Bandon, OR: Robert D. Reed Publishers (2008) People respond to your essence as a leader. If a leader’s power is authentic, people believe in the leader and his message. People demonstrate that they believe in their leaders when they follow. They follow where a leader’s principles, values, and actions enact outcomes for the greater good. People trust and emulate leaders whom they…

• A Keeper Test for Managers (Popular Post Replay)

  Jim Canterucci

  17 Jan 2012 | 9:06 am

  A document for internal Netflix employees was recently released on Slideshare called Reference Guide on our Freedom & Responsibility Culture. This document is a pretty strong culture manifesto. We’ve included the entire 128 pages below and will likely highlight a number of points here in the near future. One suggested practice is The Keeper Test Managers Use. The question managers should ask is: “Which of my people, if they told me they were leaving in two months for a similar job at a peer company, would I fight to keep at Netflix?” You may end up with two lists. Those you…

• You’re our go to person…

  Jim Canterucci

  12 Jan 2012 | 2:19 pm

  In this week’s BCS National Championship college football game here in the U.S., Alabama coach Nick Saban was overheard telling his kicker that he would be going to him later and that he needed him. This was just after a field goal was blocked. Alabama’s kickers have had a troubled season, missing key opportunities. Kicker Jeremy Shelley missed two field goals Monday night but made five, accounting for all of the points in the game until a late touchdown. Jeremy Shelley is not the best kicker in football. He even missed the extra point on the touchdown. Everyone knows he’s…

• Quit calling them soft skills

  Jim Canterucci

  10 Jan 2012 | 7:06 am

  Skills are skills. Would you say a mechanic finessing a bolt is using soft skills? Is a lawyer effective if he only knows the statutes? Is a physician effective if she only treats your child’s tumor without any bed-side manner? OK, academically I can see why you might want to draw distinctions between hard skills – those needed to complete a specific task, and soft skills – those that have to do with emotional intelligence. However, when teaching a job if you only teach one or the other you will fail. WARNING: The person with the budget is usually not versed in the…

• My Career – Please talk to me

  Jim Canterucci

  5 Jan 2012 | 7:47 am

  One of the top 10 reasons why large companies fail to keep their best talent according to a Forbes magazine article is No discussion around career development. Not a performance review. That’s different. Rather, we’re talking about specific one-on-one discussions about where the person is going. While asking what the team member wants to do in the future is certainly a part of the discussion it really is a coaching task – drawing out a cogent plan, something many people aren’t able to do on their own. A real discussion about an employee’s career accomplishes so…

• 

  The trU Group

• Are you a BUT or AND leader?

  Scott

  24 Jan 2012 | 8:07 am

  A coach and mentor taught me the lesson of substituting the word AND for BUT in my statements. BUT . . . sends the message that the important part of the message is coming. begins the process of rebuilding a thought or action plan. says start listening. is an accountability word. AND . . . recognizes progress and paints a picture of a preferred future. begins the process of building upon a thought or action plan. says keep listening.  is an accountability and problem solving word. Assignment:  Listen to how you and those around you use BUT / AND today.  What do you notice? I would…

• Universal truths: Leadership, Parenting . . . and conflict

  Scott

  23 Jan 2012 | 8:57 am

  I recently reviewed a book on these pages by David C. Baker, and in my interview with him he talked about parenting being a place where leaders can learn.  He related it to his own experience where the things unsaid often consumed more energy than the things that were said.  Reminding us, as leaders, parents, wives, husbands, and friends – we need to find ways to share the truths as we see them. I was reminded how being a parent or leader is so similar, and the things we learn to be effective at both roles are the same.  It hit home for me when I want to a parenting seminar from…

• Leadership: The Power (And Trap) Of Non-Verbals

  Scott

  19 Jan 2012 | 1:40 pm

  We have been studying nonverbal communications in class and it is interesting how you can tell what people are thinking by their actions – especially when they are inconsistent with their words.  Is it important for leaders to know this? I received this note from a leader who also loves to learn.  It reminded me of a couple of things: 60-70% of our communication is non-verbal  Great communicators have mastered non-verbal cues Stress behaviors for leaders (according the the Birkman Method) often shows up as us sending the wrong nonverbal signals My big concern about teaching leaders…

• An Interview and Book Giveaway with Leadership Expert & Author David Baker

  Scott

  17 Jan 2012 | 7:32 am

  As readers of my blog, you know that I like to meet intriguing people, and I share some of those meetings with you on these pages.  I met author David C. Baker first through reading his book, Managing Right For the First Time:  A Field Guide For Doing It Well.  I liked his book because it was focused on providing managers with tangible tools/knowledge they needed to be successful.  I could also see this as a tool a mentor could use in helping a manager learn and grow in their role.  A little about David (although a full bio can be found on his website) – He was born in Michigan,…

• Universal truths: Relationships and Leadership

  Scott

  16 Jan 2012 | 5:28 am

  I can remember his face and his words like it was yesterday.  He stood up in a leadership class during a section where we were exploring leadership and how to manage the talents of a team and said “I am a very different person at home.  I have a work personality and a home personality.”  If it were only that simple. . . . In the book How Full Is Your Bucket(p. 55), a study is shared that explored the connection between how we talked to each other and marital success.  They spent 15 minutes with each couple, logged in positive and negative interactions, and then used that to…

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  Team Building & Leadership Blog: Create-Learning

• Photo Inquiry Friday: What is your next step? When can we go-and-see?

  mike

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:38 am

  There has been an increase of Companies and Managers wanting stronger connections of the ideas to the work. This is a great thing. We still need to understand the theory behind our actions, and the actions will reinforce the theory. The challenge consistently arises when there is an expectation that what has to happen is major Organizational Change. It is efficacious to 1. Determine the Goal – within the persons time-span of handling work. 2. Determine where they are right now, in reference to the goal. 3. Determine what they have already accomplished and how they got that done.   4.

• ‘Yeah we’re having problems with that’ FIX IT!

  mike

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:26 pm

  You are paid to make decisions and solve problems When you are working and following the path to complete your task and an obstacle to your progress happens, how you navigate around that obstacle is what you are paid for. You are not paid to follow a rote path, A machine can do that At a coffee shop to meet a coaching client, arrived early to drink some coffee read some emails and prepare. Order coffee & sesame bagel toasted with butter, sit to eat. Open my iPad and cannot get on the internet. I’ve been to this coffee shop many time before and never had a problem. I try again nothing……

• 5 Steps to Planning A Change Within Your Organization & Team

  mike

  25 Jan 2012 | 10:00 am

  I wrote this in 2010 and recently used this model with a small Management team to plan a large change in their organization. They found this model and the questions to be very useful. All of us and our companies are in constant change, and we know this. Different people need different levels of information and motivation for the change to happen. As a manager YOU NEED the wisdom and ability to manage the process and add value to peoples decisions and work. Contact Mike to make your Organization, Team and Leaders – plan for change better. Planning a Change When planning for a change you need…

• Define-Back to Basics. Something Every Team & Leader Needs

  mike

  24 Jan 2012 | 10:13 am

  Sitting in the office of the Dean of Students for a High School, talking about a Scholastic-Leadership program I am leading with the Administration, Faculty and students, he said “Mike we need to return, for lack of a better word, back to basics.” He said this almost apologetically. That made me wonder – What is so wrong with going back to basics? People fear the that as they become managerial-leaders the idea of ‘The-Basics’ is something they should have already established. But you see time and time again…that these basics are horribly described and defined within the…

• Sports Teams Are NOT Work Teams

  mike

  23 Jan 2012 | 9:29 am

  I am not a sports fan, and when I am leading team building & leadership retreats for Corporate Teams the topic comes up. I have lead programs with professional and college level sports teams, and learned a great deal about the similarities and differences. When someone tells me how Football or Baseball or Hockey or choose your sport are great example of organizations and team-work. They make interesting points and I politely listen, and still don’t really care about sports. When I tell them I am not really a sports fan, the response is generally, What do you enjoy doing? My lame…

• 

  Kenny Silva

• Elephants and Arguments

  Kenny Silva

  16 Jan 2012 | 9:35 am

  Tell me if this situation sounds familiar… You hear it through the grapevine that a friend of yours, lets call him Johnny, said something you don’t quite agree with. Wether he was talking about politics, theology, or sports it doesn’t really matter. From Johnny’s point of view, he didn’t do anything wrong. He was acting in accord with his convictions and had the best intentions in mind. In fact, we can assume that most people would actually have agree with what he said. In your point of view, however, he was wrong. Now, rather than going to the source and asking Johnny about it,…

• Fear Makes You Want to Take a Bite Out of God

  Kenny Silva

  1 Dec 2011 | 3:00 pm

  I have a beautiful 16 week old puppy named Cooper. Here’s his picture. I give you full permission to make whatever ohhh and awe signs that you feel are necessary. He is quite the cutie pie. As you could imagine, I love this little guy and spoil him rotten as I would imagine most loving dog-owners do. He gets the best food, lots of fun toys, and an ample amount of quality time with Daddy. He’s my little man and, in my house, he is richly provided for. About a month ago, Cooper developed a serious case of food aggression. If you’re not familiar with that, what essentially…

• Show Your Work

  Kenny Silva

  14 Nov 2011 | 11:47 am

  Big thanks to Joey Strawn for teasing this long overdue blog post out of me this morning… I’ve always been good at math. Something about my right-brain sees numbers and situations and enjoys making sense of them. My problem, however, is that my right-brain is so fixed on solutions and results that I tend to completely neglect the process. I’ll get you the right answer, but good luck getting me to show the work. This is the reason why my 12th grade Calculus teacher absolutely hated me. Exit the high school and enter the big classroom that we call life; this approach is great for…

• BarCamp: The unConference for the unGeek

  Kenny Silva

  2 Oct 2011 | 11:26 pm

  This is the next stop on this year’s BarCamp Blog Tour. Check out yesterday’s post from Bayard Saunders here. In two weeks, BarCamp:Nashville will be making its way back to Lower Broadway’s Cadillac Ranch. What’s a BarCamp, you ask? Well, here’s the official description. BarCamp has become the premier technology conference in Nashville, bringing together the best minds and representation of the hottest companies in the internet, entrepreneurial, new media, and software industries, among others… Sounds like you need work in technology in order to attend,…

• Quit Hitting Yourself

  Kenny Silva

  21 Sep 2011 | 8:43 am

  When we were kids, my brother and I used to fight from time to time. He was great at this one particular move where he would grab my arm and proceed to beat on me with my own hand. Surely enough, he’d taunt me with these words, “Quit hitting yourself!” I know you know what I’m talking about. Remember the story; it’ll come in handy later on. Something About Me I love words (says the writer.) Words have great power over me. Wether I’m in a classroom, at a concert, or sitting in a small group the words spoken and sung in those environments have a dramatic…

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  Horeb International Leadership Blog

• The Two Lenses of Leadership

  olaojo15

  16 Jan 2012 | 1:58 pm

  Image(c) Martinak15 This post builds on the last post which was about strengths. I believe we all have natural abilities that can be developed into strengths if we are willing to invest the necessary time, resources and effort. I would like to examine strengths and weaknesses through two lenses and discuss a key difference between them. These two lenses are competence and character. Competence is the required skill, knowledge and capacity to perform a task or a job while character can be defined as the collection of traits and features that form the nature of an individual. All leaders have…

• Discovering your Strengths in 2012

  olaojo15

  8 Jan 2012 | 3:29 pm

  Image by JD Hancock A lot of people fail to maximise their strengths because (a) they don’t know their strengths and (b) they erroneously believe that their strengths will take care of themselves and focus their attention on their weaknesses. The late Peter Drucker stated that a person can only perform from a position of strength. One can’t build performance on weaknesses, let alone on something one can’t do at all.  He argued that you should waste as little effort as possible on improving areas of low competence. This is because it usually takes far more energy and effort to…

• A Tale of Two Teams

  olaojo15

  17 Dec 2011 | 4:50 pm

  Image by Mike Roemer Indianapolis Colts is the worst team in the NFL and the Green Bay Packers is the league’s best team. The Colts are on a losing streak while Green Bay is undefeated this season. But why is one team flying high and the other caught in a death spiral? I believe that there are two reasons for this: (1) Leadership (or the lack of it): The tale of the two teams is really the tale of two quarterbacks: Peyton Manning (Colts) and Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay). Peyton Manning is regarded by experts and peers as one of the best quarterbacks to play the game. He has led the Colts to…

• The Curious Case of Tim Tebow and David

  olaojo15

  10 Dec 2011 | 2:24 am

  If you are not into American Football, you have probably never heard of Tim Tebow. He is the most talked about player in the National Football League at the moment. This is because he is winning with his team, the Denver Broncos. Critics, however, argue that he is winning the wrong way. Tebow is a devout Christian who is outspoken about his faith. This irritates his detractors as equally as the way he is winning games. He has polarised the sports into two camps: those who loathe and those who love him. Tebow has also confounded the experts because of his unconventional playing style. His…

• Four Types of Men

  olaojo15

  22 Nov 2011 | 2:50 pm

  Ibn Yamin Faryumadi (1286-1368), Persian poet, stated that there are four types of men: (1) The man who knows and knows that he knows… This is a man of knowledge; strive to know him because you can learn from him. (2) The man who knows, but doesn’t know that he knows… This is a man who’s unaware, so bring it to his attention. (3) The man who doesn’t know and knows that he doesn’t know… This is an illiterate man; teach him! Benjamin Disraeli said that “To be conscious that you are ignorant of the facts is a great step to knowledge.” (4) The…

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  Leadership and...

• Leadership and Tebow Time...for the last time...at least for now...

  Pete Blank

  18 Jan 2012 | 12:24 pm

  This should be my last Leadership and... post about Tim Tebow (TT) for a while.  His football season is now over, but it's never really over until we wrap it up and put a orange and blue ribbon on it with an uplifting blog post about his season.I feel it is important, as leaders, for us to look at TT the person as opposed to TT the quarterback.  Whether you like him or hate him, the fact is he has many leadership skills that many of us, including myself, are lacking..both at home and in the workplace.To prevent this from being a novella, I narrowed our TT leadership lessons…

• Leadership and Pete's Pet Peeve on Passion

  Pete Blank

  13 Jan 2012 | 9:30 am

  Step 3 in our leadership statement deals with passion."Leaders need to find a need, know your gifts, and show your passion."In previous posts, we talked about Step 1 (Finding a Need) and Step 2 (Know your gifts).Step 3 is passion!Sorry to come across so harsh, but I have no sympathy for people who have no passion for their jobs.Assuming you work... - 8 hours a day - 40 hours a week - 50 weeks a year - 40 years of your life (age 25-65)...you will work 640,000 hours, or 80,000 days of your life.Can you imagine being unhappy for 80,000 days?Neither can I.If you have…

• Leadership and Go DO that Voo-Doo that You DO So Well...

  Pete Blank

  3 Jan 2012 | 2:09 pm

  Happy 2012 to all "Leadership and..." readers!Let's review where we left off last week - with the following Leadership Statement:"Leaders need to find a need, know your gifts, and show your passion."In a previous post, we talked about Step 1:  "Finding a Need." Now we will look at Step 2:  "Know your gifts."As a leader, you should not struggle with this.  If you do not know your gifts, just ask someone... - a teacher - a friend - a spouse - a peerSometimes our gifts are right in front of our faces, and we do not see them.  Other times, we do…

• Leadership and I Feel the Need...the Need for Speed

  Pete Blank

  29 Dec 2011 | 11:17 am

  Sidebar...I love Goose.Anyhow, I received a great gift from Sherri for Christmas.It is the Courageous Leadership Program from The John Maxwell Company.  It is a facilitator's kit that came with two books, a workbook, participant guides, DVD clips and audio CD lessons.  I hope to use it for an adult Sunday School class, or even a secular training program here at work.But my main point today is what I heard on one of the audio CD's coming in to work today.  The speaker talked of the following..."Leaders need to find a need, know your gifts, and show your passion."I'd like to…

• Leadership and Giving him the Business!

  Pete Blank

  21 Dec 2011 | 9:19 am

  Tis the season for giving.It reminds me of one of the most famous referee quotes of all time during an NFL football game.  Click here to see what he was "giving" him.  On the radio yesterday, I heard that an anonymous donor went into a Wal-Mart here in Birmingham and paid off over $6,000 of items on layaway.  Imagine the surprise and smiles of those who came in to pick up their completely paid off gifts.At my work, we had to move hundreds of chairs and tables out of our four training rooms for the carpets to be cleaned.  This 4-5 hour project turned into a 20 minute…

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  The Six Disciplines Blog

• The ROI of Performance Excellence Programs

  25 Jan 2012 | 10:06 am

  The ROI of performance excellence programs like Six Disciplines has been researched and proven many times over, by similar quality, performance, and business excellence programs like Baldrige, EFQM, and TQM.  The value of implementing a performance excellence program like Six Disciplines is hard to ignore:  A study by the European Foundation for Quality Management of 120 award-winning companies, including 24 from the U.S., compared their financial performance to that of similar companies that had not won awards. Five years after receiving their awards, these companies…

• The Benefit-to-Cost Ratio of a Performance Excellence Program

  23 Jan 2012 | 7:18 am

  According to a newly released study from NIST,  the benefit-to-cost ratio of a performance excellence program (like Baldrige) is 820-to-1. In their research, economists Albert N. Link, and John T. Scott (University of North Carolina, and Dartmouth College, respectively) used their economic tools to measure the net social value of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. Their key findings:  In 2001, when this study was first performed, the net social value of the performance excellence program had been found to be 207:1.  Ten years later, with the expansion…

• Continuous Improvement Programs Offer Competitive Advantages On Key Financial Metrics

  12 Jan 2012 | 9:45 am

  IndustryWeek recently reported on a survey it conducted with TBM Consulting about the impact of continuous-improvement programs on three financial metrics: anticipated revenue growth, operating income growth, and cash flow over the past year.  “Across the board, companies with no continuous improvement programs performed worse across all three measures,” TBM Consulting researchers revealed here: More than 50% of respondents with no continuous improvement program said they expect revenue growth to be 3% or less in 2012, compared to fewer than 20% of companies with mature…

• Limiting Distractions At Work

  11 Jan 2012 | 8:09 am

  How many times are you distracted at the office on an average day?  What do you think these interruptions cost you in productive work time? The answer is probably more than you think.  According to a recent survey of more than 500 workers conducted by uSamp: More than 50 percent of workers waste an hour or more each day on interruptions. 60 percent of workers are regularly interrupted by email and other electronic missives  40 percent cite phone calls and communicative colleagues as the biggest distractions. The survey estimated that distractions cost businesses more than…

• Baldrige Performance Excellence and Using Six Disciplines

  22 Dec 2011 | 9:10 am

  Each year, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence is presented to a small handful of organizations who have proven themselves worthy by being consistently superior on seven criteria for overall performance excellence.  The seven criteria include:  Leadership Strategic Planning Customer and Market Focus Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management Workforce Focus Process Management Business Results Award winners must share detailed information on how they achieved outstanding performance, so that other organizations can benefit.  One example…

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  Blog

• The Costa Concordia and Tone from the Top

  23 Jan 2012 | 10:07 am

  The tragic disaster of the cruise ship Costa Concordia capsizing off the coast of Italy provides a stark example of just how important tone from the top can be.

• Why the New 2011 National Business Ethics Survey Should Make You Worry

  17 Jan 2012 | 4:36 pm

  A recovering economy is weakening companies’ ethics cultures, but the trend had not yet affected the average employee.  But it will.

• When Sexual Harassment Takes Unexpected Forms

  6 Jan 2012 | 12:28 pm

  If your organization is only training employees to avoid the most obvious examples of harassment, then you might be open to real liability.

• Drum Roll Please: Thoughts on Winning a 2011 International Davey Award

  21 Dec 2011 | 12:17 pm

  Recently, Global Compliance was excited to learn that we and our partner Allen Interactions, a custom learning design, development and strategic consulting firm, had won a Silver International Davey Award.  We asked other Davey Award winners from 2011 what they thought about winning one of the premier awards in the creative field.

• Storm Clouds Building: The Ethics Forecast for 2012

  16 Dec 2011 | 10:11 am

  What will the next twelve months bring for ethics and compliance programs around the globe? It’s a game of prognostication we all like to play this time of year. 

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  A Slice of Leadership: A Leadership Blog, One Slice at a Time

• 4 Steps To Avoiding the “F” Word & Meaningless Leadership

  Todd Nielsen

  25 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  Francis Chan stated so eloquently stated,”Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” The depth of truth in that statement gives me goose-bumps. Oh how often we find ourselves, … Continue reading →

• A Successful Leaders Guide To Getting Lucky

  Todd Nielsen

  18 Jan 2012 | 5:30 am

  Have you ever been envious of successful leaders? Have you ever wondered why all the good things happen to them? Have you ever questioned yourself and thought, “why can’t I get that lucky?” Do you wonder why good things happen … Continue reading →

• Leadership Lessons from The Story of Tom Rutledge

  Todd Nielsen

  14 Jan 2012 | 12:06 am

  Tom Rutledge is a somewhat hidden hero in the story of Charles Lindbergh’s historic non-stop flight of the Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927.  Tom Rutledge worked at Wright Aeronautical as an engine builder, starting in … Continue reading →

• Effective Leadership & Personal Success Through Scripting

  Todd Nielsen

  11 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am

  As leaders and managers we are often thrown into situations that require us to think on our feet and make quick off-the-cuff decision. Often times these moments require a decision that can be driven from a negative emotion. Decisions that … Continue reading →

• The Leadership / Parenting Analogy

  Todd Nielsen

  5 Jan 2012 | 10:06 pm

  I recently heard a poem, that while amazingly simplistic, held a very powerful message about parenthood. But later, when I found the text of the poem online and read it, I was amazed at the how the same message could … Continue reading →