A Vice President I worked for years ago, reflecting on her rise to the C Suite, stated that she thought it was more stressful to be a middle manager than an executive. The difference, she said, is the senior leader has more autonomy over things than do managers further down in the hierarchy. We know…
If you haven’t yet run across TED Talks, I heartily recommend you check them out. “TED” stands for technology, entertainment & design. The organization began way back in 1984 and calls itself “a nonprofit devoted to ideas worth spreading.” It holds two main conferences each spring, plus a global conference in the summer, and licenses…
Bill George, an author whom I have reviewed and whom I respect, has just come out with a new book, True North Groups. This is a more structured version of the classic “mastermind group” which many of my speaker colleagues have formed or joined. This new publication just reminds me to urge you to form…
Do you ask your employees as often as you tell them what to do and what you think? In my experience, most managers don’t, not even close. Elsewhere in my blog (Build Best Bosses) I have offered four reasons why this is so. But if you have no answer to the above question, I invite…
This has been a hotly debated issue among those of us who work in the so-called “soft skills” area. Our clients, understandably so, want a high degree of certainty that their investment in training will generate certain outcomes. In particular, that their trainees will learn and successfully apply the skills taught. And they would prefer…
One of the hiring traps many companies fall into is letting HR hire salespeople. I apologize if this blog annoys HR practitioners but the simple truth is that most (not all) HR people are unqualified to hire salespeople. What they are extremely good at is managing the hiring process and understanding the legal aspects of…
Since so many of you liked last month’s blog post (Connect In Before You Connect Out) about the importance of authenticity when connecting, I thought I would go a little deeper on the concept of connecting inward before you connect outward. There really is truth in the age-old wisdom of treating your body as the…