We all fantasize but the object of our fantasy is seldom an organization, an ideal one, the one we would create for us to work in if we were king. Of course, if we were king–or queen–we wouldn’t be worrying about working, but I digress. Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones reported in the May 2013…
Based on the book, “Get Along with Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere” by Arnold Sanow and Sandra Strauss, standing firm on the hallowed grounds of “rightness” is a dead-wrong approach for connecting with others. It smacks of arrogance and alienates. The need to “be right” gets in the way of winning the acceptance, appreciation, and respect of…
It seems to be a “no brainer” that better mid level managers and supervisors will, by the way they lead their people, yield better results. Yet this relationship has been very little researched, formally and academically. A study published in August, however, does shed some light on this. It is available through the (U.S.) National…
In our lives, we get feedback from others. Positive, negative and befuddling. It’s too easy to let that feedback become part of our self-image, personally or even as an organization. That’s a huge mistake, because often, feedback/criticism/stereotyping is just one glimpse into the fabric of who/what you are. It’s just an opinion. One of my…
I was working with a coaching client recently, “unpacking” the results of his Leadership Circle Profile (360˚ feedback assessment). While his profile was very positive–he is doing well as a leader–I was struck that on several less desirable factors (e.g. Passive, Critical, Arrogance) he scored himself high while his employees saw him as low, not…
The Ables are not just a family from Oklahoma. They are the functions of what empowers talent in your organization. I was conducting a thorough organizational assessment for a large company recently. One of the organization’s leaders explained to me that she did not have the luxury of examining every area of her organization. There…
“To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. That’s all there is to it.” – Adam Vinatieri As a writer I expound on certain events to bring metaphorical significance to different walks of life. Such is the extended purpose of the media. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people with a lot of…
By Derek Murphy If there is one thing movies about the workplace tells us is that Hollywood believes bosses come in all shapes and sizes, and they are all pretty terrible people. Why the bad rep for leaders? Well, it’s no secret most employees have been disappointed and let down at some point in their…
The most frequently cited quality of exceptional leaders is authenticity/integrity. With the best leaders, what you see is what you get, they walk their talk, and so forth. But situations arise that call upon the leader to fake it. They have to become an actor. They have to temporarily take on a persona different from…
Actors on stage and screen are not genuine. They are fakes. They are playing a part, not themselves. Of course, we expect them to do this and, furthermore, we expect them to do it really well, to convince us that they are the character they are playing. But what about a managers who has to…
What strategies will make YOU successful in business? A group of C-suite executives agreed that the key to a rising business career includes four main characteristics. They are described below in our series, “The 4-eyed employee” : So what are we talking about? The first “eye” or “I” attribute is the underlying foundation for business…
Based on the book, “Get Along with Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere” by Arnold Sanow and Sandra Strauss, standing firm on the hallowed grounds of “rightness” is a dead-wrong approach for connecting with others. It smacks of arrogance and alienates.
This week, I’ve had several scary job reference requests. Three out of four had an unhappy ending. So do job references really make a difference? Listen to 4 stories and decide for yourself….. In my own experience, the two worst mistakes made during hiring are:
This tool defines the 20 qualities of leadership that researchers have identified as common to virtually all organizations. It may be used to determine the leadership qualities people revere most within the organization. It can also be used to aid an individual leader gauge his or her own leadership skills.
As I have traveled around the country speaking to people about the power of netWORTHing™ one thing has become clear; people are looking for a change! People have a lot of pain around traditional self-serving networking. Everyone has been burned by someone who in the name of networking, is only pursuing their own selfish agenda.