The October 2012 issue of Harvard Business Review features “Big Data” as the theme. There are a number of articles of import for those leaders whose enterprise has access to large amounts of data–operational, market, what have you. They look at where the data is coming from, the increasing role it is playing in business…
While most people don’t describe themselves as “difficult” (although some actually find pleasure in doing so!) difficult behavior can nonetheless come from anyone, anytime, anywhere; we all have the capacity to express it. What constitutes difficult or prickly behavior is very subjective,shaped by our personal perceptions. We each define individually what annoys or frustrates us;…
Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed on an equal or greater benefit. – Napoleon Hill Lou Holtz shares the story of a blind man who was being led down the street by a guide dog. When they came of the corner of a busy intersection, the dog crossed against the…
As of today, I’m back to blogging as the epicentre of my social media plan. For the last few months, my Facebook Page has been my go to for posting updates related to my business, writings and my outreach. Why not? It was easier than a blog post, and once you figured out what Edgerank…
A study a couple of years ago the Center for Creative Leadership asked 158 executives enrolled in their leadership development programs what are the three most critical challenges you currently face? Their responses clustered into 14 categories but the four most frequently mentioned were: Leading across multiple groups (building maintaining and leveraging relationships across all…
Assume the Next Message You Send Will Be Misunderstood In working with companies and organizations to assist them in improving customer and workplace relationships, I find that misunderstandings are one of the leading factors that cause people to lose respect, trust, cooperation and the derailing of relationships. The problem starts with the fact that there…
Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one – Hans Selye It was reported in the September issue of Inc., that 43 percent of small business owners and managers say they feel more stressed now than they did a year ago. What are they stressed about? 54% say they are…
I remember a VP once told me not to get too close to my team. This way, it would be easier to discipline those who were not achieving. Just yesterday, my son asked me if I ever had to fire anyone. I told him I do not believe in firing people. As he persisted, I…
Leadership development and succession planning are often seen and treated as separate activities. Yet they really should go hand in hand, or even be thought of as two-sides of the same coin. You can’t have an effective succession plan if you’re not continually identifying and developing high performing, high potential people in your organization, and…
In my workshops and coaching on presentation skills, one of the key areas we focus on is how to deliver a presentation to persuade, influence and motivate others. Based on my book, “Present with Power, Punch and Pizzazz” and over 20 years of working with companies on presentation skills and personal presence, I have put…
You can start right where you stand and apply the habit of going the extra mile by rendering more service and better service that you are now being paid for. – Napoleon Hill In his book, Waking the American Dream, Don McCullough relates a story about Winston Churchill during World War II. England decided to…
This post was triggered by a great post in the HBR Blog Network by Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman. This essence of their article is that most of the behaviors of so called “bad bosses” are, in their words, sins of omission, not commission. In other words, it’s more what the boss fails to do…
At risk of sounding like a yoga teacher or a self-help guru, I think most people strive for balance. We want city budgets to be balanced, our football teams to find balance as a cohesive unit, and most of us aspire to have some type of work-life balance. Now we could hold a healthy debate…
The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime. – Babe Ruth A recent Gallup report revealed what many have believed about teamwork for quite some time. The…
I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody – Bill Cosby Ask any Green Bay Packers fan and they will tell you without any hesitation that the infamous call at the end of the game against Seattle was blown and it cost them the game. Before…
First there was Maslow who created an avenue to employee benefits, then Employee Rewards, and more recently Employee Engagement. Today, Culture seems to be the buzz word. We are consistently evolving employee rights into human improvement strategy. The fluff is gone and even kindness has an ROI metric: ~ Does a rewards strategy cheapen the…
Markets are conversations, and these days, they are often led by the crowd. Be it your customers or your employees, they are uniquely empowered to spread the good or bad word about you. Question is, how closely are you listening? More than ever, internet users have two things going for them: Transparency and Tools. They…
Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change – Thomas Hardy In a recent USA Today feature (http://usat.ly/ROMSvv) leaders from various walks of life shared their insights as to what they believe world will look like in 30 years. It was a fascinating read. Here are a few highlights. Bill…
Companies are frequently facing the need to restructure their organizations. Changes in leadership, a shift in strategy, or changing factors within an organization often create the need for reorganizing. Organization design is one of the most powerful tools available to senior managers for shaping the direction of their organizations. “Organization design” is often used incorrectly…
Twenty years ago, likely, you were desperate for more time. Managing it was the key to success. Time was the scarce resource of the uber successful and the harried executive. Today, we have more time than ever, aided by myriad tools and software solutions. We can move mountains in days, aided by digital devices and…