Explore the dynamics of leading organizations to new heights. Learn impactful strategies for effective leadership in complex environments. Uncover insights on team empowerment, strategic decision-making, and fostering a culture of innovation.
Is there someone who has believed in you even when you have gone through the dark days of self doubt? Is there anyone in your life who listens for the best in you even when you are at your worst? They might even be tough on you, not out of judgement, but because they know […]
A recent experiment with my internet/phone service providers left me pondering this question. Over the last few month’s I hit the end of my rope with persistent yet intermittent internet and phone issues with both AT&T and Comcast. I have been having issues for over 2 years. It has been costly in many ways as
Have you ever been on a committee? You know the drill. A group is formed to address an issue. Volunteers are requested. Some individuals are “urged” to participate. A leader is designated by someone in authority, based on position, or is declared by default to be the one who schedules the first meeting. The kickoff
During the Holiday Season opportunities to express our appreciation abound. What will you do with those opportunities? Will you say the obligatory words and make the expected gestures – a business as usual approach to appreciation? Or will you take these opportunities to stretch yourself to truly make a difference through your appreciation? Appreciation has
As I work with a client on a project involving a survey, I am reflecting on all of the employee opinion surveys I have been involved with through the years as both an employee and a consultant. I find myself thinking about the real purpose of surveys – are they being used to empower progress
That’s one way to describe the mission of Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute’s Marine Mammal Research and Conservation Program. They protect wild dolphins which includes rescuing them when they are hurt. They were part of the team who rescued Winter who is now a movie star in Dolphin’s Tale. Over the last month I have been
You may be wondering “what the heck is a Food Ark?” I first heard the term last night while reading an article titled “Food Ark” in the July 2011 issue of National Geographic. It refers to a structure that houses a vast diversity of seeds for long term safe keeping. According to National Geographic “A
The status quo is a powerful force. We often talk passionately about the need to transcend it. We paint the status quo as the villain in the story of our quest to greatness. We must do battle with it if we are to do not just good work, but great work. It is the obvious
Memorial Day in the US signals that summer in the northern hemisphere is just beginning. We tend to associate summer time with kicking back just a bit and enjoying longer daylight, sunshine and outdoor activities. What if we also chose summer to be a time when we relax our business persona’s a bit and bring
Following is a guest post from Sean Conrad. Sean is a Certified Human Capital Strategist and Senior Product Analyst at Halogen Software, one of the leading providers of Halogen Software. For more of his insights on talent management, read his posts on the Halogen blog. When it comes to optimizing organizational performance, employee engagement is key.
In The Benefit of Dissenting Opinion Mike Myatt reminds us of the importance of vigorous debate. I think the reticence of people to offer a dissenting opinion, or hear one for that matter, points to a more fundamental issue getting in the way of progress. We seem to have lost the ability to have passionate
In Rising from the Ashes I told the story of how Donna led a team to success after having failed previously. One key learning, which made the difference between failure the first time and success the second time, was how to create an accountable relationship with team members. There are two things that often get
Can failure be the source of success? This is a true story… Donna (real person, fictitious name) was someone who had previously failed in managing a project but was now ready to put herself out there again. After all, the project she led before was something no one else had even tried to do. She
There is no doubt working with people is a lot less predictable and messy than working with things. When I asked the question “What is your biggest challenge in managing people?” on twitter one of the first responses I got was from @LeeJCarey who said “the biggest challenge in managing people is people”. So true!
In an excellent post on Leadership and Political Correctness, Mike Myatt of N2Growth discusses the debilitating phenomena of political correctness that has unfortunately, as he puts it, “become a dominant mind-set in our society”. In this post he posed the following question: “Do you ever wonder how the term “Politically Correct” evolved from an obscure catch-phrase that was once used
