A Four-Part Framework for Inspiration: Mastering the Employee Career Conversation
It’s performance management season again, and many leaders are – wisely – having discussions with their direct reports about their longer-term career aspirations as part of the process. The strategic question is, how can you use these conversations to create inspiration, commitment and excitement for the future? This process is too important to employee engagement […]
The Kindness That Kept My Family Afloat
When I read about Walmart including compassion training in their leadership programs, it struck a chord deep within me. Compassionate leadership is so much more than just a business strategy; it’s about real people facing real struggles. We’ve Got Your Back For me, the concept of compassionate leadership is deeply personal. Over 20 years ago, […]
Conducting a Qualitative 360 Leadership Assessment That Leads to Real Change
Businesses are coming to realize how important it is to have an in-depth knowledge of the capabilities of their leaders in the dynamic world of modern leadership. As a leader, self-awareness is the pre-cursor for any significant or lasting transformation. As compared to traditional evaluations that exclusively focus on an individual’s appraisal or input from […]
“The Main Thing is Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing”: 3 Leadership Sayings from Jim Barksdale
3 Powerful Leadership Sayings from Jim Barksdale: How to Build Culture with Language. Certain sayings, or phrases, used at the right time, can be very powerful! Used consistently, they will even become part of an organization’s culture and brand – communicating important ideas quickly. Following are three sayings leaders find valuable, all attributed to one […]
A Little Nonsense Might Be Just What You Need
A little nonsense, now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.” — Roald Dahl, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” Stress-relief benefits from a belly laugh* Laughter’s health benefits are no joke. A good sense of humor can’t cure all ailments, but data are mounting about the positive things laughter can do. Moreover, if you […]
5 Leadership Lessons from Ross Perot’s EDS
I worked for Ross Perot and his company Electronic Data Systems (EDS) from 1984 to 1992. Ross Perot’s recent passing at age 89 caused me to reflect on this critical part of my professional life. Ross Perot created a very strong culture at EDS and an important part of any culture are the language and phrases that are used to help guide actions and decisions. Following are the top five leadership phrases I still use from my time with EDS:
How to Forge Resilient Relationships in the Heat of Change
Author Michael Papanek takes three decades of experience with clients ranging from Apple to Google and shares it in his new book, From Breakdown to Breakthrough: Forging Resilient Relationships in the Heat of Change. His framework helps leaders develop the confidence to take these relationships to the next level. I recently asked him about his work.
The Truth About How to Develop Robust Resilience
Your team’s real resilience – their ability to perform under stress and heat- is in your relationships. Individual resilience is not enough to avoid breakdowns when things get hot.
Four Strategies for Navigating the J Curve of Change
When implementing a change, we usually spend some period of time at the beginning of the change effort on what we call the vision or the desired end state. Inevitability, however, there is also a time at the beginning of the change when productivity or other results we are focused on go down instead of improving. Here are four strategies to help you minimize this dip and get your productivity headed back upward.
In Defense of Brainstorming
Brainstorming’s highest value is not in producing the greatest number of ideas, but in (1) generating creative and innovate ideas, and (2) creating ownership for implementing those ideas. Marc Andreessen’s “Quote of the Week” last week was “Why brainstorming is a bad idea.” Andreessen quoted Frans Johansson’s book, The Medici Effect: “…In 1958…psychologists let groups […]
