One of the earliest studies of human behavior at work was done at AT&T's Western Electric Hawthorne Plant from 1927 to 1932 by Harvard's Elton Mayo. Their principle findings are still relevant today: when workers have an opportunity to contribute their thinking and learning to workplace … [Read more...] about Understanding Basic Human Behaviors at Work: What Drives You?
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Flipping the Coin for Talent: How Well are You Hiring?
Everyone agrees that talent is an important competitive advantage, but surprisingly, three out of four companies do not have a priority talent management program. Hiring processes are often random and decisions based on intuition. In many cases, hiring decisions have success rates similar … [Read more...] about Flipping the Coin for Talent: How Well are You Hiring?
A Leadership Map for the Future
Predictions for the future can be stimulating and challenging, especially if one is a top executive in a business enterprise attempting to make strategic decisions. Our rapidly changing global environment presents problems never before encountered. No one knows what will be required of leaders in … [Read more...] about A Leadership Map for the Future
Follow the Leader? It’s a new game!
"Leaders rarely use their power wisely or effectively over long periods unless they are supported by followers who have the stature to help them do so." - Ira Chaleff, The Courageous Follower, 2003 Organizations are successful or not partly on the basis of how well their leaders lead, but also … [Read more...] about Follow the Leader? It’s a new game!
Creating an Execution Culture – A Leader’s Most Important Job
“Execution is the great unaddressed issue in the business world today. Its absence is the single biggest obstacle to success and the cause of most of the disappointments that are mistakenly attributed to other causes.” ― Ram Charan, author of What the CEO Wants You to Know and Boards that … [Read more...] about Creating an Execution Culture – A Leader’s Most Important Job
The Succession Solution: Apprenticeship Model
CEO turnover has increased sharply in recent years. CEOs are failing sooner and falling harder, leaving companies in turmoil. At all levels, companies are short on quantity and quality of potential leaders. There’s something wrong with leadership development practices. Organizations are facing … [Read more...] about The Succession Solution: Apprenticeship Model
Are You Ready for the Future?
Is your organization looking forward, or is it focused on the problems of the present and immediate short-term competition? Will your organization create new rules of competition in the future? Is it imagining new ways of doing business, building new capabilities, and setting new standards of … [Read more...] about Are You Ready for the Future?
Leadership Coaching for Results
“As long as there are human beings doing the work, businesses can profit by creating more fruitful relationships with them.” Stratford Sherman and Alyssa Freas, Harvard Business Review, Dec. 2004 Many attempts have been made over the past decade to quantify return on investment of coaching … [Read more...] about Leadership Coaching for Results
Understanding Executive Failure
CEOs are now lasting just 7.6 years in office on a global average, down from 9.5 years in 1995, according to consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. Two out of every five new CEOs fail in the first 18 months (HBR, January 2005). Recent corporate scandals and bankruptcies reveal that some CEOs fail … [Read more...] about Understanding Executive Failure
Where Have All the Good Managers Gone?
“No job is more vital to our society than that of the manager. It is the manager who determines whether our social institutions serve us well or whether they squander our talents and resources.” – Henry Mintzberg Nobody aspires to being a good manager these days. So much attention and resources … [Read more...] about Where Have All the Good Managers Gone?