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
Careers
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
A Winning Team in the First 90 Days
The most important decisions you make in your first 90 days will probably be about the people on your team. If you succeed in creating a high-performance team, you can exert tremendous leverage in value creation. If not, you will face severe difficulties, for no leader can hope to achieve much … [Read more...] about A Winning Team in the First 90 Days
Winning the War for Leadership Talent
“A common organizational mindset is to view jobs as ‘work to be done’ and not as developmental assignments.” – Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter and James Noel in The Leadership Pipeline, 2001 The demand for leadership talent greatly exceeds supply. If economic growth continues at a modest 2 percent … [Read more...] about Winning the War for Leadership Talent
Managing Yourself: Are You Ready for a Coach?
The world of work is changing, and fast. Having a successful career means continually learning and adapting to rapidly evolving environments. You can’t do it alone. Coaching yourself is like the blind leading the blind: You can’t know what you don’t know. Coaching occurs all the time within an … [Read more...] about Managing Yourself: Are You Ready for a Coach?
How Do You Develop Leaders? Practice, Practice, Practice
Leadership isn’t just for leaders anymore. Top companies are beginning to understand that sustaining peak performance requires a commitment to developing leaders at all levels. Management experts Drs. Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard have defined leadership as “working with and through others to … [Read more...] about How Do You Develop Leaders? Practice, Practice, Practice
A Leadership Checklist: 7 Questions
No matter how successful and talented you are, you’ve made mistakes and have acquired some bad habits. Some are old; others have seemingly popped up overnight. Behaviors that may have worked well for you in the past can render you ineffective in the present. Perhaps you’re dissatisfied with your … [Read more...] about A Leadership Checklist: 7 Questions
Great Expectations: The Boss/Direct Report Tango
What should a leader expect from a direct report and what can the latter expect from the leader in return? When both parties have clear expectations, the relationship is smooth like a tango. If one person gets out of step, however, the ensuing relationship makes for discord. While much has … [Read more...] about Great Expectations: The Boss/Direct Report Tango
The Unspoken Taboos of Leadership: Exploring Charisma
Leadership is messy — and not for everyone. It’s a contact sport, and people get hurt. Unfortunately, the subject remains poorly understood. Part of the problem is the expansion of the term “leadership” to refer to anyone who is relatively skilled, holds a position of some authority and has a … [Read more...] about The Unspoken Taboos of Leadership: Exploring Charisma