When used for the right reasons and with competent practitioners, executive coaching can provide significant and lasting benefits for both individuals and organizations. But like other innovations, coaching is in danger of becoming just another business fad. When not effective, it can cause harm … [Read more...] about Getting the Most out of Executive Coaching
Retention, Succession Planning
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?
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
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
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 Leadership Void: The Problem That Isn’t Going Away
Most executives and HR specialists know a large percentage of baby boomers will retire over the next five to 10 years — and with them, 50% of the CEOs of major companies. But as with Hurricane Katrina, we see it coming and aren’t doing enough: We remain woefully unprepared. Some 75 million U.S. … [Read more...] about The Leadership Void: The Problem That Isn’t Going Away
Judgment: Making Great Calls
What is the fundamental essence of leadership? Is it the ability to make consistently good judgment calls? Realistically, leaders are remembered for their best and worst judgment calls, especially when the stakes are high, information is limited and the correct call is far from obvious. In the … [Read more...] about Judgment: Making Great Calls