Are you delegating by using the drive-by method of leadership?
Do you express half-baked ideas with few instructions and expect people to follow through?
Projects aren’t delivered on time because you never articulated the deadline?
Are casual encounters your favorite time to ask for a specific piece of work to get done? [Read more…]
In its most basic form, accountability is holding yourself, another person or group, to the promises they made to do or not do something. Sounds simple enough. So why are most people hesitant to do so and why isn’t it more successful?
No one is indispensable, especially at work. I promise you. But many of us need to feel we are irreplaceable or unique, or surely act as if it were true.
In his best-selling book, “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There,” executive coach to the elite, Marshal Goldsmith, lists 20 behaviors rising leaders exhibit that hinder performance and destroy a positive and productive work culture. One of those traits is adding too much value. [Read more…]
One of the first action items I suggest when coaching leaders is to assess the team they manage. We look at the members from every aspect — experience, technical skills, people and thought leadership, potential, and risk. From this comes a strategy on how to retain, advance, and enhance the individuals and the team. [Read more…]
Much can be learned from parenting. I’m always amazed at how seemingly good parents find it hard to apply those skills with their employees. As a successful parent, you are… [Read more…]
What if I told you that as a manager / leader / boss / group head, you have enormous power and influence over whether your employees stay or quit. What if I said you could prevent employees from quitting? What would you say?
My guess is it would be something like, “The budget is the budget and I have no way of giving someone more money.” Or, “I don’t make the rules or set the strategy — it’s beyond my control.” You might be right about your lack of influence but where you are mistaken is thinking that the company mission or employee compensation are the reasons most people quit their jobs. [Read more…]
No use fixing the roof if the foundation is crumbling. The same could be said for the training and development of staff in a broken organization. Too much time, money and energy is spent in the workplace touting sporadic and conflicting training of mid and entry-level employees. I am not referring to skills learning, for that is [Read more…]
What are the traits of great leaders? A number of my executive coaching clients are either trending towards, or are already in, significant leadership roles. There is also another group of smart individuals who aspire to such positions.
Leading doesn’t have just one aspect. There are thought leaders, people leaders, bad times and good times leaders, as well as those great with start-ups, and others who thrive in more mature environments, product leaders, and culture drivers, to name just a few. Not everyone is good at all of them and not every position [Read more…]
CCBY: Greg L and Ingrid Taylar
Because of the release last week and the subsequent attention to the movie “Sully” (starring Tom Hanks and directed by Clint Eastwood), I found myself curious about this pilot who landed the passenger flight US Airways 1549 in the Hudson River. . Who is this man? What did he know? How had he learned it? Was it instinct or training? Skill or luck? Are leaders, such as this, made or born? [Read more…]
“At higher levels (of an organization) all leadership problems are behavioral.” This is the belief of well-known and highly recognized, executive coach and coaching leader, Marshall Goldsmith. He is the author of the best seller, “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.” Marshall and I agree that at leadership levels everyone is smart, educated, and experienced. They may be a leader; however, it’s the way they act and treat others that can get them into trouble and compromises their leadership abilities. This might be you. [Read more…]