Most leaders appreciate the importance of leadership, culture, and engagement within their organizations. While they may not consciously think about the impact on individuals from a human perspective, managers sense these concepts are critical to healthy organizational performance. However, these three areas are often addressed individually, as if one doesn’t interact with the others. This leads to a disconnected organization…. Read More»
Communication is a lot like electricity in that it needs a medium or conduit through which it can flow. In business these media have been summarily dubbed “channels”. Over the past 20 years, the channels have changed a bit. We have seen the rise of email, intranets, forums, video conferencing calls and even chat applets. The more traditional channels are still in use as well, such as: meetings, one-on-one conversations and the occasional hand-written note.
The point of all of all of these channels is to find as many ways to move the same communication in order to reinforce the message. The greater and more diverse the channels, the better chance you have at your message being heard in the manner in which you need/want it to be heard. There is another channel that is not always viewed – or at least treated – as a communication channel. It carries more influence than all of the previously mentioned channels and has multiple touch-points for stakeholders. Culture…. Read More»
The idea of KPIs are intoxicating and seductively alluring. The argument, “If you can’t measure it, it doesn’t matter” produces the anti-thesis, “If you CAN measure it, it must matter.” Reality is, BOTH of these statements are partially true. Somewhere in the middle lies what is actually practical and effective. To prove this point, try […] Read more… Read More»
I have a begun to take issue with leadership development. Not the basic premise of it, but rather what it has unfortunately morphed into. The point of leadership development is to become better through process. It is meant to be a journey of discovery and struggle for a greater good. The unfortunate bit is it […] Read more… Read More»
There is a trend that is taking place and it seems to be the opposite of what many may expect. Women are leaving organizations before they make it to upper-management. One could speculate as to what may be driving this trend. A recent story on NPR talked about this very issue. It presented only two […] Read more… Read More»
Less than 100 of the companies listed on the S&P 500 were around in 1957 when that index began. What a stark reality for a mere six decades. Corporate juggernauts have fallen like idols of a nearly forgotten era. Antiquated approaches to leading organizations have reached their existential peak. A renaissance is not only necessary, […] Read more… Read More»
I’m all for making 21st century business progressive, innovative and a significant step from the draconian approach that has plagued the world for the past hundred years or so. This evolution needs to be thorough, but it still has to remain practical. No matter how flat your organization is there will always be a vertical […] Read more… Read More»
I think it’s a safe assumption, unless you’re a narcissistic sociopath, that people want a better society and want to contribute to that goal in some fashion. There is plenty of frustration and uncertainty to go around in nearly every country. Social tensions permeate every aspect of our world and it is in the best […] Read more… Read More»
HR seems to be stuck. It’s stuck with the need and desire to be a people-centric entity, yet covets the respect and influence of being a member of the executive crowd. The department is strapped with process and policy development, as well as people development. Overseeing and measuring a number of KPIs is part and […] Read more… Read More»
William is passionate about employee engagement. So much so his company specializes in it. So it comes as no surprise that William has seen his fair share of misguided attempts to improve employee engagement. In this post, we get some insights into four areas where the attempts failed. There are a significant number of […] Read more… Read More»
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