Ideas for Leaders

Having spent most of last week in Rhode Island and Boston last week, I cut short my planned activities Friday morning to avoid the storm. 

Take ten minutes right now to do this exercise.  First, imagine something has happened and you won’t be in your office for the next six

Commitment is a hugely important part of implementing strategy.  It cannot be achieved through manipulation.  I had a client who prided himself as leading by

In his biography of Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson quoted Jobs talking about how the idea for the iPhone began:  ““We would sit around talking about

We were in Toronto this weekend for a Blue Jays-Yankees game.  The Yankees lost a must-win game they easily could have won having many opportunities. 

There’s a significant difference between appraising performance and coaching performance.  Appraisal is judging the past while coaching has to do with the future.  While both

I am amused by the qualifications stated in job descriptions and want ads.  “Must be an excellent communicator,” is the most abused.  How many people

I enjoy the background stories of individual Olympians – how they got to where they are.  At some point, each of them had a vision

Whether you lead a billion dollar company or a small department, your primary accountability is to leverage the talent of your people to get results. 

The leader who is attempting to shift strategic direction faces three sources of resistance within their organization — the broad employee base, middle managers, and

You have a decision to make and you want the input of your people. This is not about reaching consensus, where the focus is on

Fresh from business school with my MBA, I went to work for a global consulting firm in Chicago.  The office was run by a brilliant

Pay for performance took on new meaning with revelations about the New Orlean Saints and their bounty program for intentionally injuring opposing players.  Greg Smith

The management team was unable to have a productive discussion.  They kept going in circles because they were using words such as “strategy” and “tactic,”

“We want to go from good to great,” a prospective client recently told me.  “That’s wonderful.” I remarked, “Can you tell me what in particular

The reaction of Afgans to the treatment of religious materials is alarming but it clearly illustrates two points affecting organizational behavior: Emotion is at least

One of the lessons of Kodak is that getting really good at what you do can have a severe drawback, especially in our age of

Steve Jobs leapfrogged the competition in computers, music, animated film, cell phones and tablets by developing a distinctive strategy, not by focusing on improving operational

It’s a new year and a good time to assess your team’s engagement. A periodic check to make sure that your people are focused, challenged,

We have chickens on our farm and, up until a week ago, we had a rooster.  The rooster had to go.  He was bossy with

Many companies have these problems, and they all damage the ability to grow. Weak internal communication Inability to react quickly to opportunities (or threats) A

If you want to go from ‘good to great’ or create a high performance organization, you’ll probably need to address the culture.  Here’s what you

Many of the strategic plans I see these days aren’t strategic at all — they don’t address business strategy.  Instead, they focus almost exclusively on

Strategic plans are worthless unless they are successfully executed. Period. Similarly, high intelligence is worthless if it’s not put to good use. Three things that

Pay increases this year will again be small or nonexistent – below 3%.  Even top performers will get planned increases less than 3%. So, what

Most managers don’t know what they’re accountable for, and are unable to hold their people accountable.

“Make people accountable.” “Lay down the law.” “Hold peoples’ feet to the fire.” “Increase the heat.” If there’s one big idea we learned from Alvin

Accountability and responsibility — both are important, but they are NOT the same thing. Accountability An accountability is an end result.  Being accountable is being answerable

On October 21, 1805, Lord Admiral Nelson’s English fleet defeated the combined fleets of France and Spain at the Battle of Trafalgar.  For decades afterward,

Downsizing may reduce costs, but it won’t increase your return on people. In fact, layoffs usually have a negative impact on productivity, morale, employee satisfaction, external reputation, and even the quality of your workforce. It doesn’t have to be that way. Follow these tips to overcome the negatives and get a greater return.

Succession planning offers a number of benefits, including these major ones: Management Continuity — When a management vacancy occurs, it’s good to know that you

“So much of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to work.” — Peter Drucker