How to Improve Accountability
The word “accountability” can have a lot of negative connotations for people, including managers. In most cases, that’s because they either don’t understand accountability, or had a bad experience with…
Making Relationships Productive
To be successful, managers and leaders need good relationships with their peers, subordinates and bosses. Yet, I usually see less-than-effective relationships when working with a leader. Often those relationships are…
3 Key Elements of Teamwork
One of the most important factors in achieving high performance is teamwork. That’s true for two reasons: First, because organizations exist because their overall mission and goals require more than…
Top 7 Obstacles Getting in the Way of Your Strategy
Over the past 30 years, I've worked on strategy and strategy execution with the senior management of Fortune 1000 companies, mid-market companies, and Inc 5000 companies. In all that time,…
10 Ways to Eliminate Mediocrity in Your Organization
An organization that accepts mediocrity is a haven for under performers, and very frustrating for high performers. Here are ten ideas I found in my work with organizations are each…
Creating an Anticipatory Set
When something bad is about to happen, people will get tense. When beginning a competition, people will become focused. When preparing for a happy occasion, people will become relaxed. They…
Three Imperatives of Profitable Growth
From over 30 years of working with organizations of all sizes and in many industries on improving business outcomes especially growth and profits: The most valuable part is having a…
What's Your Point?
Many people tell me that they like my On the Same Page emails because they are brief, to-the-point, and practical. I try to do the same thing when I speak.…
I Don't Want to Hear "Hopefully"
The foundation of accountability is commitment. When one is committed to accomplishing something, the hesitation and fear are replaced by resolve and energy. When one is not committed, they tend…
Improving Management Development
David Ogilve, the advertising guru, once noted that half the money spent on advertising is wasted; the problem being that no one knows which half. The same could be said…
When Poor Performance is Caused by the Boss
When analyzing a performance problem, I've found it often pays to look at the supervisor or manager and how they manage their people. Examples: Micromanaging Unclear or no accountabilities Weak…
The Key Difference Between Bureaucracy and High-Performance
Of the things high performers hate most, bureaucratic organizations are in second place (weak supervisors are first.) The key difference between bureaucracies and high-performance organizations is how they value both…
Should You Fit the Job to the Person, or the Person to the Job?
When I work with a client on organization structure, the question often comes up: "Should we design the job around the person we have, or design the organization structure and…
Executives vs. Managers
In my consulting and coaching, I usually see clear distinctions between upper and lower levels of management on a number of factors including how time is used, people management skills,…
For Best Organizational Performance, Don't Benchmark
Benchmarking is a tried-and-true approach for operational processes, but it should not be used to determine how best to structure or lead an organization. Yeah, I know, finding out what…
My Takeaways From Megan Smith, Chief Technology Officer of U.S.
Last week I attended M.I.T's graduation to see my son receive his Ph.D. in Aeronautic and Astronautic Engineering. The guest speaker was Megan Smith, Chief Technology Officer of the United…
Emphasize results, not deliverables
I don't know where this came from, but I hear way too many people talking about deliverables. Maybe it's because a deliverable is better than lots of activity, but what…
What are your obstacles to growth?
What obstacles are in your growth path? Most of my clients are pushing hard for growth right now. If that's you too, I have one question for you: What are…
Getting More In-Tune With External Changes
One of the highest concerns of presidents I talk with these days is how to create an organization that is more proactive in sensing external change, and more responsive when…
Changing the Micromanager
In the news last week were Robert Gates, Leon Panetta, and other former members of the Obama cabinet decrying the micromanagement that has characterized the administration's style. A micromanagement style…
The most important factor in successful organizational change
Most attempts at organization change fail. Even if the change is eventually successful, the cost is often far higher than necessary. Those costs include complaints from people who feel threatened,…
Can strong management inhibit innovation and change?
Today's business world requires innovation and change and companies that aren't good at these can quickly run into difficulty. But often overlooked is the role of current operations in constraining…
Stop kidding yourself about leadership change
In my work with hundreds of leaders and managers, it's become clear that a company's overall leadership won't become better by improving a single leader. That's because the environment, the…
How to spot real accountability
One of the most misunderstood, misused, and yet important factors of organizational success is accountability. I find that tough-talking leaders are often the worst at building accountability in their organizations. …
On performance, motivation and engagement
People improve their own performance. It's an individual accountability. Leaders can provide the ways and the means for people to do that, but leaders cannot do it for them. Similarly,…
Why you probably don't know your organization culture
If you ever had a doubt about the impact of culture, just look at the Veteran's Administration, General Motors, Target, or the many other current examples of behavior gone wrong.…
Jumping to Conclusions
One of the first mistakes a new manager makes is to use just one data point or one input to come to a conclusion. It could be a personnel decision,…
Why have performance reviews?
Recently, there's been a lot written about how bad performance reviews are. I agree. In fact, the traditional performance review is perfectly designed to deflate employees, depress managers, and provide…
Why managers need to get beyond criticism
I believe that criticism is one of the lowest level skills--because anyone can do it. And criticism has little value for a supervisor or manager whose job it is to…
The Final Mile in Strategy Implementation
In the cable industry, the final mile is connecting the cable system to customers’ homes. It is the most costly part of the entire system, and in many ways the…
Goal-Setting for Growth
When I was a kid we would play ‘horse’ with a basketball. One strategy was to take shots we knew we could make (“lay-ups”)and to outlast an opponent with consistency.…
How Management Ideas Get Bastardized
Microsoft jettisoned its version of “rank and yank” last week; a practice of forced rankings that resulted in internal power struggles and unhealthy competition. Leave it to us humans to…
Why Your Team Building Didn't Work
Organizations try lots of ways to increase teamwork among their top group, from team-building exercises and ropes courses, to training and outings. In most cases, these don’t result in operating…
Why Your Performance Reviews REDUCE Performance
One doesn’t drive a car by looking in the rearview mirror, so why do that with performance reviews? When a manager emphasizes mistakes, shortfall, weaknesses, and problems, it does not…
Why Employee Engagement Fads Don't Work–And What Does Work
Here’s what we know from decades of research: You cannot motivate anyone; they must motivate themselves. Extrinsic motivation (commands and incentives) is weak and fickle; only intrinsic motivation (coming from…
Why Leaders Can't Be Honest and Candid
Candid, honest feedback about performance is all too rare in most organizations. The reluctance to talk to a subordinate about poor performance, the ‘grade inflation’ inherent in performance reviews, and…
How to Ensure the Success of Your Strategy
Whether you are politically for or against Obamacare, there can be no dispute about the implementation failure surrounding the $400 million website portal that was to be one-click access to…
Plans vs. Planning
We had intended to sail across Lake Ontario into Canada last week, but the weather and waves were not good, so we changed course for an equally long and still…
When you know what to do, but just aren't doing it.
The chief financial officer and I were discussing our objectives and moving ahead with coaching when she stopped, leaned forward, and said, "I know what I need to do, I'm…
The Secrets to Effective Succession Plans
These are proven techniques to make succession planning effective, based on my 30+ years of advising scores of companies. The leader needs to be the driver and chief architect. HR…
Forbes blog on accountability
My Forbes.net blog post with Harvard Business Review and Forbes.com writer Dorie Clark last week addressed the two core elements of successfully implementing a strategy and leading every day: A…
The Bright Side of Last Week's Tragedy
What a week. The Boston marathon, the Texas explosion, letters sent to government officials with ricin. The bright side was the willingness of people to get involved and help people…
How to Improve Employee Accountability
Setting different cultures and leadership styles aside, here are fundamentals that work in any situation to improve employee accountability:1. First, design jobs for results, not activities. Too many job descriptions…
Dissent in the Internet Age
Last week in Vietnam, 14 activists and bloggers were sentenced to up to 13 years in prison for attending courses in nonviolent resistance and use of the Internet. It’s not…
Giving Thanks
I caught myself reflecting gratefully last week as I overlooked San Francisco from our hotel. The view ranged from the Bay Bridge all the way to the Golden Gate. I…
Your Under-employment Problem
Unemployment is a societal problem; under-employment is an organizational problem. I am referring to employees who are prevented from excelling because of restrictive jobs, bureaucratic policies, and controls on freedom…
Improve Your Yield on Training
Advertising legend David Ogilvy said half the money spent on advertising is wasted – the problem is which half. The same is true of training. You can increase your training…
The Perfect Program to Turn-Off Employees
Most performance appraisal programs are perfectly designed to de-motivate managers and subordinates alike. Managers detest them and employees dread them. If you don’t believe me, ask your people. It doesn’t…
Poison in the Well
During a college summer I worked for a manufacturing company as a machine operator. It was boring work. During the first night, I figured out a more efficient way to configure…
Fear of Communication
There is fear deep in the heart of many organizations. It has become worse over recent years due to the economy, but it’s not new. I’m not referring to the…
Pink Slime in Your Organization
“Pink slime,” was in the news last week. Whether you call it “lean finely textured beef” or “salvage” as one scientist called it, you won’t want to eat it, especially…
Why Not Use a Horoscope?
Assessment tools (Myers Briggs, DISC, etc.) are being touted as useful ways to improve teamwork and productivity. But they’re really nothing more than a way to label people in ways…
Why You Cannot Build Teamwork in a Committee
The World Series reminds me that teams can take many forms. Baseball teams operate differently from football, basketball and hockey teams, but in every case, the team members are all…
Managing By Opinion
In some leadership groups, opinions appear to be more important than facts. I've seen senior management groups where an executive's in-depth knowledge and experience is over-ruled by opinions from other…
How clear is your strategy – Is your management team on the same page?
Most organizations set aside time each year for the senior team to discuss strategy and develop a strategic plan. Yet, in my experience, few companies end up with a strategic plan…
The biggest downsizing mistake.
If you don't come out of this recession with a much more valuable workforce, you've missed an exceptional opportunity.
Return on People
The theme of this new blog is "return on people". Every management needs to increase the value of people faster than the rising costs of employment. People today drive nearly…