How Good Managers Foster Feedback-Rich Cultures
What do you think is the most important thing you can do to become a more effective, successful leader? I often ask this question to leaders at all levels who attend my leadership training workshops. I usually hear answers like, “improve my strategic thinking”, “become more persuasive”, and “be more motivational.” These are all reasonable…
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Performance Management: 4 Questions Managers Should Ask First (Part 2)
In PART 1 of this article, I assert that, for decades, most organizations have been taking the wrong approach to managing employee performance. How can I make that claim? Because traditional performance management is based on the totally false notion that anytime an employee has a performance problem, the problem is with the employee. Most…
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Performance Management: 4 Questions Managers Should Ask First (Part 1)
This time of year, many organizations are gearing up for the annual performance appraisal – a practice best described as managerial bloodletting. It’s a tradition that, like bloodletting, has been used for too long, and has provided overwhelming evidence that it does more harm than good. And yet, there are still organizations that continue to…
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How to Create a Compelling Case for Change
In the past, when change happened less frequently, a leader could get by without being a proficient change agent. Today, it’s a completely different story. Change is occurring in virtually every corner of business and industry, and the pace of change is increasing rapidly. Being an effective change agent is no longer just a nice…
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The Massive Cost of Recruiting You Never Knew About
Do you think you know how much it costs to recruit a manager or executive? You might take a moment to calculate the costs of advertising and agency fees, the time it takes to screen resumes and interview candidates, and the cost of onboarding. But if that’s all you’re thinking about, you’re barely scratching the…
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Creating a Culture of Accountability, Not Blame
If you’re a leader, you’ve probably heard the quote “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Unfortunately, when it comes to which one gets more attention from executives, it’s strategy, without question. This is perhaps because, to most executives, strategy is easier to manage. What many leaders fail to realize is that if they aren’t managing their…
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What It Means To Put People-First (Case Study)
I’ve been speaking and writing a lot about a seemingly counter-intuitive concept: putting employees ahead of customers and profits is the surest path to exceptional customer service and financial success. It’s also the most fundamental (and most frequently missed) pre-requisite to building a pipeline of leadership and talent within an organization. But what does that look like……
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6 Essential Leadership Qualities
Since the dawn of the industrial revolution the most common criteria for promoting people to leadership positions has primarily been their technical ability. Naturally, new managers tend to do the things that got them promoted, that is, they do the most challenging work themselves and leave the leftover tasks to less technically competent workers (those…
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