What We Think
6 Toxic Phrases A Leader Should Never Speak
Think of a person who was an exceptional performer as a technician, systems analyst, accountant, sales representative or any other individual contributor role. What many well-intentioned companies do is promote this stellar performer to become a manager or leader...
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Developing Your Team To Be Their Best
Leaders become great not because of their power or results, but because of their ability to empower others. To create anything lasting, to develop a team or organization that can grow and improve, to build anything for the future, a leader’s main responsibility is to...
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Attitude Is The Extra Edge In Leadership
Who do you admire the most? When that person comes to mind, think of five qualities about that person and I’ll bet one of those characteristics is their positive attitude. We have a choice we can make every day about the attitude we will adopt and demonstrate. Will we...
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Top Three Leadership Obstacles
As a leader, you get paid to overcome the daily obstacles your team faces and to drive the overall results which your organization expects. No argument there. But what about the obstacles you face as a leader? What are the common stumbling blocks leaders encounter and...
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Stop Assuming Your Team Understands Expectations
I was recently speaking with a client, Tim, who runs a $200 million division of a larger company. The topic of our conversation revolved around one of his direct reports, Neal, who was not delivering up to Tim’s expectations. Tim has been dealing with this issue for...
read moreSpeaking Out
Scan our article archives for expert advice, opinion, and perspective on a number of leadership and development issuesSuccession Planning
Succession Planning – A Necessary Business Tool
In a December, 2008 survey of approximately 600 business leaders and owners, 67% indicated they did not have a written succession plan in place. Of those who had a written plan in place, 55% of them said the plan was either out of date or needed significant revision....
read moreSuccession Planning for the Small Business
So you have grown your business to the place you want it to be and you are thinking of an exit strategy or just retiring. Congratulations! But the new question is who is going to run this company when you hang up your business cleats? Succession planning is all about...
read moreGoal Setting
Goal Setting and Goal Achievement
Much has been written about goal setting. Yet, many people comment that they are not satisfied with their performance in achieving those goals. This article is intended to address not only the effective setting of goals, but also to identify 8 steps to ensure that you...
read moreCommunication
Communicating Effectively with Your Employees
Just about every client I have worked with or company I have been associated with have stated at one time or another that they have a problem with communication. Why? The specific circumstances are usually different, however, it generally boils down to...
read moreEmployee Hiring & Retention
Hiring for the Long Term
Most managers and senior executives would agree that the task of hiring can be one of the responsibilities with the most impact in their organization. There are many reasons for this, including: Many managers simply do not interview often enough to become expert at...
read moreThe Art of the Interview
We have all had interviews where the interviewer did so much of the talking that, as a candidate, it was hard to give your best examples of how you can help this company. Then, when the interview is over, the interviewer makes a bold proclamation that this candidate...
read moreEmployee Retention — A Bottom-Line Opportunity
Keeping people is arguably one of the most challenging aspects of running a business today. All companies, regardless of size, industry or geography, are struggling with how to keep employees from leaving for more money or better opportunities. Research consistently...
read moreDelegation
The Value of Delegating
For the small business owner, deciding what, when and how to delegate, along with to whom to delegate to, are sometimes very difficult decisions to make. After all, it has taken your blood, sweat and sometimes tears to build the business. If you really want to let the...
read moreCoaching
We Can’t All Be Iron Man
"Mark Zuckerberg. Steve Jobs. Elon Musk. Tony Stark. Only one of those four is fictional, but all share in a popular mythology that the most successful CEOs are independent visionaries who create value through sheer inspiration and force of will. But it obscures a...
read moreIntegration
Successful Integration of Merged Organizations
In today's fast-paced business environment, there have been a large number of mergers, acquisitions and other forms of major organizational change. Lately, hardly a day goes by that yet another merger or acquisition has been announced in the news. These happen to...
read moreCompensation
Deciding How Much to Pay Employees
Given the tight labor market of today, many companies struggle with the issue of how much to pay employees. You certainly want to pay someone based on the value they provide the company, but how do you decide exactly what that amount should be? You would probably...
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