Author RSSThe Effects of Organizational Development and Change – Part One
It has been said that organizational development and change is inevitable in today's competitive business climate. However, only selectively is change received with welcome arms by those most closely affected by it. So if organizational alteration is ines...
Ring, Ding, Knock and Slap: A Unique Experience with Executive Coaching
Not long ago I was hired to provide executive coaching for the CEO of a medium-size company. The Board of Directors hired me because they were concerned about the CEOs "ability to get things done." There had been complaints and even some hard evidence tha...
The Past, Present and Future: Key Elements in Leadership Skill Development
Many times in both my personal and professional life I have encountered people who focus much of their thoughts and energy on what has happened to them in past, rather than dealing with what is happening now, or better yet focusing on what could happen in...
Strategic Leadership: The Million Dollar Solution?
A lot has been written and said in recent years about strategic thinking and strategic leadership. Like most people I've read a lot and heard people who try to explain what strategic thinking is, and how to make it a way of life in an organization. Unfort...
Out of Ice? Stay Cool through Applied Strategic Thinking
Recently, a television commercial touting the ease and reliability of the internet service of a cable television company was aired to the public. The commercial describes an upbeat business manager arriving at his wholesale fish company. As soon as he e...
Supervisor Training: Supervisors Lead the Way
Most of us know from personal experience that supervision is not easy. A lot of research supports the fact that supervision, or the lack of it, is one of the primary reasons why talented people leave an organization. So this brings up the question, what...
Leadership Development: Three Deadly Sins of Leadership
Some time ago a magazine writer asked me a probing question. She asked, "In your opinion and experience, what are the three most destructive things a leader can do to wreck an organization?" Actually, it's a profound question with many possible significan...
Strategic Leadership: Individual and Organizational Strategy
To be an influential leader and manager, you have to be a champion of the "grand corporate strategy" as well as your own individual job strategy. However, the problem with implementation of most corporate strategy is that managers and team members alike ...
Does Your Puppy "Wet" On The Floor? - Five Elements to Performance Management
Perhaps you have heard the phrase, "Push the Envelope." Well, in this article that is exactly what I'm going to do. Rest assured, I'll do it as carefully as possible, because I was criticized for calling three women "ladies" in Minneapolis; I was criticiz...
Quick Quiz: Helping Others with Leadership Skill Development
Oftentimes a quiz can be an effective learning device. For that reason consider the following questions and see what you learn. Hopefully a few questions will inspire you in the direction of improved management and leadership skill development. The answer...
How's Your Team Building Spirit?
A hidden element of effective Teambuilding, and seldom discussed, is the mood, or the environment, that exists within the team. A positive and productive atmosphere doesn't just happen, it requires conscious work. The following quiz will help you unders...
Management Training to aid the Trouble with Sarcasm
Among the various styles that people use to communicate with each other, sarcasm is one of the most unique and dangerous. The excuses people use in an attempt to explain away their use of sarcasm varies from, "I didn't know I was doing it," to "It's how I...
Hurlock's Study: Praise verses Criticism
Research studies can be intellectual, academic, difficult to understand, and sometimes even irrelevant to our specific application. But there are other studies that can be very insightful and help us understand how better to do our job. There is one such ...
When Performance Reviews work against you!
"Your assistant, normally gregarious, happy, and extremely helpful has become sullen and, withdrawn. At first, you assume that he/she is having some problems at home. But after thinking about this sudden and drastic change for awhile, you realize this s...
5 Elements to Customer Service: A Fresh Look
About 20 years ago while I worked for American Stores Company (now part of Albertson's) I headed up a customer service program named "Smile and Speak Up." Employees attended a two-hour customer service training class and then tried to be seen being courte...