Stop Evaluating People and Start Holding Them Accountable
In recent months, smart companies are finally seeing the futility of the old, outdated rule-based, bureaucratic “evaluation systems” of performance management. Many organizations I work with are abolishing their “rank and yank” systems that assign employees a performance score relative to their peers, while punishing or firing those with low grades. Other organizations are wisely […]
Don’t Mistake Spontaneity For Authenticity
This week, in my friend and colleague, Corey Olynik’s weekly column (go to www.coreyolynik.com to subscribe; I highly recommend it), he poses some great questions about authenticity and authentic leadership. To quote Corey, “We hear so much about being an “authentic” leader. I believe that fully. You must lead from who you are; at the […]
What Authentic People Know About Winning
I spent the past week with my two ten-year-old grandchildren, Ethan and Holland. One of the activities we love to do together is play monopoly. I have to admit, rather embarrassingly, that when I pick up the dice for the first move, I transform from a kindly grandfather into a ruthless competitor. I become a […]
Is Leadership About Inspiration or Influence?
I received a thoughtful response to my latest article from a client: “You state: “the true measure of a leader is their capacity to influence. I do not disagree that successful leadership does include the ability to influence, but is the true measure of a leader in their capacity to influence? Or is it in […]
Is Your Boss A Bully? Or Just A Poor Communicator?
In recent months the topic of bullying has surfaced in my leadership development programs. Although I haven’t thoroughly researched the topic, my observation is that there is an increase in abusive and bullying behavior in the workplace. Perhaps it is related to the economy, increased stress at work, or maybe people are getting more courageous, […]
Building A High Trust, High Engaged, Accountable Culture: The Power Of Attunement
I grew up listening to transistor radios with dials that changed stations. Rather than pushing buttons, you turned a knob to tune in to a designated station. Before the age of hundreds of satellite/internet radio options, it took a few moments to fiddle with the dial to “tune it” to the exact station you were […]
This I Believe
This past spring, in a year-long leadership program I help facilitate for the Department of Human Services in the State of Oklahoma, one of the participants introduced me to This I Believe, an international organization engaging people in writing and sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives. Over 125,000 of these essays, […]
LEADERSHIP AMIDST THE TYRANNY OF ADMINISTRATIVE MINUTIA
“Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.” – Thomas A. Edison A good friend and long-time client called me […]
Personal Accountability
A participant in my leadership program this week, Al Brown, President of Industrial Scaffold Services on Vancouver Island, shared a great quote with me: These require zero talent: Being on time Work Ethic Effort Body Language Energy Attitude Passion Being Coachable Doing Extra Being prepared Al gets it. He’s built an amazing organizational culture around […]
The Inner Path of Leadership
Michelangelo was asked once how he carved and created such magnificence and beauty from a slab of cold marble: He reportedly replied, “I didn’t do anything. God put Pieta and David in the marble, they were already there. I only had to carve away the parts that kept you from seeing them.” For the past three […]
