Most executives know that strong leadership is essential for overall organizational success. However, in most organizations, a lack of urgency to improve leadership...

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A highly engaged workforce delivers superior products and services, and this in turn leads to greater customer satisfaction and improved sales performance...

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Read about the last five best practices for survey design and implementation and the implications of these best practices for employee response rates...

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Employee engagement is the art and science of engaging people in authentic and recognized connections to strategy, roles, performance, organization, community, relationship, customers, development, energy...

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For many companies, training employees is not always a top priority. The reasons are varied and are often the result of tough, economic times or a fluctuating economy...

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Layoffs can affect an organization’s long-term prospects and have a negative impact on the remaining employees. The restructuring organization needs to retain and motivate its best people...

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More autonomy = More work + More initiative

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Passion for the mission. Extra effort to get the job done. Commitment to the organization. These are traits and behaviors exhibited by employees who are highly engaged...

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All businesses have challenges. But not all businesses have a strategy for turning challenges into profitable solutions. From customer relations to communications to keeping up with market changes and technology...

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We are all on learning journeys. At work, we are learning new professional and technical skills. In our communities, we are learning to make a difference, be a good friend, neighbor, or weekend athlete.

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Employee engagement is critical to the success of an organization and employee performance. Engagement is a result of employees understanding the company’s goals...

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If your team members are not engaged on a regular basis, there is a reason: the culture is not congruent with engagement. Ultimately, to get employees more engaged, the culture must be transformed.

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Have you participated in the annual “employee engagement survey fail”? That’s where employers conduct yet another engagement survey...

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When job markets heat up, top performers may feel naturally curious to see what sorts of “greener pastures” are available in the broader job market. And let’s face it...

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There are many books and articles available on how to motivate staff without money, how to reinvigorate weary teams in light of the ongoing changes and challenges in our competitive workplace...

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In the frenzy to find high tech talent, it’s tempting to search for the Talent Magnet Silver Bullet – the ultimate perk or program that will make you the employer of choice...

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Because employees have a huge impact on the bottom line, companies need to ensure their workforce is engaged and committed...

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When it comes to employee engagement and commitment to an organization, most companies would agree that they 'have some, want more...

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What is the number one reason why employees quit their jobs? More often than not, it’s not about the money, it’s about the environment at work...

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As a manager, the most powerful tool you can have in your toolbox is the ability to ask good questions...

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Despite unemployment and staff cutbacks, studies indicate that over 80% of global business leaders believe that "people issues" are even more important today.

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What’s your organization’s turnover, or churn, rate? Has it increased over the last 18 months? Did you notice a significant decrease in employee retention?..

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The first two steps in becoming a talent-management organization involve attracting and hiring right-fit/best-fit talent. After this has been achieved...

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All businesses face challenges, but not all businesses have a strategy for turning challenges into profitable solutions...

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A well thought out performance appraisal system, clear expectations, and action plans are critical to the individual’s and organization’s success.

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Are your employees engaged in their work or are they estranged from your company’s mission and their role in making it happen?..

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One of the greatest workplace challenges for supervisors and managers is turning around workers...

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Taking the time to investigate the problems can help save the time, energy, and cost of releasing employees who could become high performers...

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Explore six simple business metrics by themselves are enough to give you a snapshot but accurate view of talent’s business impact...

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How do you spot the signs of micromanagement? Where is the line between being an involved manager and an over-involved manager who drives the team mad?..

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Today’s workplace is afflicted by an undermanagement epidemic with huge, often hidden, costs to employers, managers, and employees...

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A team can be an elusive experience—sometimes it is there and sometimes it is not. Part of the problem is that the term is used so loosely and generalized expectations are applied to it so liberally that it is often meaningless...

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Today’s rapid pace of change, and the complexity of the environment, demands strong leadership at every level — from the top down and from the bottom up — if organizations are to be successful...

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Twenty-two percent of turnover takes place within the initial 45 days of employment, with 16% in the first week...

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These are the top 10 reasons why celebrating wins is important for you, your team, your company, and your own leadership personal brand. Celebrating wins…

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The human resources department is often tagged as an "evil" in the organization by the employees and a "soft area" by the management. Despite these tags, the HR function has evolved and broadened in scope...

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In the course of my work, I’ve come to know more than my share of what I call “change masters,” that is, leaders and managers with great track records of successfully leading direct-reports through minefields of change...

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Whether you’re a manager, executive, or CEO, your leadership style matters. If you’re running a large global firm, a small project team, or an entrepreneurial venture...

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The study identified the top 10 factors, plus a bonus factor, that cause leadership failure, which are ranked in the hierarchical order that emerged from our focus groups...

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As a smart leader, you know you need to stop this, but you also know you don’t want to communicate to the person that their opinion doesn’t matter or that dissent is unwelcome...

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As a leader, it's up to you to give your team guidance if you want them to be effective for your business. There is strength in numbers. More people working together makes less work for all — most of the time.

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If it seems like more and more people are working from home lately, it’s because they are. The latest Global Workforce Analytics survey found an 80% increase in telecommuting since 2005.

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All organizations need to be prepared for attrition in two key groups — high performers and those soon eligible to retire — as well as talent shortages in specific disciplines and geographies...

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What do new managers need most of all? They need support and guidance in learning and practicing the fundamentals of management, every step of the way...

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When you have a superstar you are going to lose for sure, how to lose that superstar very well...

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When there is a superstar you need to keep engaged...

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High performers are those people we often describe as driven. In their mind, a job is a problem to be solved, and they have the ability to solve it... 

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Leading is a tough role. The reason individuals make it into a leadership role is because they are very good at what they do. However, effectively facilitating and orchestrating every leadership aspect is challenging.

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If a company offers and encourages telecommuting, hiring employees with the right core competencies is critical to ensure they have the flexibility and autonomy required to be successful...

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The lesson for leaders who evaluate people--that is, every leader--is to adopt a "glass half full" versus a "glass half empty" attitude...

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Companies are struggling with the challenges of managing a more diverse workforce. These challenges often relate to mere variation in perspective and goals as a result of generational differences. 

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Team leaders have a perennial dilemma: How can they educate, engage, and develop our group in a substantial way that helps the team become better?

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If you accept average performance from your employees, you're doing your company a huge disservice. So why do so many of us mutely accept mediocre performance?..

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The challenge is to know which leadership approach to use. In general, you want to provide low direction if team members perform effectively, high direction if team members perform ineffectively...

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Great coaches not only consider an athlete’s talent and heart when they’re building a team, but they consider group dynamics too. It’s not just a matter of getting the fastest, strongest, and smartest players on your side.

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You have just joined a team of specialists who have worked together for six months on a potentially lucrative contract.

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An obnoxious manager can cause even the most loyal employee to consider a job change, especially if said employee sees little chance for a promotion or transfer.

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The more strategies you use to find your Distinct Natural Attributes, the more complete your view will be...

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Have you thoughtfully planned out your next career move? Most people have not. While they may have a vague idea of what their profession will look like in the future...

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Are leaders born or made? If they are made, can anyone become a good leader?

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When a company hires new employees, the goal is to grow, increase productivity, and ultimately make more money. But what happens when your new hire or even a long-time team member underperforms?..

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Since leaders deal with individual personalities in the team environment, it is unrealistic to expect that communication will never break down.

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In the uncertainties in today's global marketplace, talk in the workplace centres around the many nuances of becoming a team, the differences between teams and groups, what it takes to work as a team...

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While there’s a natural tendency to want to “think big” in business, effective management is actually the result of thinking small.

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These days, we all need to make the most of our resources, and for most small-business owners, human capital is a primary asset. So how do you inspire people to perform at a higher level?

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You know the one: he comes in grumpy, and within minutes the atmosphere of the entire office has sunk like a brick...

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Workforces in every industry - from manufacturing to service to health care to high tech - are confused and bruised...

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The core of your leadership brand is who you are and what you stand for. You find it in your heart and your soul. The brand begins with the story of you — the experiences that defined you, the lessons you learned...

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Before conducting any interview, you first need to establish the objectives of the selection process. Interviewing should not be just about filling an open position.

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Why spend time developing and nurturing trusting relationships in the workplace? Put simply, trust in the workplace is critical to organizational success...

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Hiring smart is productive, not doing so is unproductive. The most common, and fatal, hiring mistake is to find someone with the right skills but the wrong mind-set (attitude) and hire them on the theory, "We can change them."

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Have you left a convenience store lately wondering why the cashier seemed so put-out, even hostile, while ringing up your purchase?..

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The process of change is a personal responsibility. You have tremendous potential and yet studies show that less than 20% of all employees actually realize their maximum potential.

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Research has proven that businesses that aim to be more customer-centric have a 24% higher net profit, and have a higher profit per employee than ‘the other guys’ (those that aren’t customer focused).

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Even those of us who are happy at work will say there are still stressors nonetheless – constant change, too few staff, and strained workplace relationships to name just a few...

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How easy would it be to sort out difficulties at work if you didn't trust your colleagues to respond well? How motivating would it be if once you raised a concern with your manager, nothing was done about it?

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Personal power means that you believe in yourself, that you can go after what you want and get it, that you have the right and the ability to reach your goals in your own way.

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The way you begin a difficult discussion can determine its fate. If you immediately trigger defensiveness or combativeness in the other, the chances of a productive outcome drop to nearly zero.

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Do you think all meetings are painful, time wasting, poorly run and unproductive torture sessions? If you hate meetings, you’re not alone. Practically everyone does, and although businesses have to run meetings...

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In olden days messengers who brought bad tidings risked being killed for their efforts. Times and customs have changed, but this much remains the same: no one likes being the bearer of bad news.

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The practical knowledge and experience gained partaking in an internship programme, allow students to experience real-life work situations, that will help prepare them when entering the workforce.

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Team effectiveness is a prevalent topic in many business conversations, especially as companies explore new ways of working. Virtual teams, flexible work environments, restructuring through mergers and acquisitions...

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Feedback is critical to coaching. But it won't go far unless you set clear expectations for your employees. Here's how.

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Have you ever found yourself endlessly obsessing over an issue, unable to move beyond it? When dealing with a problem..., do you ever have dozens of seemingly unanswerable questions swirling around your brain?

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As part of most degree courses, students are required to partake in an internship programme, also known as an Industry Based Learning programme.

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As a supervisor, a basic and most important retention tactic to employ, especially in a tight labor market, is to take good care of the talent you have...

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If you have never considered how your employees’ behaviours affect your company’s overall success, perhaps you should. Your employees may have widely differing views of your organization...

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For most people, emotional intelligence (EI) is more important than one’s  intelligence to attain success in their lives and careers...our success depends on our ability to read other people’s signals and react appropriately to them.

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With competition for talent on the rise, developing a corporate culture of employee engagement and commitment has become a foundational imperative for most organizations.

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Trust is an essential part of strong leadership. Developing it requires time, patience and coaching. Do you trust the people who report to you?

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In 'who' organizations the important issues all revolve around 'who" said it, did, didn't do it or why they did it or didn't do it. In these organizations there is enough finger pointing to last a lifetime.

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What do you think is the number one factor that determines a high-performing workplace? High rates of pay? The threat of redundancy hanging over everyone's heads?

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The difference between successful business people and those who are not successful is not talent. The difference is that successful people have the guts to move forward, take intelligent risks, and work harder than anyone else.

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In all walks of life teams exist to get results. Getting results depends on teams being both productive and positive. Teams can be highly productive running at 100 miles an hour but have low levels of morale.

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Are you waking up at night with workplace scenarios playing through your head? These are tough times, but there are definitely ways to cope.

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When you conduct performance reviews, there is no way to guarantee that the discussion will end with both you and the employee in total agreement. This is especially the case if the review involves negative performance.

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Teams are a useful business tool for process and quality improvement, which may lead to higher customer satisfaction or cost reduction.

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Attitude is the key to organizational success. If an organization is looking for the true secret to increase sales and productivity, it is simple; increase morale.

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Imagine having the power to shorten a meeting. You would be providing people with what they most want and need—more time. You would be a hero. The power is within your grasp.

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Employee engagement is the lifeblood of successful organizations. When employees are deeply connected to their organization, they share the vision of their employer and not only commit to achieving overall goals...

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As you interact with employees, see each one as unique and gifted, especially the star employees. Your role is to find their innate gifts—creativity, facilitating, listening, intelligence, and so on.

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We live in an uncertain world and always have. There is no security in a job, a career or a way of life. Sooner or later each of us must face our own reality that our security is within us...

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Many theorists have tried to explain how and why teams develop. Each theorist offers a different perspective of leadership, but most agree that leaders need to be concerned with the group's content, process, and output.

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What makes a great leader? What do they do that is so different? What traits do they have that helps them excel at this high level? There are specific traits that great leaders have in common...

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There is no room for bullying in effective leadership. Leaders must be held to a higher standard. Years ago in the 70’s and 80's, tough autocratic leadership that often bordered on bullying was viewed as effective...

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Under this title – and as part of my theme that People matter critically when pursuing a Customer-Focus strategy - I published two prior blog posts.

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Why would anyone want to be led by you? That’s the question that needs to frame your journey to becoming the boss no one wants to leave.

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In my previous blog entries I have argued about the validity of the People > Service > Profit idea, the importance of Hiring Right and the fact that often good people are stopped by bad processes or bad management.

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I am obviously of the view that the road to success for great customer service and experience excellence goes through People Management that is aligned with strategies that make customer service and customer experience into a sustainable strategic differentiator.

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There is no such thing as a “Born Leader”. When people talk about born leaders, what they are really referencing is the “X” factor of leadership. What is the “X” factor?..

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To be an effective problem solver, you need the self-confidence to make decisions, and to feel comfortable with the risks involved in all decision-making.

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Whether you affect people positively or negatively doesn’t only determine what people think of you and their willingness to help you. It also profoundly influences how valuable you are to your employer...

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Question: What do you think of a candidate who sets up a profile under her maiden name so that her current employer will not know she is trying to change careers?

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In business, the main focus is often on the bottom line, and things like relationships get pushed to the back burner. But relationships are important in business, whether you are talking about relationships with your customers, your team members, or even yourself.

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In a rapidly changing world, business leaders are finding it difficult to keep their competitive advantage on an on-going basis. Technology and cost control are no longer adequate to sustain the lead.

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Ask any group of managers if they view themselves as an elite group within their organization and you can be sure they will deny it. You'll hear comments such as: "I have an open-door policy"...

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Leaders need to make sure that their senior team and all their direct reports have well-defined roles and responsibilities that are linked to rewards and evaluations. This defines the first step, but it’s just the beginning.

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Meetings are great opportunities to share information with your team, to build skills, to motivate, and to give your team a chance to sound off.

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In my previous blog entries I have argued about the validity of the People > Service > Profit idea and about the importance of Hiring Right. 

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You do a great job of directing, coordinating, and controlling (i.e. managing); but are you equally effective at leading?

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It starts with a mediocre performance review, the kind where you sense there is something you are not being told. Then you find that you have been left off the project that was agreed as part of your development plan.

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Leading teams is challenging but in truth, certain ‘contributors’ can result in you being a more successful team leader. So what are the six key contributors to successful team leadership?

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Anyone in business today must realize whether they are in their own business such as chiropractic or consulting or they sell for a living, they must divide the market into smaller sections.

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No industry is immune to the influence of economic slowdowns. The pace of change can throw many organizations into knee-jerk reactions.

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Talent management is a field that requires a healthy dose of leadership on the part of its practitioners who must be innovators and influencers.

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Technology and business pressures have led to more and more managers needing to lead teams that work off-site or are constantly in the field.

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Are any of your employees out and out fighting with each other at work? Are they yelling, screaming, not getting along, or perhaps having difficult relationships with their supervisor?

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When you were a kid did you ever play follow the leader? Do you ever wonder why there are things that attract us to certain people? 

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Whether you are new to managing people, or have been in a leadership position for many years, it is critical to analyze your management style to ensure that you are not a micromanager.

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Too often, teams are formed merely by gathering some people together and then hoping that those people somehow find a way to work together successfully. Teams are most effective when carefully designed.

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One significant aspect of a successful manager is the ability to “change people’s minds”. It would be nice if employees in the manager’s business unit just followed instructions...

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It’s a term often used to describe the conditions when an electronically transmitted message can’t be understood because interference overwhelms it...

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As the boss, are you bringing your personal life to work? Are you often grumpy? You may have pet peeves about your staff, but they have pet peeves about you too. Find out the 8 things your staff dislikes about you...

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As a team leader, do you insist that your team adopt your ideas, or do you encourage them to participate and contribute? Find out seven things you can do to become a better team leader.

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Outsourcing your HR can benefit your company tremendously but like any project, there may be some concerns that linger before you come to a decision.

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A team culture is necessary for success. Working together effectively is not automatic. It takes a specific effort and the development of a culture that is supported by executive management.

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Are job applicants saying things like this about your organization to their friends and family? Do you know what job applicants are saying about you? Do you know what your job application and hiring process says about you as an employer?

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The way businesses are built these days is heavily dependent on effective teamwork. One notable feature of teamwork is that it doesn’t just happen; it needs to be designed, promoted, stimulated and supported...

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What would happen if you stopped TRYING to make money? If, for one whole year you didn't think about creating profit. If, for that year you took your focus off what was dropping to the bottom line?

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When faced with major organizational problems, managers often hire consultants to help provide a solution. The consultant will usually interview people, run focus groups, and gather input from a variety of sources.

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Knowing how one’s role contributes to the organization’s overall success is a key longer-term motivator and morale builder.

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There’s a story about a man who bought a horse from a rancher. He asked if he could have a test ride and the rancher agreed.

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We spend a lot of time developing leaders we can rely on to run our organizations, make the right decisions, and get things done...

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The employee-centred workplace does not occur naturally. Rather, management must make a conscious decision to create an environment in which everyone and everything align with employees’ success.

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Like many others, your company may have recently gone through a host of significant changes, possibly the introduction of entire new product lines or merger and acquisition. 

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An organization is only as good as its people, but bright, talented people have many options, and good pay is no longer enough to hold the best. A strong organizational culture is the key to driving performance...

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Competitiveness at the University of Toledo conducted an executive development program several years ago with a group of senior managers from a host of manufacturing and service industries.

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. . . who cannot accept that their responsibility is to get results through other people by making them successful.

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Many organizations deal with employees that do not perform to standards. One of the most frustrating things for managers and supervisors is to have employees that continually repeat the infraction.

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Counseling is a short-term sequence of interactions with employees that results in either restored or acceptable behavior.

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The largest issue for any organization large or small that stumps growth is worker productivity. With economic volatility currently impacting profits, productivity issues can wreak havoc already on the brink of zero margins.

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A recent book from Lee Iacocca reminds me of the issues pertaining to leadership in America today. In his, book “Where have all the Leaders Gone? Mr. Iacocca reminds us of the ethical issues inherent in our system and challenges leaders to make amends.

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There are seven major trends that will impact most companies over the next ten years. There is also a link to those trends and how you can engage Gen Y employees to help your organization succeed.

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Most organizations use their training investments about as strategically as they deploy their office supplies spending. And the impact on customer satisfaction, cost containment or quality improvement is just as useless.

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Cross-functional teams are being used increasingly in organizations to improve coordination of interdependent activities among specialized subunits. 

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The problem with organizations today is with leaders that cannot lead and workers that have little passion. Rather than repair the issue, leaders place band-aids on surgical incisions.

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Imagine a time when you worked for an organization where everyone collaborated, communicated effectively and organizational politics did not exist. Do you remember that?

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Individuals simply go to work despite their abhorrence of their employer, the monotony, and the products. There is no passion or pride.

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There is no hiding place in small and medium sized businesses. Everyone plays a critical role and needs to pull their weight; yet directors and business owners regularly complain about a lack of accountability...

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This is part 4 of a 5 part article courtesy of Drake International.

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There are many excellent assessment tools available to optimize team composition. They involve taking the results from various testing methodologies to arrive at conclusions...

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A high performing team is a team that performs at an elite level, achieving extraordinary results, time and again. Team building is not seen as a separate activity but is integrated into every action, interaction and communication.

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The concept of team building is largely misunderstood in business today. Many organizations view team building as buying team hats, t-shirts and jackets, hiring motivational speakers to “pump up” the group...

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For the amount of time and concentration in customer service sometimes it’s important to understand that is not the representative’s fault but merely an unruly customer. This is an unfortunate occurrence but... 

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The more comprehensive a company’s leadership development efforts, the better its financial results in terms of shareholder return, growth in market share, growth in net income, and return on sales.

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What do you have to do to attract and retain Gen Y when your ‘old school’ practices don’t work? Learn all the key take-aways to understanding Gen Y, and find out how you rate on 21st century leadership practices.

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If you are the top person in your organization you have an awesome responsibility, likely more than you ever bargained for and certainly more than you’ve probably contemplated.

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There exists an inborn potential for leadership inside each of us. This potential may be expressed at different levels and in different ways within our individual social spheres of influence.

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When you hire, don’t rescue desperation. Many skills you can train,but inspiration isn’t easy to develop and actually takes a bit of work. Take the time to evaluate the whole person, not just their curriculum vitae.

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To appreciate just why competitive challenge is just as important for business growth as is cooperative support; let’s explore for a few moments a specialized discipline that could shed some light on this... 

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Around the world, employers and employees alike are still struggling. Many are flat in growth or have declined, and employers are faced with these tough choices... 

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"We are looking for stars. We want people who are flexible and don’t want to be pigeonholed into one area or function." - Multinational IT organization

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"Building Your Profile" in business is very much about building your profile in life. It is through "pushing yourself to be your own personal best" that people around you will start to admire and follow you.

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The last recession taught smart companies a valuable lesson – while poorly managed companies bunkered down in survival mode, innovative companies snuck up and took the hibernating companies’ market share. 

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You've all heard it from your colleagues in high-tech firms. “Our people are smarter. Our pace is faster. Our technology changes more quickly. It's just harder to develop leaders”.

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Employees can hold vast amounts of key experience, information, and skills, which walk out the door when they retire or leave an organization for other reasons. Employers that are unprepared can be left scrambling to run their day-to-day operations.

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