The pervasiveness of bullying never ceases to amaze me. I recently met with an organization and it was very clear from the outset who was in charge of the meeting. This individual made it very clear that he was going to set and control the agenda. The guests were there simply for his abuse and [...]
When I was a kid, a family friend told me that if you saved a penny and then doubled it every day, you’d have a million dollars by the end of the month. It was an early lesson in the magic of compounding growth. I’ve found this principle to be universal whether you are counting [...]
No leader ever sets out to deliberately do a bad job. But sometimes a leader is given the task of having to fix someone else’s bad job. This can be a daunting task especially if the damage and toxicity caused by the previous leadership has become a core element in the team’s culture. That said, [...]
I get quite fearful when I hear organizations start talking about engagement. Engagement has become quite the buzzword in the past few years as compounding concerns about profitability, productivity, staff turnover and sustainability have led organizations to look for ways to address real (and perceived) concerns about employee commitment and its importance to ensuring long-term [...]
I guess we’re just not there yet. A recent study by Dr Timothy Judge, Dr Beth Livingston and Dr Charlice Hurst in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggests that leaders who are agreeable and who focus on relationships and collaboration, earn less than their less-agreeable colleagues. Judge, Livingston and Hurst write that “Nice [...]
One of the toughest challenges for any leader is managing change. It seems that the skills required, and the stress suffered, are the same whether you’re implementing a new form, or leading a transformational restructuring. Dozens of books have been written about change management – and, I’m sure, thousands of blog posts. In fact, I [...]
Travelling without a map can be risky business. Intuition and luck will only get you so far. You might get to your destination or you might just go around in circles. It’s no different in leadership where the lack of a roadmap – vision, strategy and goals – can lead to a somewhat meandering journey. [...]
Ever noticed that once you start thinking about something you start seeing it everywhere? Think about buying a new car, and pretty soon you start seeing that model of car constantly? It seems that the more I read and talk about trust, the more issues related to trust, trustworthiness and lack of trust start to [...]
Is it better to jump or be pushed? Leadership is about tough decisions. And sometimes the toughest decision for a leader is coming to terms with whether its time to move on to new challenges. While I love writing and talking about leadership – I also practice leadership in the real world. It’s the practice [...]
It would seem that as each new week goes by, organizations are adopting an ever-increasing variety of new policies, guidelines and rules to influence and, in some cases, control employee behaviour. No one would argue against policies that prevent discrimination, enforce respectful behaviour or take a stand on workplace bullying. But taken together, these new [...]