Kristin's Blog
The System, The Reality
Many of my clients have lamented about a broken system in their company, or the riddle of politics which hinders their upward progression. They admit to frustration and a desire to ‘change’ the way it works. Well, here’s a newsflash; unless you are the CEO, and often even that position doesn’t give you the power…
Organizational Growing Pains
In working with a number of rapidly growing companies, organizations, and school systems over the years, it has been interesting to see several common risk factors for their ongoing success. Many have survived these challenges, others have not. These challenges are broad and deep and could easily be a focus for longer exploration. They have a since of…
Can Culture Overide Silos?
Adam Bryant interviewed F. Mark Gumz, president and C.E.O. of the Olympus Corporation of the Americas, earlier this year. I was intrigued by many of the points made by Mr. Gumz. His comments relative to building a strong company culture, and through doing so, how a company can minimize the struggle faced with the lack…
Impactful Stories
How can we stand out? How can we entice new companies, organizations, clients, and potential customers to take notice of what we have to offer? This question is top of mind for many who are interviewing for new positions internally within their current company, as well as those looking for opportunity outside their company. There…
BS Meetings and Conference Calls
How many times have we gone to a meeting or hung up from a conference call and asked, ‘What was that about?’ Over the past few months, a colleague and I have repeatedly made that comment regarding meetings we have been asked to attend. And to be honest, even with best intentions, every single one…
Your Company's DNA
I loved this particular The Corner Office article in the New York Times from earlier this month. It was with Jeremy Allaire, chairman and chief executive of Brightcove, an online video platform for websites, and conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant. It focused on Jeremy’s background, what formed his leadership style, and how he continues to…
Making it Safe
We are in a recession. Secure jobs are valued. We don’t want to screw up and potentially lose our jobs. Fear can take over. What happens when fear takes over? We don’t stretch or take risks. Creativity and ‘out of box’ thinking and execution is virtually squelched. We play it safe. Playing it too safe does…
Top 10 Between the Lines
Happy 2011 everyone! I hope your year is off to a great start. Many of you have asked me to recap the most popular posts from 2010 – so my first posting of 2010 is just that: The Top Ten Between The Lines for 2010! The best advice I ever got Do I have to be liked…
Keeping it Local
Recently I ran across an article which struck me with its brilliance. We live in world which rewards global reach, so to see an article in Newsweek entitled Keeping it Local; I was intrigued. The article highlights how budding entrepreneurs, not to mention even large companies, can build profitable businesses by focusing on a few basic…
Recapping 2010
As we enter the 12th month of 2010, it is a good practice to review where we are and where we are going. I typically do a dive deep into this process between Christmas and the New Year. I try to take long walks each day, write in my journal, take notes, and generate ideas, which…