Can You Hear Me Now?
Denny Strigl, of Verizon Wireless’ “Can you hear me now?” campaign fame, has a wonderful new book that speaks to leaders seeking a simple, yet actionable way to lead their teams and organizations. A few resonated with me:
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 […]
The Irrational Boss
This past weekend I reconnected with a dear colleague with whom I worked many years ago. He was sharing a challenge he often faces with the CEO of his company, to whom he reports. Please understand, this person and his boss have a wonderful and mutually respectful relationship; however, there are times when my friend says […]
Are You Hiring?
Thousands of books and techniques have been written on how to effectively find, screen, interview, and hire the ‘right people for the bus.’ Equally, there are thousands of consultants who are paid good money to help teach companies how to effectively interview, as well as, retained recruiters that help find capable candidates worthy of consideration. Yet, […]
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 […]
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 […]
Clarity the Key to Delegation
I have had numerous clients voice frustration with tasks, once delegated, not being completed on time, with the quality in which they expected, or the person to whom they have delegated takes the assignment, with an ‘attitude,’ so to speak. Each of these situations has led to irritation, lack of the deliverable being ready ‘on time,’ […]
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 […]