How bureaucratic is your company?
Everybody loves to hate bureaucracy. We love the cartoons and jokes that make fun of people who follow the rules, even when the rules make no sense. We hate the clerk who shrugs and says that he or she can’t make an exception to company policy. People have probably hated bureaucracy for as long as it has been around and that’s a very long time. In the Ancient Middle East, scribes administered the rules laid down by kings and emperors and pharaohs. The basic definition of a “bureaucracy” is the same today as it...
read moreWhy People Hate Performance Appraisals
Suppose you had a service that, with subtle variations, was offered by nearly all of your competitors. And suppose that despite your best efforts, only five-percent of your customers were satisfied with the results that got from using it. Would you continue to offer it just because your competitors did? Those statistics are not about any particular service. They were actually taken from a study done on the use and effectiveness of performance appraisals. And if truth be told, these evaluations probably cause more angst than any other...
read moreClosing the management skills gap
The headline on the Forbes article says it all: “CEOs are Terrible at Management, Study Finds.” Here’s a quote that sums up the headline. “The researchers say that CEOs need to reach beyond numbers and care about people management. Two other statistics from the survey that underline how disengaged CEOs are from concern about employees: When asked about their CEOs’ greatest strengths, 70% rated ‘decision-making skills’ at the top. At the bottom: 27% said ‘compassion/empathy,’ 23% said...
read moreAgile Leadership: Same Coat; Different Color
In the 1960s, it was non-hygienic factors. In the 1990s, it was High Performance Indicators, or HPIs, as they became known. And now, 20 years later, it’s called agile leadership. It’s true that whatever goes around, comes around. But no matter what you call it, it all amounts to the same thing: People matter; a lot. And organizations that truly recognize that they contribute a lot of value, are not only more productive, but are also more profitable than those which don’t. It then begs the question: If we’ve known how...
read moreFive Dimensions to Compare Top Executive Candidates
Choosing a candidate for a top executive position is a high stakes game. Make a good choice and you’ll reap the benefits for a long time. Get it wrong and the consequences can be fatal. You can improve your odds of making a good choice by comparing all the candidates in five key areas. General management performance: How has the candidate demonstrated the level of general management skills that the position requires? Strategic skills and performance: What strategic challenges has the candidate met? How do those...
read moreHow to Lead From Any Position
There was a time when organizations had essentially one leader that the rest were expected to follow; and for many, this still holds true today. In large companies, however, the prevailing strategy is to have a board of policymakers who are separate from those who implement their decisions. This approach was created by Alfred P Sloan when he reorganized General Motors nearly 100 years ago. In recent years, however, the effectiveness of this model has declined. Rather than having just one leader, or even one policymaking authority, these...
read moreHow to Create the Best Opportunities for Your Company
Perhaps the most pressing question any business can ask is, “Where do we go from here?” This is particularly true of multinationals – those companies that are so large that they seem untouchable. Maybe they feel that way, too. It gives one pause, however, to remember just how few firms of have managed to stay in the Fortune 500 since it was founded in 1955. According to Mark Perry, Professor of Economics and Finance at the University of Michigan, 87% of them have disappeared due to mergers, privatization, or loss...
read more5 Ways You Can Use Customer Feedback to Improve Your Brand
Branding. Its importance never seems to go away. It can take years to establish, but only moments to lose. It can slip through your corporate fingers without you realizing it, until it’s too late to do anything about it. And the real tragedy is that there’s no reason for this to happen at all. I’m talking about listening to customer feedback; and the truth is that many companies have yet to learn how they can use it to improve their brand. They still think they have listened simply by letting the sound waves from the customers’...
read moreLeadership without Borders
The word globalization is ubiquitous in business, so much so that it’s almost embarrassing to mention it. Multinational companies (MNCs) have existed for more than half a century and many of us could rattle off a list of two dozen or more of them. In fact, globalization has so permeated our lives that it is often impossible to find something as basic as a car or a household appliance that is manufactured and assembled in our own country. But globalization has not only increased in scope, it has also done so in speed. Everything from...
read moreThe Secret to Greater Success is Just a Leap Away
“I absolutely believe that people, unless coached, never reach their maximum capabilities.” - Bob Nardelli, former CEO of Home Depot. In today’s global marketplace, leading organizations is difficult work. As an organizational executive, you’re ideally positioned to be a change-maker, to be a leader who drives results in the face of complexity, change and diversity. You are on the front lines, constantly watched and continuously scanned for authenticity and trustworthiness. Your actions are magnified and your behavior is continually...
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