INDUSTRY INSIGHTS YOUR PEERS ARE READING
Here's a list of modern office techie jargon, thanks to the gang over at Newly Corporate. Adminisphere: The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve. Alpha Geek: The most knowledgeable, technically proficient person in an office or work group. Ask Larry, he's the alpha geek around here." MORE
In a previous post, I wrote about how to use a performance and potential matrix to assess your organization's talent : [link]. In this next series of posts, I'm going to describe how to use the results of this assessment process to determine what kind of development strategy is appropriate for every type of leader. Although there are nine boxes in the matrix , I find it more practical to group talent into four categories , each requiring a different leadership development strategy. MORE
Developing your stars is critical to an organization’s success. Your best employees, or A players, boost company performance, both directly—by working harder at their jobs—and indirectly, by their ability to inspire and motivate others. MORE
Here’s 10 sure-fire ways to derail even your most promising high potential employees: 1. First of all, recognize that high-potential employees are a threat to your own job and treat them that way. MORE
It’s easy to recognize the employees in your organization who bring in the biggest revenues or win awards, or the A players. But there are others that are also important: those who consistently meet expectations but are not standout performers. MORE
Guest post by the remarkable Keven Eikenberry : There are many reasons why trust is important to us as leaders. With higher levels of trust we are able to influence change more easily and quickly. With more trust we are able to create higher levels of productivity and team cohesiveness. I could go on, but in short, being trustworthy and trusted are two of the most valuable attributes remarkable leaders possess. MORE
First of all, make sure your employees have no real direction, expectations, goals, or standards. After all, a good employee should be able to handle ambiguity, deal with paradox, and eat change for breakfast. MORE
The two major reasons people do not give effective feedback are lack of time and lack of comfort. Listed here are five easy ways to confront these barriers head on. Barrier: “I do not have enough time to give feedback on a regular basis.” Solution #1: Schedule one-on-one development sessions with each of your team members at the beginning of the year. Once the meetings are on the calendar, you won’t have a ‘fit’ issue. MORE
Y ou may have the story about failure during the tenure of Tom Watson, Sr. as CEO of IBM. As the story goes, a promising young executive at IBM was involved in a risky venture that lost $10 million for the company. When Tom Watson Sr., MORE
The Center for Creative leadership’s research on executive success and failure identified the significance of “derailers”, and how they differ than just mere weaknesses. They studied leaders who made it to at least the G.M. MORE
Practice “what’s possible” thinking. Don’t limit to yourself based on previous failures. Practice using the phrase “up until now…” 2. Avoid the temptation to jump to the quick fix when solving a problem. In many cases, speed and simplicity can serve you well, but if overused, can limit your strategic alternatives. MORE
Companies will often use external, university-based programs as a way to develop their high potential senior leaders. These programs typically are 1-2 weeks in duration and offer an intense (and expensive) learning experience. MORE
Movies are a great way to learn about leadership! Here’s CCL’s Clemson Turregano, who has facilitated "leadership at the movies" sessions for years: "I started using movies when I was teaching at West Point and then at the Naval War College," he notes. Movies, like a case study, offer real-life portrayals of examples of leadership in crisis. Viewers can use these portrayals to discuss the behaviors they would like to emulate or avoid during similar circumstances." MORE
In honor of President's Day (not sure where it came from.): “In his lifetime, Ronald Reagan was such a cheerful and invigorating presence that it was easy to forget what daunting historic tasks he set himself. MORE
The questions below relate to the skills and qualities needed for effective coaching. Use this assessment to evaluate your own effectiveness as a coach. Do you seize development opportunities and focus on immediate performance problems for your employees? Do you try to develop a supportive, emotional bond with your employees? Do you observe your employee's behavior? Do you form and test hypotheses about your employee's behavior before acting on them? MORE
I’ve always been a strong proponent of the importance of having a written individual development plan (IDP) for leadership development. That is, identifying: - What you want to get better at - How you’re going to do it - When you’re going to do it I have one. I make sure my employees have one. MORE
Pepsi has always been known as a great company for leader's. USA Today recently did an interview with Their CEO, Eric Foss. Here's the link: Retain talent, but develop it, Pepsi Bottling chief says. I like what he has to say. Here's a summary: 1. Most people quit because they feel underappreciated. MORE
Developing employees can be time-intensive. Matching direct reports’ interests, values, and skills to growth opportunities requires energy and careful consideration. How can you optimize the time spent on this activity? By understanding who on your team should be developed—and who requires performance improvement. To understand how successful leaders allocate their employee development time, it’s helpful to consider the return on management, or ROM, of developing your direct reports. MORE
Here's a checklist I've used to evaluate the quality of a leader's individual development plan. Use to evaluate your own plan or to coach others. Robustness 1. Has the IDP been generated/updated within the last 12 months? Is the IDP complete? Are the development actions substantial? To what extent is there connectivity between the career path, leadership assessment, development needs and planned development actions? Are leadership assessment results linked with the IDP when applicable? Variety 6. MORE
Think “what if?” With every idea or course of action under consideration, ask yourself and others, “If we implement this idea, how will other units and stakeholders be affected? What might be the long-term ramifications of this decision?” Broaden your perspective. MORE
Womens History Month: Acknowledging Six Women Named Alice Its a New Dawn, Its a New Day, Its a New Life For Small Business and Im Feeling Good Good Morning President Obama Subscribe in a reader Posted: November 5, 2008, 10:22 PM by Leslie Grossman Waking up this morning, I smell "hope" in the air, rather than the familiar smell of coffee.What a welcome fragrance! Posted: November 7, 2008, 11:30 AM by Isabel Perlinski For everyones information, 46% of this country voted for McCain. MORE
There was a question over on the ASTD discussion board that inspired me to write this post. Pam asked: “ I am looking for ideas to provide training with limited resources (space, money and staff)”. It’s a great question. I’ll bet there’s a lot of small, one-person training departments and even big, global companies that need to run a lean organization that are looking for ways to train or develop leaders on the cheap. MORE
We all dread it – the feedback session to: · Address a serious behavior or performance issue · Deliver news that will be an unpleasant surprise to the recipient Tough feedback is just that. tough. MORE
Here's 6 tips for helping an employee find a mentor: 1. Look for individuals who are able to understand and shape the employee’s long-term professional goals (e.g., someone who has a similar background or who is currently in a position the employee might like to have in the future). Consider people who are influential within the company. These individuals know how the organization works and can help your employee navigate the system. MORE
Delegation, put most simply, involves the assignment of a specific task or project by one person to another, and the person’s commitment to complete the task or project. MORE
Teams and organizations can often get too insular and unable to think outside of their own boxes. Leaders need to encourage team members to look outside for new ideas. Here's 12 ways to ensure your team members are getting their daily dose of external perspective: 1. Send team members to external training, networking events, or conferences 2. Forward newsletters, articles, research, and best practice reports to your team 3. MORE
The ability to think creatively is a valuable thinking skill that leaders can apply when faced with problems that require a fresh approach. What is creative thinking? MORE
An individual development plan (IDP) is a tool that helps facilitate employee development. It’s a two-way commitment between an employee and their manager on what they are going to do to grow. IDPs are often used as a way to drive leadership development. Organizations like them because they are visible, tangible evidence that leadership development is taking place. MORE
Today’s global business environment requires more and more leadership teams to operate from a distance. So how do you provide effective feedback when you don’t see your leaders on a regular basis? Here are some guidelines for effective long-distance feedback. Don’t leave feedback to chance. MORE
About Portfolio Resources eBuzz Blog Home Blog Quought for the Day 2008 Quoght for the Day #13 – Jack Hayhow RSS Feed 2008 Quoght for the Day #13 – Jack Hayhow By Rajesh Setty on Mon 25 Aug 2008, 4:00 AM - View Comments Background: This is part of the Quought for the Day – 2008 Series. HELLO THERE AND WELCOME. You are a new visitor to this blog. MORE
DO: 1. Seek feedback on a regular basis, especially after you have identified development goals. Exchanging information and perceptions is a process, not a single event. Receive feedback as a gift that provides you with honest information about your perceived behavior/performance. MORE
1.Make time to get out and see people. When you are with them spend most of the time listening. Resist the urge to try and take control of everything. Instead get your star performers involved and rely on them. Tell your people everything that might matter to them. If there are things you cannot tell them, tell them that. Strong emotions will not disappear overnight. Provide opportunities for people to talk. Be patient. MORE
About Portfolio Resources eBuzz Blog Home Blog Quought for the Day 2008 Quought for the Day #14 – Steve Shapiro RSS Feed 2008 Quought for the Day #14 – Steve Shapiro By Rajesh Setty on Tue 26 Aug 2008, 4:00 AM - View Comments Background: This is part of the Quought for the Day – 2008 Series. HELLO THERE AND WELCOME. You are a new visitor to this blog. MORE
Great list from Tom Peters: 20 signs of a good leader: Good leadership comes in all shapes and sizes. However there are a number of things that great leaders have in common. These are 20 of them: Leaders create opportunities for others. Leaders are not always the best performers. The ability to lead is seldom teamed up with the best ability. Leaders implement. Leaders make mistakes, and then learn from them. Leaders create new markets. No one has become great through countless line extensions. MORE
Guest post from Brad Smart , Author of Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching, and Keeping the Best People : I don’t know about you, but early in my career I was very disappointed with my hiring track record. Assessing selection candidates was my job, too! Thirty years ago I began studying why almost EVERYONE’S hiring record was so bad. Almost everyone?” Yes, so if you’re not satisfied with your hiring success, join the club! MORE
Most of us have heard of the concept of "leader's teaching leaders" - Noel Tichy commercialized the concept in his 2002 book, The Leadership Engine. Jack Welch was known for the amount of time he spent in Crotinville sparing with high-potential managers in "the pit". Here's 10 practical ways to get leaders involved in leadership development programs: 1. Make sure you have executive sponsorship for any and all leadership programs. MORE
The ability to listen effectively is an essential component of leadership, but few leaders know just what it takes to become a better listener. You can improve your ability to lead effectively by learning the six skills for active listening. CCL's Michael Hoppe recently authored the guidebook Active Listening to make CCL's approach to active listening more explicit and available to a broad audience. In the book, he describes the six skills that contribute to an active listening mindset. MORE
About Portfolio Resources eBuzz Blog Home Blog Quought for the Day 2008 Quought for the Day #16 – Liz Strauss RSS Feed 2008 Quought for the Day #16 – Liz Strauss By Rajesh Setty on Thu 28 Aug 2008, 4:00 AM - View Comments Background: This is part of the Quought for the Day – 2008 Series. HELLO THERE AND WELCOME. You are a new visitor to this blog. MORE
Challenge current approaches to your work. Think about whether you and your direct reports can work together in new, previously unimaginable possibilities. Challenge existing beliefs and assumptions. MORE
I first came across this story from an engineering colleague of mine, Kyle Smith. He said he got it from Howard Winsett, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. I have no idea if it's true, but it's a great story to help people see the need to challenge the conventional wisdom. Or silly HR policies. Does the expression, "We've always done it that way!" ring any bells? The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That is an exceedingly odd number. MORE
2008 Related Topics Great Leadership By Dan
NOVEMBER 24, 2008
An individual development plan (IDP) is a tool that helps facilitate employee development. It’s a two-way commitment between an employee and their manager on what they are going to do to grow. IDPs are often used as a way to drive leadership development. Organizations like them because they are visible, tangible evidence that leadership development is taking place.
The Recovering Engineer
DECEMBER 11, 2008
Great Leadership By Dan
SEPTEMBER 28, 2008
Movies are a great way to learn about leadership! Here’s CCL’s Clemson Turregano, who has facilitated "leadership at the movies" sessions for years: "I started using movies when I was teaching at West Point and then at the Naval War College," he notes. Movies, like a case study, offer real-life portrayals of examples of leadership in crisis. Viewers can use these portrayals to discuss the behaviors they would like to emulate or avoid during similar circumstances."
Great Leadership By Dan
OCTOBER 29, 2008
I’ve always been a strong proponent of the importance of having a written individual development plan (IDP) for leadership development. That is, identifying: - What you want to get better at - How you’re going to do it - When you’re going to do it I have one. I make sure my employees have one.
The Recovering Engineer
DECEMBER 16, 2008
Great Leadership By Dan
AUGUST 5, 2008
Companies will often use external, university-based programs as a way to develop their high potential senior leaders. These programs typically are 1-2 weeks in duration and offer an intense (and expensive) learning experience.
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Great Leadership By Dan
APRIL 20, 2008
Here’s 10 sure-fire ways to derail even your most promising high potential employees: 1. First of all, recognize that high-potential employees are a threat to your own job and treat them that way.
Great Leadership By Dan
FEBRUARY 24, 2008
Delegation, put most simply, involves the assignment of a specific task or project by one person to another, and the person’s commitment to complete the task or project.
Great Leadership By Dan
FEBRUARY 23, 2008
The ability to think creatively is a valuable thinking skill that leaders can apply when faced with problems that require a fresh approach. What is creative thinking?
Great Leadership By Dan
FEBRUARY 23, 2008
Today’s global business environment requires more and more leadership teams to operate from a distance. So how do you provide effective feedback when you don’t see your leaders on a regular basis? Here are some guidelines for effective long-distance feedback. Don’t leave feedback to chance.
Great Leadership By Dan
FEBRUARY 19, 2008
In honor of President's Day (not sure where it came from.): “In his lifetime, Ronald Reagan was such a cheerful and invigorating presence that it was easy to forget what daunting historic tasks he set himself.
Great Leadership By Dan
FEBRUARY 16, 2008
Think “what if?” With every idea or course of action under consideration, ask yourself and others, “If we implement this idea, how will other units and stakeholders be affected? What might be the long-term ramifications of this decision?” Broaden your perspective.
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Great Leadership By Dan
FEBRUARY 16, 2008
We all dread it – the feedback session to: · Address a serious behavior or performance issue · Deliver news that will be an unpleasant surprise to the recipient Tough feedback is just that. tough.
Great Leadership By Dan
FEBRUARY 16, 2008
The Center for Creative leadership’s research on executive success and failure identified the significance of “derailers”, and how they differ than just mere weaknesses. They studied leaders who made it to at least the G.M.
Great Leadership By Dan
FEBRUARY 2, 2008
It’s easy to recognize the employees in your organization who bring in the biggest revenues or win awards, or the A players. But there are others that are also important: those who consistently meet expectations but are not standout performers.
Great Leadership By Dan
JANUARY 29, 2008
Developing your stars is critical to an organization’s success. Your best employees, or A players, boost company performance, both directly—by working harder at their jobs—and indirectly, by their ability to inspire and motivate others.
Great Leadership By Dan
JANUARY 27, 2008
Y ou may have the story about failure during the tenure of Tom Watson, Sr. as CEO of IBM. As the story goes, a promising young executive at IBM was involved in a risky venture that lost $10 million for the company. When Tom Watson Sr.,
Great Leadership By Dan
JANUARY 19, 2008
First of all, make sure your employees have no real direction, expectations, goals, or standards. After all, a good employee should be able to handle ambiguity, deal with paradox, and eat change for breakfast.
Great Leadership By Dan
JANUARY 13, 2008
DO: 1. Seek feedback on a regular basis, especially after you have identified development goals. Exchanging information and perceptions is a process, not a single event. Receive feedback as a gift that provides you with honest information about your perceived behavior/performance.
Great Leadership By Dan
JANUARY 12, 2008
Challenge current approaches to your work. Think about whether you and your direct reports can work together in new, previously unimaginable possibilities. Challenge existing beliefs and assumptions.
Great Leadership By Dan
AUGUST 28, 2008
The questions below relate to the skills and qualities needed for effective coaching. Use this assessment to evaluate your own effectiveness as a coach. Do you seize development opportunities and focus on immediate performance problems for your employees? Do you try to develop a supportive, emotional bond with your employees? Do you observe your employee's behavior? Do you form and test hypotheses about your employee's behavior before acting on them?
Great Leadership By Dan
MAY 26, 2008
Practice “what’s possible” thinking. Don’t limit to yourself based on previous failures. Practice using the phrase “up until now…” 2. Avoid the temptation to jump to the quick fix when solving a problem. In many cases, speed and simplicity can serve you well, but if overused, can limit your strategic alternatives.
Great Leadership By Dan
MAY 2, 2008
Here's 6 tips for helping an employee find a mentor: 1. Look for individuals who are able to understand and shape the employee’s long-term professional goals (e.g., someone who has a similar background or who is currently in a position the employee might like to have in the future). Consider people who are influential within the company. These individuals know how the organization works and can help your employee navigate the system.
Great Leadership By Dan
MAY 1, 2008
There was a question over on the ASTD discussion board that inspired me to write this post. Pam asked: “ I am looking for ideas to provide training with limited resources (space, money and staff)”. It’s a great question. I’ll bet there’s a lot of small, one-person training departments and even big, global companies that need to run a lean organization that are looking for ways to train or develop leaders on the cheap.
Great Leadership By Dan
APRIL 22, 2008
Here's a checklist I've used to evaluate the quality of a leader's individual development plan. Use to evaluate your own plan or to coach others. Robustness 1. Has the IDP been generated/updated within the last 12 months? Is the IDP complete? Are the development actions substantial? To what extent is there connectivity between the career path, leadership assessment, development needs and planned development actions? Are leadership assessment results linked with the IDP when applicable? Variety 6.
Great Leadership By Dan
APRIL 18, 2008
Here's a list of modern office techie jargon, thanks to the gang over at Newly Corporate. Adminisphere: The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve. Alpha Geek: The most knowledgeable, technically proficient person in an office or work group. Ask Larry, he's the alpha geek around here."
Great Leadership By Dan
APRIL 13, 2008
The two major reasons people do not give effective feedback are lack of time and lack of comfort. Listed here are five easy ways to confront these barriers head on. Barrier: “I do not have enough time to give feedback on a regular basis.” Solution #1: Schedule one-on-one development sessions with each of your team members at the beginning of the year. Once the meetings are on the calendar, you won’t have a ‘fit’ issue.
Great Leadership By Dan
APRIL 6, 2008
Guest post by the remarkable Keven Eikenberry : There are many reasons why trust is important to us as leaders. With higher levels of trust we are able to influence change more easily and quickly. With more trust we are able to create higher levels of productivity and team cohesiveness. I could go on, but in short, being trustworthy and trusted are two of the most valuable attributes remarkable leaders possess.
Great Leadership By Dan
APRIL 1, 2008
Great list from Tom Peters: 20 signs of a good leader: Good leadership comes in all shapes and sizes. However there are a number of things that great leaders have in common. These are 20 of them: Leaders create opportunities for others. Leaders are not always the best performers. The ability to lead is seldom teamed up with the best ability. Leaders implement. Leaders make mistakes, and then learn from them. Leaders create new markets. No one has become great through countless line extensions.
Great Leadership By Dan
MARCH 31, 2008
1.Make time to get out and see people. When you are with them spend most of the time listening. Resist the urge to try and take control of everything. Instead get your star performers involved and rely on them. Tell your people everything that might matter to them. If there are things you cannot tell them, tell them that. Strong emotions will not disappear overnight. Provide opportunities for people to talk. Be patient.
Great Leadership By Dan
MARCH 29, 2008
I first came across this story from an engineering colleague of mine, Kyle Smith. He said he got it from Howard Winsett, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. I have no idea if it's true, but it's a great story to help people see the need to challenge the conventional wisdom. Or silly HR policies. Does the expression, "We've always done it that way!" ring any bells? The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That is an exceedingly odd number.
Great Leadership By Dan
MARCH 3, 2008
The ability to listen effectively is an essential component of leadership, but few leaders know just what it takes to become a better listener. You can improve your ability to lead effectively by learning the six skills for active listening. CCL's Michael Hoppe recently authored the guidebook Active Listening to make CCL's approach to active listening more explicit and available to a broad audience. In the book, he describes the six skills that contribute to an active listening mindset.
Great Leadership By Dan
MARCH 2, 2008
Teams and organizations can often get too insular and unable to think outside of their own boxes. Leaders need to encourage team members to look outside for new ideas. Here's 12 ways to ensure your team members are getting their daily dose of external perspective: 1. Send team members to external training, networking events, or conferences 2. Forward newsletters, articles, research, and best practice reports to your team 3.
Great Leadership By Dan
FEBRUARY 3, 2008
Developing employees can be time-intensive. Matching direct reports’ interests, values, and skills to growth opportunities requires energy and careful consideration. How can you optimize the time spent on this activity? By understanding who on your team should be developed—and who requires performance improvement. To understand how successful leaders allocate their employee development time, it’s helpful to consider the return on management, or ROM, of developing your direct reports.
Great Leadership By Dan
JANUARY 29, 2008
In a previous post, I wrote about how to use a performance and potential matrix to assess your organization's talent : [link]. In this next series of posts, I'm going to describe how to use the results of this assessment process to determine what kind of development strategy is appropriate for every type of leader. Although there are nine boxes in the matrix , I find it more practical to group talent into four categories , each requiring a different leadership development strategy.
Great Leadership By Dan
JANUARY 16, 2008
Guest post from Brad Smart , Author of Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching, and Keeping the Best People : I don’t know about you, but early in my career I was very disappointed with my hiring track record. Assessing selection candidates was my job, too! Thirty years ago I began studying why almost EVERYONE’S hiring record was so bad. Almost everyone?” Yes, so if you’re not satisfied with your hiring success, join the club!
Great Leadership By Dan
JANUARY 3, 2008
Most of us have heard of the concept of "leader's teaching leaders" - Noel Tichy commercialized the concept in his 2002 book, The Leadership Engine. Jack Welch was known for the amount of time he spent in Crotinville sparing with high-potential managers in "the pit". Here's 10 practical ways to get leaders involved in leadership development programs: 1. Make sure you have executive sponsorship for any and all leadership programs.
Women's Leadership Exchange
NOVEMBER 5, 2008
Womens History Month: Acknowledging Six Women Named Alice Its a New Dawn, Its a New Day, Its a New Life For Small Business and Im Feeling Good Good Morning President Obama Subscribe in a reader Posted: November 5, 2008, 10:22 PM by Leslie Grossman Waking up this morning, I smell "hope" in the air, rather than the familiar smell of coffee.What a welcome fragrance! Posted: November 7, 2008, 11:30 AM by Isabel Perlinski For everyones information, 46% of this country voted for McCain.
Rajesh Setty
AUGUST 26, 2008
About Portfolio Resources eBuzz Blog Home Blog Quought for the Day 2008 Quought for the Day #14 – Steve Shapiro RSS Feed 2008 Quought for the Day #14 – Steve Shapiro By Rajesh Setty on Tue 26 Aug 2008, 4:00 AM - View Comments Background: This is part of the Quought for the Day – 2008 Series. HELLO THERE AND WELCOME. You are a new visitor to this blog.
Rajesh Setty
AUGUST 28, 2008
About Portfolio Resources eBuzz Blog Home Blog Quought for the Day 2008 Quought for the Day #16 – Liz Strauss RSS Feed 2008 Quought for the Day #16 – Liz Strauss By Rajesh Setty on Thu 28 Aug 2008, 4:00 AM - View Comments Background: This is part of the Quought for the Day – 2008 Series. HELLO THERE AND WELCOME. You are a new visitor to this blog.
Rajesh Setty
AUGUST 25, 2008
About Portfolio Resources eBuzz Blog Home Blog Quought for the Day 2008 Quoght for the Day #13 – Jack Hayhow RSS Feed 2008 Quoght for the Day #13 – Jack Hayhow By Rajesh Setty on Mon 25 Aug 2008, 4:00 AM - View Comments Background: This is part of the Quought for the Day – 2008 Series. HELLO THERE AND WELCOME. You are a new visitor to this blog.
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