Mediocrity is the gateway to disengagement and boredom. To sustain high achievement, you need to be continually learning and growing, in spite of uncertainty and anxiety. You need to ask for, and receive, feedback. Even the act of asking for help can be risky. In your private sessions with an executive coach, discuss who to approach for help and how … Read More
Developing Character and Wisdom
You want to maintain the best path for your career, yet still support short- and long-term organizational goals. Knowing how to navigate these tough environments is crucial for any achiever who wants to ascend to the top ranks. History requires leaders to find and do the right things, in the right way, against the right time frame. It requires them … Read More
How Corporate Culture Drives Results
“The person who figures out how to harness the collective genius of their organization is going to blow the competition away.” ~ Walter Wriston, former CEO Citicorp If your people continue to think and act as they do now, can you expect to achieve the results you need? If your answer is no, then changing your organizational culture is not … Read More
What Drives Results
While leaders regularly pore over financial, operations, marketing and sales reports, they generally lack specific tools to analyze corporate culture. Even worse, they show little curiosity about the ways in which cultural beliefs and attitudes affect performance and profitability. Employee accountability and engagement are the driving forces behind achieving great results. As a manager, it’s your job to help employees … Read More
Manage Your Culture
In Change the Culture, Change the Game, Tom Smith and Roger Connors write: “Either you manage your culture, or it will manage you.” In simple terms, “culture” refers to how people think, act and get things done in your company. It is comprised of three components: Experiences, which foster beliefs Beliefs, which influence actions Actions, which produce results Few managers … Read More
How People Experience Work
You may not realize it, but as a manager or team leader, you create experiences every minute of the day that help shape your organization’s culture. These experiences include: Promoting someone Firing someone Announcing a new policy Interacting in meetings Providing feedback Communicating through conversation, email or presentations Such interactions shape beliefs about “how we do things around here.” These … Read More
Achieving True Accountability
In organizations, accountability is often viewed as something negative that happens to you when things go wrong. This kind of accountability never works. Real accountability is achieved through a step-by-step process that makes things go right. Accountability should not be defined as punishment for mistakes. It’s a powerful, positive and enabling principle that provides a foundation to build both individual … Read More
When to Change the Culture
How do you know if your current culture needs to be changed? Most companies could use a few improvements in the way people think and act. These shifts may be necessary because of needed improvements in performance, anticipation of a large change initiative or a change in the business environment. Connors and Smith point out that, by definition, your culture … Read More
Managing for Peak Performance
“Put simply, the best managers bring out the best from their people. This is true of football coaches, orchestra conductors, big-company executives, and small-business owners. They are like alchemists who turn lead into gold. Put more accurately, they find and mine the gold that resides in everyone.” ~ Dr. Edward M. Hallowell, Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best … Read More
Two Sides of the Disengagement Coin
Disengaged employees often appear to lack commitment. In reality, many of them crave re-engagement. No one enjoys working without passion or joy. While many factors cause disengagement, the most prevalent is feeling overwhelmed (or, conversely, underwhelmed). Disconnection and overload pose obstacles to performance, yet they often go undetected or ignored because neither qualifies as a disciplinary issue. Meanwhile, managers try … Read More