Can Leadership Urgency Be Taught?

by Cindy Wahler

Academic training provides abundant business case examples that allow students to see how and why organizations succeed or fail during turbulent times.  We do know that companies with the best strategy can engender great success.  The strategy, if implemented appropriately, can help turn the organization around by increasing market share and profitable growth.

The one caveat to brilliant strategy is talent.  With the war on talent being ever so true there are many highly educated candidates in the marketplace.  Those candidates who could not secure employment after completing an undergraduate degree went back to school.  They chose further education in the form of postgraduate degrees and specialty certificate training programs.  The intent is to enhance resumes, add additional qualifications and create greater marketability. The net result is that our potential employee population has never been brighter, smarter and steeped in theoretical business acumen.  Those students who had an opportunity to participate in a co-op or internship placement do have an edge.  This was a savvy choice on their part to seek out academic programs with a practical component.  Employers will always hire a known quantity, and if fortunate, many of these students are indeed hired back upon graduation as full time employees. Continue reading

Good Leaders Aren’t Afraid to Be Nice

   by Joe Panepinto

It only took me about three seconds to decide what to wear on the first day in my new gig as strategy director at Genuine Interactive, a digital marketing agency (jeans and a wrinkled linen shirt, duh). Deciding what books to take was a bit trickier.

In the end, I decided to bring only one: The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World with Kindness by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval. Sure, the niceness principles in Chapter 1 are great, but what’s most intriguing about the book — especially for a strategy leader — is Chapter 8: Shut Up and Listen. Continue reading

Stop Trying to Find Your True Self at Work

by Gianpiero Petriglieri

 

Clarity often visits unexpectedly, and it seldom stays for long. Especially when it concerns who we really are.

One morning last winter I was holding on to a ski lift absentmindedly, half enjoying watching Jen and our children being dragged up the mountain ahead of me, and half worrying about a sentence that I kept reshuffling in my mind.

I had gotten up early after a late night writing to meet a looming deadline, and neither hot coffee nor cold sunshine had yet managed to wake me up entirely.

The realization aptly found me there. Attached to my family, to my work, and to a cable pulled slowly upwards by a tired engine. It hit me with absolute certainty. The feeling that this restless, quiet, groggy, loving, worried, sporty bag of being was me.

My true self, I mean. Who I really am. Continue reading

How Leaders Should Equip Themselves to Lead In 2020

Image result for rhett power by Rhett Power

While we don’t have a crystal ball, there are trends and topics that can help leaders prepare for the future.

Heads up! 2020 is only five years away…and we all know how quickly time passes. As every leader knows, planning for the future starts now. While we don’t have a crystal ball, there are trends and topics that can help us prepare.

Three current thoughts on how leaders should equip themselves to lead in 2020 include: Continue reading

What CEOs Are Afraid Of

By Roger Jones

Deep-seated fears — of looking ridiculous, losing social status, speaking up, and much, much more — saddle children in the middle school lunchroom, adults on the therapist’s couch, and even, my research has found, executives in the C-Suite. While few executives talk about them, deep and uncontrolled private fears can spur defensive behaviors that undermine how they and their colleagues set and execute company strategy.

In 2014, I surveyed 116 CEOs and other executives, interviewing 27 in depth afterwards. Of the 116 survey participants, 73% were male, 27% were female, and all but 9% were based in Europe. About a third (32%) were CEOs or presidents; 31% were division/business unit heads; 30% were senior managers reporting to division/business unit heads; and 7% were in investment or professional services firms. Continue reading