Leadership coach and consultant.
All leaders have a vision problem. It is not because this is a unique barrier that leaders alone face, but because it is a human concern amplified by the specific role that leaders play in organizations. The vision problem is this: leaders see what they expect to see and avoid what they don’t want to […]
The ability to hire, manage, and retain great employees is a requirement of any successful organization. Although every organization faces the challenge of finding and keeping great employees, small businesses and nonprofit organizations face a unique set of issues. Although the scale is smaller, the same personnel concerns that arise in large companies exist and […]
The reason that so many of us don’t want to – but know that we need to – conduct strategic planning with our teams and organizations is because too often the results leave us feeling frustrated about the investment of time compared with the value of the outcomes. Whether it takes the form of a […]
Popular legend suggests that when elephants reach an older age they instinctively leave their herd and go toward a special place known as the Elephant Graveyard. When their journey is done, they die there alone, far away from the group so that their passing does not adversely impact the family by slowing them down. Whether […]
Most leaders identify the skill of “change management” as a key competency for their managers and employees. More than just nice to have, it is almost considered a survival skill in today’s rapidly changing world of work. Rather than “reacting to change,” which only the slow, flat-footed dinosaurs would do, we assume that managing change […]
Recently I was asked to consult with a struggling sales team in a small technology company. They needed team building and issue resolution in order to get back on track. Once onsite, I noticed an interesting pattern of interaction at their weekly staff meetings. A tit-for-tat response pattern had developed over a few grueling months […]
If employees are going to respond to the strategic priorities and change initiatives that matter, they have to know certain things. The cause of failure for so many change efforts and botched strategic plans is too often attributed to staff members who “just weren’t on board” or who “didn’t get it.” While this kind of […]
Strategic planning is one of the most widely recognized and practiced organizational activities, yet surprisingly it is one of the least scrutinized. One of the reasons that many leaders are simultaneously pulled toward the desire to create effective strategic plans for their organizations, yet repelled by the thought of potentially wasting time in the effort, […]