Don’t Expect Kudos for Just Doing Your Job

Mar 31, 2011 | Leadership Development

Do you provide a good product or service to your customers? Do you ship orders on time? Are your employees well trained and professional with each other and with your customers? Do you address customer problems as soon as they arise? If you answer yes, I say, “Good.” Hope you’re not expecting kudos or a gold star, because as the leader that is YOUR job. That is what you are supposed to do. Your customers come to you and pay for your products with the expectation that they'll receive a good...

Plot Your Succession Plan

Mar 27, 2011 | Succession Planning

I was recently asked by an executive team, "How do we start pulling a Succession Plan together? We believe we have many of the pieces already, but we don't know what to do with them." That's a great question and a great position to be in. The answer though, requires you to first be clear on what you really want your Succession Plan to do for you. Once you're clear on that, you can then better appreciate how to start. When most people think of Succession Plans, they imagine some document that...

Define the Deliverable

Mar 21, 2011 | Leadership Development

We’ve all created To Do lists, sent them around to our team and sat back waiting for responses and, hopefully, accomplishments. We might even feel a bit smug congratulating ourselves that one of our tasks is done. (After all, who actually took the time to send that email listing the proposed To Do items?) And we might even allow ourselves to think that it is up to the team now to get to work and complete those items one by one. No problem - right? Wrong. Your inability to clearly define the...

Do Your Performance Management Systems Support Performance?

Mar 18, 2011 | Leadership Development

In working with various clients lately, we're seeing a common problem: Each organization has performance management systems that, as currently designed, create problems. These systems create the types of employee behaviors and unsatisfactory performance the client is trying to eliminate! Each organization is systematically creating and rewarding a workforce that just shows up, keeps their heads down, doesn't take initiative or risks, has gotten comfortable doing what they've always done, and...

Your Real Competitive Advantage

Mar 9, 2011 | Strategic Planning

“The one thing competitors can't quickly access is the brains of your work force.” Bingo! That's exactly what I've been telling my clients for years. And since the day I read that quote by Susan Meisinger SPHR (former President and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management), I've shared it again and again. She nailed it beautifully. I don't care if we're discussing your need to increase sales, reduce waste, improve quality, reduce cycle time or develop a new product line; it all starts...