Performance Evaluations Won’t Fix Leadership Problems

Aug 30, 2016 | Leadership Development

A new client reached out to my company requesting we provide their management team with training on how to conduct performance evaluations. The new CEO had been directed by the board to restart performance evaluations. The board believed by doing so the employees would know what was expected of them so they could then help increase sales and profits. The company hadn’t used performance evaluations in over ten years. The former CEO had willy-nilly promoted some, while not promoting others. Few...

Stop Ruining Our Workforce

Feb 23, 2016 | Leadership Development

This past week, I’ve had two colleagues share stories they’ve experienced directly or observed first-hand. Each tale provides insight into the decline in the quality of our workforce. Each involves a villain (i.e., actually the villains are really unwitting perpetrators, but they’re causing devastation), a direct victim, and an unintended victim. What’s Happening… Last week, Karen called me. Karen is a well-respected director of a non-profit who is now dealing with legal and media...

Something for all of us Boomer Managers to Read…

Dec 10, 2015 | Guest Post

Here's something for each of you who manages others, especially if you're a Boomer, to read and then discuss with all of your team members: Boomers, Xers, and Millennials together. After you read it, I’d like you to consider this: It’s not a matter of who is right and who is wrong; it’s a matter of perspective and experience. And by experience, I don’t mean who has had more. I mean, what has each of you, Boomer, Millennial, and Xer, has experienced – so far – in your life and how it’s shaped...

Five Reasons Your Senior Managers May Not Be Effective

Oct 21, 2015 | Leadership Development

Are your senior-level managers doing the jobs you need them to do? Are they doing and contributing what someone at their level, with their stature and pay, is expected to do and do consistently? If not, it may be time for you and them to hone in on a few behaviors and mindset changes needed to enhance their performance to bring the value you need and expect of them and their positions. The following five behaviors or mindsets can help you start that conversation. They Are Paid Too Much for the...

Why Is That Person a Manager?

Apr 21, 2015 | Leadership Development

In the April 21, 2015, Gallup® Business Journal, Amy Adkins wrote an article entitled: Only One in 10 People Possess the Talent to Manage. In her article she states that Gallup found, "One of the most important decisions companies make is simply whom they name the manager...Companies fail to choose the candidate with the talent for the job 82% of the time." When my company works with organizations on succession and workforce planning, the discussions on departments, positions, talent,...