Don’t Be a Wimpy Manager

Apr 23, 2013 | Leadership Development

What's a wimpy manager? It's a manager who isn't honest, fair, and clear with her employees on her expectations. It's a manager who believes she's being nice by not telling her employees when they're under-performing, veering off-track, or flat-out behaving in unacceptable ways. It's a manager who mistakenly believes she's being nice by not telling her employees what they're doing wrong so they have a choice and a chance to change their behaviors. A wimpy manager is someone who equates...

Use It or Lose It

Nov 6, 2012 | Strategic Planning

We've hit that part of the Strategic Planning process with a few of our clients: It's time for them to put what they've developed to the test. Specifically, a few clients are facing difficult situations with select key staff members. These tough situations are requiring top management to either put the Values Statements to work, or allow the Statements to simply be exquisite artwork and alienate their workforce. Let me explain. One of the fundamental steps we take with clients when helping...

Leadership Development and Succession Planning: They’re Not Just HR’s Responsibility

Jul 24, 2012 | Leadership Development

We're making headway, but many executive managers in the public and private sectors still believe the human resources department is primarily responsible for leadership development and succession planning. It's a shame to say it, but those organizations are going to face a long, hard road ahead. The longer executive management continues this limited mindset, the further behind their organizations will be in developing their future leaders and their organizations' succession plans. You see,...

Developing Your Future Leaders: It’s Your Responsibility

May 8, 2012 | Leadership Development

Many business owners still believe their Human Resources (HR) department is primarily responsible for developing their organization's future leaders. However, the longer these business owners keep this limited mindset, the further behind their organizations become. You see, this crucial activity is not primarily HR's responsibility, it's ours - the business owners - and that scares the heck out of most business owners. So, as business owners, if developing our organization's future leaders is...

Accountability Allows Leadership

Apr 24, 2012 | Leadership Development

A senior manager recently asked what the difference was between a manager and a leader. I told her: "A manager is responsible for taking care of the here and now. A manager ensures the resources are used efficiently, and plans for maximum utilization of staff, equipment, materials, and capital. A manager knows how to multi-task and deal with ever-shifting priorities. A leader focuses on "What's coming next and how to take advantage of it?" Given that definition, she said, "I'm...