A Simple Way To Test Strategic Alignment

I am becoming more and more convinced that alignment is the number one factor in organizational health.  Yes, everyone has a purpose and a strategy with lots of people and process.  The real question is how does all of those moving pieces work together effectively.  The HBR post is excellent: Read more…

5 Leadership Lessons Learned From The Military

For leaders to be effective they have to possess both a will and the ability to lead others well.  The character part is what ultimately determines the outcome and this post by Jeff Boss in Forbes is one of the best I have seen in a long time: “Leaders—true leaders—aren’t Read more…

How To Avoid Becoming A Weak Leader

By definition a leader is someone who can inspire others to follow their direction.  Sadly, that criteria does not prevent the leader from leading people to make a bad decision and follow down the wrong path.  Many times the character of the leader is the determining factor and this post Read more…

How To Connect With Millennial Employees

In my opinion millennial employees get a bad rap primarily because they are misunderstood not because they under perform.  Situational leadership teaches us that we should lead every person differently based on the context and improve our communication where everyone can reach their potential.  This Forbes post is very helpful: Read more…

Hire Winners Not Whiners

In the old days of the Industrial Age model of leadership everything was pretty simple.  The leaders made all of the decisions and the followers did all of the work.  There were very clearly identified lines of authority and policies and procedures for everyone. The major goal of the company Read more…

How Does Executive Coaching Really Work

I really enjoy speaking and training about leadership development.  The most rewarding part of what I do is coaching, where I can invest one on one time with someone in a more targeted approach to help them reach their full potential.  Coaching is about asking questions that will help you Read more…

Great Leaders Practice Feedforward

Almost every serious organization uses some form of feedback to evaluate the performance of their top leadership team.  This usually works best in a 360 type environment where the person receives feedback from superiors, peers and subordinates as well. The concept of feedforward was developed by Marshall Goldsmith in his Read more…

3 Absolutes In Hiring The Right People

I just finished writing a recommendation for someone on Linkedin that reminded me of what is absolutely critical when considering someone for your team.  When I hire someone I am always looking for three major things that are very important to me.  If any one of these is missing then Read more…