Leadership is an endlessly fascinating topic because it’s one of those things that we recognize when we see it in action, but it’s frustratingly difficult to define or quantify in terms we can all agree upon. What does a great leader do that a not-so-great leader doesn’t do? What does a not-so-great leader do that
Why can’t we ever get anything done around here?
Our last posting talked about BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) and we asked, “What’s Your New Year’s BHAG?” But achieving a BHAG is just like keeping a New Year’s resolution: it’s all in the execution. It’s all in the doing. It’s one thing to dream up a BHAG, it’s quite another to put the wheels
How does your leadership style make people feel?
Bruna Martinuzzi is a consultant who specializes in teaching leadership and presentation skills. She is also the author of two books, and while I have not read either book, I have read an article she published recently with the rather long-winded title, “If your leadership aura could use some polishing, try these 7 tips for
“Accountability breeds response-ability.”
In our last posting, we talked about execution . . . about the need for meticulous planning, thorough and detailed communication of our plans, and after-the-fact review to determine what went right and what didn’t in an effort to continuously improve our execution skills and abilities. We probably should have preceded that discussion with one
Tear down those information silos!
In a recent Time magazine article entitled “We’ve All Got GM Problems,” columnist Rana Foroohar talks about General Motors’ recall problems. She says the problems came to a head because the people and departments involved “literally weren’t communicating with one another.” She chalks up those problems to “a systemic problem in most big corporations as
“The art of communication is the language of leadership.”
Get your workforce engaged! (104) In this fourth and final installment of our series on developing an “engaged” workforce, we’re going talk about the need for effective communication. We touched on communication in the first installment of this series when we said, “Your values, mission, and vision need to be in writing, and they need
Meetings, Bloody Meetings
Meetings get a bad rap. And in many cases, they should! When they’re boring, pointless, poorly orchestrated, and a waste of everyone’s time, they should get a bad rap. But when they’re done right, meetings can (and should) be vital tools for debate, problem solving, communication, and coordination. If you believe meetings at your place
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”
In his outstanding book, Great by Choice, Jim Collins relates the story of Howard Putnam, a former CEO of Southwest Airlines. Putnam institutionalized the Southwest Airlines’ “recipe” for success. His “recipe” was not a strategic plan or a vision or a mission statement, but a carefully thought-out list of operating principles. That list included: Utilize
“Communication is to leadership as the swing is to golf; everyone can do it, but few do it well.”
Consistently, “being in the know” ranks near the top of employee satisfaction surveys. People want to know what’s going on around here. They want to know what their part is. They want to know how events, both good and bad, are impacting the company. And why shouldn’t they? After all, it’s their company and their
