so your vision is never lost.
LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS
Mentorships are, in their essence, about how the past and present interact with the future. They are about taking accumulated wisdom, both personal and institutional, and giving it to the next generation of workers. The process is more complex than that, though. Mentoring isn’t about presenting hidebound and static wisdom, but about adapting the wisdom to contemporary and future challenges. It is strange, then, that so many mentorship programs are static, and focus only on one style of mentorship. Certain […]
Do you remember talking about the “fight or flight” instinct in school? Have you seen it in action? During a team meeting recently, one person intended to “fight” and as the intensity of the interaction increased, it led to another team member to take “flight”. One was blaming, accusing and increasing the volume and intensity of their voice and the other person chose to stand up, walk out of the meeting, get in their vehicle and leave. While not optimal […]
At some point or another, we’ve all probably worked under a toxic leader. Whether they micromanaged your every move (“15 minute intervals for time reporting seems too lax–let’s move to 10”) or were unresponsive to your feedback (“I don’t have time to read all the suggestions that fly at me everyday; we have deadlines to meet!”), leaders can develop harmful habits in their leadership style that they need to recognize and correct before it hurts employee morale and impacts productivity. […]
It oftentimes seems that the qualities of a leader – a visionary who makes bold decisions and guides others in accomplishing their goals – are factors of personality, something you’re either born with or not. But leadership qualities aren’t static traits. They’re more than just qualities, really: they’re skills. Skills can be cultivated, practiced, and nurtured. The best way to develop leadership skills is with hands on experience. Luckily, everyday life is filled with opportunities to work on your own […]
Sometimes your best partner is your competitor. If you’re in a competitive industry that’s facing an economic downturn, partnering with another company in trouble could be just the thing to revitalize your business. The revival of American Airlines[1. “American Airlines soars from bankruptcy to S&P 500 club,” March 17, 2015, http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/17/investing/american-airlines-stock-sp500/] is an excellent example of how competitors can work together to overcome hard economic times.
Creativity is a like a muscle. If it doesn’t get exercise, it can atrophy, and a weakened muscle can’t be called upon to lift at the drop of the hat. That’s a problem in the office: we’re just not using our brains creatively at work all that much. In fact, on average, people only spend 25 percent of their time at work in creative endeavors.[1. “The Global Creativity Gap,” http://www.creativityatwork.com/2012/04/23/the-global-creativity-gap/] That makes it really difficult for people to be suddenly creative when […]
Brace yourself for a troubling statistic: a recent Gallup poll found that only 35 percent of employees are engaged in their work. What’s worse, research shows that when managers are disengaged, it has a cascade effect on the employees they manage, leading to less engagement over all. [1. “U.S. Employee Engagement Unmoved in June at 31.9%,” http://www.gallup.com/poll/184061/employee-engagement-unmoved-june.aspx?g_source=EMPLOYEE_ENGAGEMENT&g_medium=topic&g_campaign=tiles] With all the effort good leaders expend trying to create a welcoming, engaging atmosphere for managers and employees — everything from ping pong tables […]
A Job Should Be More Than Just a Job: Creating Enthusiasm for Your Company’s Shared Sense of Purpose
Next time you need a quick break, take a walk through your company’s office space. What’s the mood like? Are your employees engaged, excited, and inspired? Or are they tuned out, tapping away on iPhones and counting down the minutes until they can head home? If you see the latter, it could be because your employees don’t connect their day-to-day work with any greater meaning. Employees who find meaning in their work are more likely to exhibit higher levels of […]
Do you remember what it was like to be the scrappy young upstart in your company? You were probably full of ideas and boundless energy — but you were most likely overwhelmed by all the things you didn’t even know you didn’t know: how to navigate office politics, how to snag that promotion, how to make that pivot into a different path within your company. That’s where your mentor came in. A leader within the company who knew the ropes […]