Do you know who made the china you are drinking your tea from as you read this column? Your great grandfather would not only have known the artisan who made his cup but also would have gone into his shop, admired his work and thanked him for his fine craftsmanship. The mass production society has [...]
The growing yet controversial trend of gamifying the workplace to immediately acknowledge and reward employee behavior is, quite frankly, disturbing. The idea is that the use of gaming strategies in employee engagement can influence behavior and motivation. Let’s say you have just won a new sales account. You have now racked up enough points to be [...]
In past columns I have asked, “Who does the best thinking in your organization?” The purpose of these questions is to focus on two different and yet important types of thinking: Creative thinking that generates new ideas that can be exploited for the growth and prosperity of the business, and analytic or critical thinking to [...]
"My main job was developing talent. I was a gardener providing water and other nourishment to our top 750 people. Of course, I had to pull out some weeds, too." – Jack Welch "If you don’t invest the time to do it correctly today, you will spend more time and money in repairing mistakes tomorrow." [...]
The Family Business Center at the University of New Hampshire has put together “Nine Helpful Steps Toward Succession in a Family Owned Business:” You will notice that all of the steps' major components are “human capital” issues. These steps are valid for family owned business but most are also valid for any closely held business. [...]
We recently discussed ways in which your organization could tap into its creative resources. I mentioned a few resources and strategic plans that could be put into action to achieve the creative results that any Fortune 500 company would be proud to obtain. Today, we're going to talk a little more about getting creativity from your [...]
According to a recent study by the Ken Blanchard companies, the costs associated with ineffective leadership run approximately 7% of gross revenues per year. Think about it; if the company has revenues of $3 million per year but they are not being lead and managed well they are losing approximately $210,000 per year of gross [...]
In my work with Jim Horan, founder and chief architect of The One Page Business Plan (tm), I have become enamored with his question, "Who does the best thinking in your organization?" This question not only makes leaders think, but often act very differently. Good leaders recognize that if they are the best thinkers then [...]
About two years ago I was asked to evaluate some up and coming executives for a client. One of the people was destined to be international sales manager on a fast track. After meeting with individual and discovering her background and career aspirations we completed a more formal assessment process including personality and intellectual testing [...]
Earlier we had talked about how businesses can benefit from cultivating their own leaders. There is no doubt that much can be said for molding managers from your existing employee pool. Many companies do want to promote from within, fully understanding the benefits of internal growth opportunities, but not all businesses understand how to develop [...]