Peter Costa offers his perspective on leadership and management and why you need them both. What do you think of when you see the word “management”? Probably nothing good.  Management seems to have become a dirty word, the antithesis of what a real leader is supposed to be. I believe it’s time to rethink that view.  To be a truly effective leader, you need to develop a full suite of both leadership AND management skills. Leadership is the act of…

Sherif El-Henaoui shares an article on decision-making, why we often make the wrong choice, and why we think it’s the right one.  Often managers mix up tough decision with right ones by thinking them taking a tough decision that this is the right thing to do. Let’s me explain what I mean with an example: If I can’t pay the expenses of my house, I may think that I could decide disconnecting the electricity from my house to save money….

Mark Ledden shares a company post that can help develop a strategy to drive culture change.  This is the final installment of a three-part series of articles describing Kenning’s 3D Culture process, which focuses on the Development phase of the process. In the previous two articles we described the Diagnose and Design phases (the first two “D’s” of the 3D process), and made the case that, while culture “happens” in any organization organically (sometimes for better, sometimes for worse), culture…

Stephanie Soler provides key questions that guide the development of an effective coaching plan. One of the essential tasks of a leader is to coach those who work for you. When it comes to creating coaching plans, most leaders are incomplete. They focus on simply identifying 2-3 development areas and checking in on them. The most effective coaching plans tap into what really matters to the employee, and address the root causes of what’s getting in the way. Here are…

Nora Ghaoui explains why there are benefits to being on the outside looking in.  When you’re trying to tackle a business challenge, what you can solve and how you can solve it depends on the position that you are in, not on the skills that you have. As I have switched roles between management and consulting, I have learned that when you’re on the inside (as a manager) you can’t use the tools from the outside (of a consultant) and…

David Hensley shares an article on management and leadership styles.  We’ve observed – as we’re sure you have – that different managers and leaders have very different management/leadership styles. And that those styles don’t always fit the expectations of their organisations. We’ve also noted that whilst the miscommunication and dysfunctionality that a mis-match causes in an organisation is a common topic for discussion, particularly around the water fountain or in the bar after work, there is typically little analytical discussion…

  Robyn Bolton recently had an article published in Forbes that is designed to help business leaders and managers get the best results from proactive employees.  One of the first pieces of professional advice many people receive from their managers is, “Bring me solutions, not problems.” From my perspective, this is good coaching because it teaches people to be problem-solvers, to think critically about the problems they see and to take ownership for solving them. But if you have ever…

  David Hensley shares a post on management that looks at the socio-political environment, the capabilities of the leader, and the alignment of the organisations’ people, policies and systems as the basis for the development of three paradigms. We’ve observed – as we’re sure you have – that different managers and leaders have very different management/leadership styles. And that those styles don’t always fit the expectations of their organisations. We’ve also noted that whilst the miscommunication and dysfunctionality that a…

  Surbhee Grover takes a moment to think about the future and how the Coronavirus will change the way we work and live.   Our lives, as we’ve known them, have come to a grinding halt. What will the world look like when the music starts again? In the time we are not obsessing with COVID-19 updates, or trying to revive the business; ensure availability of dog food (and wine), and survive homeschooling, some of us are starting to wonder…

  Diane Mulcahy interviews Krystal Hicks to find out why some companies don’t hire remote employees, and how the Gig Economy has shifted the power balance between employers and employees.   Krystal Hicks is the founder of JOBTALK, a company that grew out of her side gig providing talent, recruiting, and job-hunting advice to companies and individuals. Before going out on her own, she managed U.S. Talent Acquisition for the Swiss chocolate maker Lindt, and was the former Director of…

To inspire successful innovation, Kaihan Krippendorff explains why the composition of the founding team is crucial and why the first step should be to find a sherpa. He provides six questions to help you assess and secure a powerful advocate to lead the team. That historic moment when the perfect team unifies beyond an opportunity, pregnant with possibility, is the essential scene of any great innovation legend: think Jobs and Wozniak when they created Apple, Gates and Allen with Microsoft,…

Geoff Wilson explains what Andrew Luck’s recent retirement from football should teach executives about protecting top talent. If you are an organizational leader who is leaning on a few star talents surrounded by a supporting cast of also-rans to ‘gut it out’ on a daily basis, you are playing a very dangerous game. Because when your top talent has had enough–when you have extracted enough of their soul by asking them to jump on yet another grenade dropped by a poor…

Dan Markovitz provides a reality check on the concept of management by walking around (MBWA); how the leaders at organizations embracing lean take a different approach, and why the latter is better than the former. Theodore Kinni argues in Strategy + Business that leaders must practice management by walking around (MBWA), a concept popularized by Tom Peters and Bob Waterman in their seminal book, In Search of Excellence. That’s the best way for them to stay connected to their businesses…