Martin Pergler shares an article on interviewing experts to ensure best results. Building strategic or financial planning models invariably involves agreeing on forward-looking estimates for crucial assumptions using #expertinsight, sometimes as single-point estimates, sometimes as multiple #scenarios, and sometimes as (approximate) probability distributions. Unfortunately, the way experts are interviewed often significantly limits the information gained from them, especially due to a style of questioning that activates human biases in dealing with #uncertainty and ignores experts’ wisdom about underlying dynamics. Here…

Susan Meier shares corporate (and life) advice wrapped up in memory. After 75 years of frowning at fish, my father shocked me by booking an omakase sushi lunch for his birthday. My dad had always been a steakhouse guy, a meat-and-potatoes man. Over the years, I’d tried to get him to eat fish, to no avail. Salmon. (Fish is good for you!). Tuna. (You have to eat healthier!) Tilapia. (It doesn’t even taste like fish!) Now, as I watched him…

Jason Schenker shares one in a series of articles designed to help authors write their book in under 30 days. This post offers key tips of overcoming the mindsets and misconceptions that stop writers finishing (or even starting) their book.  You know what a good book is? A done book. That’s something all good books have in common. And unless you actually write and complete your book, you have nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. So, your number one priority when…

In this article, Caroline Taich explains how to identify unique strengths to drive change. In this blog, we have been exploring the McKinsey model for change. Last week I wrote about conviction as a driver of change.  This week I’m thinking about the skills you need for change.  Here is a big one – the ability to see your unique strengths. This came up during the wonderful opportunity I had to learn from Councilman Matt Zone.  Councilman Zone serves Ward…

Take a trip with Teddy Daiell on this fun ride down a rabbit hole of short, thought-provoking links and quotes on the mental models we use to solve problems. “Short Description: When solving problems, we rely heavily on the tools that are most familiar to us. Long(er) Description: “…if we are not mindful, and if we do not remain sceptical, tools become ingrained in our systems and mindsets, and ultimately supplant purpose.” (Humanistic Systems) Related Examples: Professional Advisors & Experts…

In this evergreen article, Sherif El-Henaoui takes a moment to explore the ever-present problem of judging without knowledge. … they will never know. When they try, they will always learn. I watch people dislike Airbnb, Tripadvisor, Uber, Twitter, alibaba, etc.. No problem disliking something in life except when one doesn’t have any clue about it… In recent times I have been facing people, who discredit things they don’t understand even worse they don’t want to understand. If one never has…

In this insightful article, Indranil Ghosh shares a quick review of building civilization, how the focus and values have changed, and how we can move forward with 7 Principles of Prosperity. It began, anthropologists tell us, with the pig. From the beginning of human history, humans hunted meat and gathered grains, berries and the other staples of their survival, vulnerable to the whims of predators and the environment. However, about 13,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, hunters began capturing rather than…

In this article, Davide Gronchi highlights the importance of mindset in business. In my past 10 years spent optimizing the design of industrial investments, I have come across a broad variety of situations with many differences and few commonalities. From 20 to 20,000 mio USD in value, from tiny vaccines molecules to 800t mining excavators, from “one large investment every 10 years” to teams with heavy 1000-pages Capex manuals, from small start-up to super structured and complex hundred-years-old multinationals have…

In this article, Bernie Heine shares sensible reminders on how to avoid burnout as a business owner. As a business owner, you enjoy the significant benefit of governing your work independently, including setting your own schedule. However, the current trend of a constant connection to work may not be as good for you as you may think. In fact, it’s likely to cause severe anxiety and weariness. Meeting clients’ expectations while managing various daily tasks involved in running a thriving…

If the art of facilitation eludes you, Guillermo Herbozo can help you improve your skills with this article that identifies how a great facilitator operates.  In the context of a huddle, there are several things great facilitators do. As a reminder, we define a huddle as a short, recurring training session that is focused on building skills, one well-defined topic at a time. These sessions are led by team leaders (e.g., supervisors) and have a limited number of participants. For…

Aneta Key shares an evergreen article that explains how to play boss and the benefits gained from doing so. This blog post is a part of a larger Success habits collection that demystifies the “secret sauce” expectations that define a high performer at work. In this specific blog post, I illustrate the idea of taking top management perspective, which I defined in an earlier blog post. Play the boss for a moment Executives have a long list of expectations, all…

Tommy Kim shares an article he co-wrote with Christopher Kim that is all about searching for the most important brand.  There is little in this world that is completely unattainable. The world is your oyster. As you look through college or graduate school catalogues, researching companies you want to start your career or transition into a senior leadership role, I am sure that you have voices in your head urging you to follow your dreams. On the other hand, you…

Teddy Daiell shares an article designed to develop the practice of questioning every assumption you think you know about a given problem with first principles thinking.  Short Description: Reduce a complex situation down to its core, objective facts, removing any subjective preconceptions and assumptions, and then employ reason and logic to reach novel conclusions. Long(er) Description: “[Separate] the underlying ideas or facts from any assumptions based on them. What remains are the essentials. If you know the first principles of…

In this article, Jessica Lackey explains the difference between grit and grind to help you improve your performance. I talk about “growing without the grind” for individuals and businesses, and in my talks I sometimes reference magic, manifestation, and the power of recovery. How we can make leaps forward without it being a consistent, unrelenting slog. So I usually get one question. “I don’t believe in The Secret, the idea that you can just believe it and it will come…

Mark Ledden shares a company podcast and transcript from the Women in Tech series on her strategic style as a leader, challenges of scale and complexity, and what we need to know about risk.  In this installment of our Women in Tech Series, Kenning Partner Cathy Boeckmann talks with Abby Kearns. Abby is a C-level business and technology executive who has held top roles at Puppet, Cloud Foundry Foundation, and Pivotal Software, to name just a few of the influential…

Just in case you have too much time, money, and credibility, Dan Markovitz shares a short  article that will cost you none of the above but will help you learn how to squander it.  Just in case 2020 wasn’t challenging enough for you, here’s a brilliant example of how to waste time, money, and credibility in 2021. The HR department at a company approached me recently about teaching employees process mapping. This company recognizes the utility of process mapping in…

While transitioning into a new position can be stressful, Loddie Foose shares facts and data on career transitions that may help the jump be an exuberant one.  I left in shame, quietly.” My heart ached as I listened to the thoughtful woman in front of me describing what it was like to quit her job at a large analytics and consulting firm. She had internalized it as a personal failure, and was now facing the unknowns of what she would…

In this article, Stephanie Soler explains how a simple shift in communication can help you to become both a trusted and respected leader. As children, we learn the Golden Rule: treat others the way you want to be treated. There’s a major flaw in this thinking, and I see it again and again as I work with executives who struggle to connect with and influence the people around them. The simple truth is that people are different. We can actually…

In this article, Ramesh Subramanian explains why infrastructure engineers should start thinking like software developers. Several years ago I started my career as a C++ programmer but to be relevant as a software engineer today would require many more software engineering skills. The same logic holds for Infrastructure engineers. About 94% of enterprises (and 50% of Governments) use some form of cloud (private/public) today. And as per an estimate from Forbes, 83% of workloads will be in the cloud by…

In this article, Caroline Taich shares how to avoid a critical mistake when setting up your strategic planning process. Much of my work involves strategic planning. Over the years I have observed that there are different kinds of strategic plans, and different views on what constitutes an excellent plan. This can lead to trouble when it comes with a mismatch of expectations within one team.I wonder, why is there so much difference? There is probably a long list of reasons….

Priyanka Ghosh shares an article on the art of storytelling and how to use it when applying for jobs of pitching your projects.  Traveling back in time, the art of storytelling began with oral narratives told from generation to generation. And as with the passing of time, the oral narratives evolved further to accommodate wall carvings, pictures, tools and other memorabilia.  With the invention of paper and script, the process of storytelling eventually was transferred to manuals, writs and books….

Greg Hennessy shares an article on how to best provide support for friends and colleagues.  If you are anything like me, you do your best to support your family, friends, and colleagues in times of need or propel them to new heights in times of growth and opportunity. But with so many things to juggle in life, I occasionally find myself running on “autopilot” when I should be listening, learning, and shaping my support to the situation at hand.  Like…

How do you know that you are on track for large aggressive goals? This article from Joy Fairbanks will help you measure traction on tough goals. Founders, if you are asked to set 2-3 milestones for your startup within a 6-12 month timeframe, what would they be?  Customer targets?  Revenue levels?  Geographic expansion?  Capital raise?  How would you know if you are on track on a monthly or weekly basis?  Would you use the same targets allocated in smaller achievable…

In this article shared by Duane Capuano, key thoughts on strategic planning provide a roadmap for associates to achieve success. Countless association executive teams dedicate significant time and resources to strategic planning. But too often, great ideas and plans stay trapped in the notebook and are quickly moved to the back burner – reduced in priority by more pressing day-to-day management and operational demands. The need for implementation of forward-looking strategic plans is real and more pressing than ever. Today’s…

Jessica Lackey shares a sage reminder designed to inspire you to keep on walking your talk. A post of yours gets only a handful of likes. Your newsletter list is growing oh so slowly. You get no feedback for a presentation or a meeting you prepared so hard for. And yet…. The clients you are working with start echoing back your words to you. Or your team and peers start mirroring your behavior. Colleagues and friends start picking up books…

In this article, Geoff Wilson shares how the secret to success lies under your feet. If you have spent more than a few minutes with me, then you likely have heard me chatter on about my passion for the game of golf dating back to when I started playing seriously twenty years ago. In my experience in the professional world, I am often struck by how many of the lessons I’ve learned playing golf apply to the work I do…

If ‘free time’ is a long forgotten concept, Susan Hamilton Meier offers a few ways to escape the confinement of the mind.   In a world where many of us are fundamentally rethinking the need to be tethered to the traditional constraints of “work” and people around the world are fighting for rights they yearn for or have lost, I have been thinking a lot about freedom. Freedom is one of my personal core values. The right to define yourself and…

In this article, David A. Fields helps you hone your focus and remember why you’re doing what you do.  Who is the one person your consulting firm needs to serve? Long-time readers (and even short time readers) know that consulting Rule #1 is… Consulting isn’t about YOU, it’s about THEM—your prospects and clients. However, while your consulting firm needs to attract and create value for your clients, it doesn’t serve them. The person your consulting firm needs to serve is……

Marc Bachs Castan co-wrote this article on the compounding benefits of long-term thinking. To eat or not to eat the marshmallow, that is the question You are 4 years old. Instead of taking you to the playground like any other day, your parents take you to a building you have never been to before. You are in a room with a man who gives you a marshmallow and tells you that you can either eat it now or wait for…

In this article, Amy Giddon identifies the connection between curiosity and courage.  “Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.” — Brené Brown We’re having trouble seeing each other these days. It’s always been hard to show up in our full complexity and contradictions, and now we have social media further tempting us to filter and edit our stories. We fear the judgment in the comments section and hang on every “like,” only sharing what fits our narrative….

Jeffery Perry shares an article on the mutual benefits of mentor-mentee relationships. Throughout the career development journey for most professionals, the value of having a mentor as a guiding light, advisor, and counselor has been regularly noted. Most mentors also highlight the personal satisfaction they receive from playing this role in the lives of others. However, mentors also benefit in many other ways that may be overlooked. When these benefits are fully recognized, it further elevates the mentor-mentee relationship to…

In this interview with Lawrence Yeo, Paul Millerd explores visual storytelling, creativity, and the concept of the practical creator. Being an undeclared major till his senior year of college, Lawrence didn’t really know what he wanted to do. After looking up which jobs make the most money, he decided to declare as an economics major, leading him to explore Investment Banking. While he didn’t end up working in investment banking, he was still pulled by the power of prestige, something…

In this article published in Forbes, Sindhu Kutty explains why it is so important to learn how to give and receive feedback graciously.  In Star Trek: The Next Generation, the first time Captain Picard meets his first officer, Will Riker, he asks him to do something moderately challenging: dock the battleship section without using any of the available automation. In the next scene, Picard confronts Riker about challenging a former captain. Riker explains his rationale and the scene ends with…

If you feel you need to up the mental input at work, Jared Simmons has the solution.  Albert Einstein was famous for using thought experiments to consider abstract ideas. These were hypothetical situations that would help him to develop simple theories to explain the complex forces in our universe. His theory of special relativity came from considering what would happen if he were to chase a light beam. His understanding of gravity as a form of acceleration came from thinking…

In this article, Susan Drumm shares unexpected productivity tips for leaders and CEOs.  Are productivity tips for leaders different from productivity tips for everybody else? Most of us struggle with the same productivity pitfalls, regardless of job title. We all wish there were more hours in the day and fewer emails. We’re all distracted by notifications on our phones and we’re all equally bad at multitasking. (Multiple studies now prove that human brains simply weren’t designed for heavy-duty multitasking!).  As…

In this concise and timeless post, Amanda Setili shares a few thoughts on uncertainty and risk. Some of our kiteboarding friends stayed, to take advantage of the pre-hurricane wind. Rob and I made the decision to evacuate with mom to a hotel in the small town of Waycross, GA. This experience brought me to consider how each of us thinks differently about risk and uncertainty. I’ve noticed that people who are comfortable dealing with uncertainty are more successful in the…

Jeremy Greenberg shares a company post that may help your skills as an interviewer. The GOATs of Interview: How Oprah Winfrey and Howard Stern Get People to Open Up Interviewing is one of the most effective ways to get to know something about someone in a formal setting. The script is simple: question and answer. It seems straightforward: take a skilled interviewer, ask the right questions, follow intriguing conversational leads, and facilitate an insightful conversation. Leading an interview is both…

In this article, Joana Domingues shares professional insights on coaching gathered from years of executive coaching in dozens of organizations. An insightful experience with an executive coaching client: 4 special ingredients As a team, we have thousands of hours of individual executive coaching over decades and in dozens of organisations. One of the experiences we are experiencing now stands out for its positive nature. After hearing the enthusiasm of the CEO and HRD for the important evolutions they observed in…

James Black shares insights gained from years of experience as an independent consultant. Seven years ago, I put up my shingle and set up an LLC to work as an independent consultant, working on growth strategies, marketing strategies, and insights for clients. During this time, I’ve learned a lot about the space, and myself, and wanted to share my perspectives with others. 1. Define the target market you’re seeking to serve (and periodically revisit it). At P&G, everything started with…

Rahul Bhargava shares the story of David Reynolds and how it relates to the study of intrapersonal intelligence. It is important to determine a person’s intelligence at the early stage of life. In doing so, they can receive proper guidance to achieve success in their respective fields. To enhance the intelligence we possess, intrapersonal intelligence plays a very crucial role. A person should follow a set of guidelines in his life to increasing productivity, concentration, and a positive outlook towards…

Linsly Donnelly takes a step forward into the world of positive media with this article that shares links to positive and empowering resources. As a mom of a  girl sandwiched between two strong personality brothers, it’s a priority for us to encourage our daughter to maintain her own voice and carry her own definition of independence. In light of this, we’ve rounded up some of the best media resources specifically for girls. Here’s just a sample: Our lullaby…The Princess Who…

Brittany Blackamore shares her strategy on how to achieve New Year’s resolutions.  I love New Year’s resolutions. While some people find most resolutions silly and unachievable, I have experienced a very high success rate of achieving my resolutions, once I learned to make my goals realistic and measurable. When making resolutions to improve, whether at the New Year or any other time, it helps to set realistic and measurable goals to ensure you set yourself up for success. The most…

Anubhav Raina shares one post in a series of three that identifies key tactics to improve your organisation’s ability to negotiate and influence negotiations. If you have a good idea about your counterparty’s personal narrative & a good sense of how you could expand the pie for yourself, it’s time to work through the actual proposal at hand. A proposal will always consist of an “ask” (what the counterparty’s is being asked to do) and a “reward” (what the counterparty…

Zaheera Soomar shares an article that explains how individuals and minorities can affect the decision-making process when seeking employment. I came across a few Linked in posts about candidate experiences and organizations requests in recruitment. I read through the comments to see how others felt and it didn’t leave me feeling comfortable. I tried to reflect and dig deep about why I’m feeling uncomfortable. I reflected on my past experiences in both joining organizations but also in hiring individuals to…

Amanda Setili shares an article on the pitfalls of comparison and a competitive mindset. Earlier this week, I was on a group Zoom with executive coach Marshall Goldsmith when he posed a particularly provocative question: why is it that incredibly affluent individuals continue to engage in insider trading? Marshall then offered a theory. The way income is distributed, the closer you get to the top of the heap, the further you are from the next person in front of you….

As 2023 takes off, Xavier Lederer asks you to consider what you should stop doing this year. Each time the New Year rolls around and I sit down to do my annual resolutions, I reflect back to a lesson taught me by a remarkable teacher,” shares best-selling author and researcher Jim Collins. Are you busy or are you disciplined? He continues: “One day, she pointed to my ferocious work pace and said, “I notice, Jim, that you are a rather…

Jacob Lehman shares an important reminder that good fortune helps many a career and how his has not been derailed by the mistakes that he’s made, and the privilege of being white.  When I was sixteen, I forgot about a knife that was in my pocket as I walked into a state courthouse for a Mock Trial competition. I was pulled out of the competition, interrogated by an officer for over an hour, and received a “warn and dismiss” from…

Marc Bachs Castan shares an article he co-wrote with and was published on DataDrivenInvestor.  Disclaimer: We are not investment advisors. All opinions are ours alone. There are risks involved in placing any investment. None of the information presented in our articles is intended to form the basis for any offer or recommendation or have any regard to the investment objectives, financial situation or needs of any specific person, that includes you, dear reader. So everything you’re going to read is…

As the holidays come to an end, and a new work year approaches, Stephanie Soler shares a few tips on how to re-energize yourself and your team for the year ahead.  If you’re like most professionals I talk to at the end of the year, you’re feeling exhausted and depleted. And so is your team. Successful leaders can be very hard on themselves, applying perfectionism and criticism to push themselves to succeed. This toughness works. In the early phase of…

In this article, Jessica Lackey highlights the importance of taking time out of the daily grind to remember how to be human.  I almost didn’t take my own medicine. I preach about how we humans, we aren’t machines. How we are designed for seasons of bloom and seasons of rest instead of constant productivity. How cycles of expansion are followed by cycles of contraction, versus linear growth. How we aren’t meant to push through the pain, and certainly not alone….

Paul Millerd shares an article of encouragement and advice for all professionals and creatives who want to take a step into freelance life. 27 months ago, I wrote to you from a small apartment in Barcelona. I remember sitting down to write and looking out to a small but densely packed street alive with energy. I was writing issue #100 and it felt like a good excuse to be a bit bolder. In that issue, I made a call for…

Amy Giddon shares key findings from the book Lessons from the Geese on how to lead your team towards near-perfect formation. I was really nervous for my first staff meeting. I was a young vice president and had just been given a new role, one that quadrupled the number of people on my team and gave me oversight of a technical area beyond my current expertise. What should I say to the team? What would build their trust and confidence…

Robyn Bolton shares three mind-blowing things she learned in Nebraska. “In the Before Times, we attended conferences to learn, make connections, and promote ourselves and our businesses. Then COVID hit, and conferences became virtual.   Although that made them easier to attend, it also made them easier to skip. Because, if we’re honest, most conferences were more about connecting and promoting than learning. Last week, I went to one of those rare, almost mythical, conferences more focused on learning and…

Since the beginning of 2022, James Stranko has been on the road and writing articles about his travels. In this post, he shares where he has been and what he has learned.  Where I’ve been New York City, which continues to be a leading light in the post-Covid travel recovery. In the last two weeks, I sat in one sold-out Broadway and one sold-out off-Broadway show. More importantly, I had the only-in-New-York feeling of being in a restaurant where diners…

Tommy Kim shares an article from his book that asks insightful questions to help you develop the most important brand – your own.  There is little in this world that is completely unattainable. The world is your oyster. As you look through college or graduate school catalogues, researching companies you want to start your career or transition into a senior leadership role, I am sure that you have voices in your head urging you to follow your dreams. On the…

Rahul Bhargava shares an article and advice on how to stay motivated by following the strategies of high output achievers.  Few years back, I was part of a ‘merger/acquisition management’ project. These projects are unusually stressful. As a professional, you are not sure of your next role for weeks or months. It’s like the phase after an exam and before the results. One just waits, and waits. The numerous failed attempts of mine always keeps me curious about the secrets…

Start your week with the right mindset. Amanda Setili shares a perfect post for a Monday morning.  “Some beliefs become so ingrained that we don’t even question them. We just count them as truths. These unexamined beliefs can imprison us.” Key points include: We all do this We should learn to dismiss the negative thoughts that hold us back Trust that the integrity of our actions has the impact to carry us onwards and upwards   Access the link to…

In this article, Marja Fox explains how learning is a skill to be mastered and provides a few key tips to improve learning capabilities.  At the beginning of every new consulting project, McKinsey teams gel through an activity known as Team Learning. Among other things, each individual is asked to share their strengths, something they are really good at that they would bring to the table. And, I never had any idea what to say. I’d never felt that I…

In this article, Jared Simmons shares useful advice that can help you deal with difficult conversations at work. At some point in your career, you’ll be faced with the need to have a tough conversation with a colleague, boss, or team member. There are countless guides on how to master these conversations, what to do and what not to do. Here are some things I try to keep in mind as I prepare to have a tough conversation, or suddenly…

Kaihan Krippendorff shares an article that identifies how employees can increase their employability using the “influence formula” regardless of how unemployment rates fluctuate. In the war for talent, talent is winning. Unemployment has not been this low since 1968. Employers are paying 20% compensation premiums to hire new employees. And across nearly every industry, the number one challenge on the minds of executives is how to recruit and retain top talent. Some experts argue we are entering a new era…

Greg Hennessy shares an article drawn from systems thinking and the pattern of behavior that leads to a success silo for the successful.  How is it that those with power seem to gain even more of it over time? And why do the disadvantaged seem to lose what little power they have, becoming increasingly reliant on those in positions of influence? If these dynamics are based on either divine or natural law, as some might suppose, then nothing can be…

In this article, Susan Drumm provides concrete steps on how to find, request, and secure a sponsor to help guide your career growth. I recently led a powerful workshop for some of the top women CEOs in biotech who are building up the next generation of leaders. There’s one unmistakable method to advocate for women’s career development: sponsorship. After I shared my podcast episode on the importance of sponsoring women in the workplace, I received an overwhelming response from women…

We’ve all succumbed to the temptation of venting on social media, but in this post, Patrice Gorin’s question “who are you really talking to” may put the breaks on future online rants.  I once came across a great insight by Aristotle:  “Anybody can become angry, that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not within…

In this article, Brittany Blackamore shares a few professional tips on how to land your dream job and move your career forward. It’s recruiting season. This is the busiest time of year for me, when hundreds of students reach out and want to know how to get in. How can they break into a top management consulting firm? How did I pivot from a back-end role for an engineering company to a coveted leadership development program, promotion to a director,…

Marja Fox shares a blog post on the strengths-based approach to enhancing performance and fostering diversity. In a previous post, I laid out the case for a strengths-based approach to developing others: how it enhances performance and fosters diversity, what it is (and is not), what it requires of practitioners and what employee, coach and company get out of it. As strengths-based coaching has gained popularity, so too has it accumulated naysayers. While researching, I encountered a frequently-referenced source staking…

Caroline Taich shares an evergreen post on how to become a confident leader. Dave was one of my first clients as a management consultant. He was in a rotational leadership program at the regional utility. He became the leader of procurement for the construction services category overnight – without any training or preparation. My job was to guide him through the procurement process to identify cost savings. Dave was taking a risk. In this new role, he was going to…

Susan Hamilton Meier shares an evergreen article that identifies the benefits of making mistakes. We love a perfect score, a best in class, a success story. But reality is messy. That entrepreneur with the “overnight success” has been at it for 20 years. That best-selling author was first a failed musician. That “perfect marriage” has weathered a few serious rough patches. Messing up is, in fact, an essential component of success. Innovative companies invest in risky ideas, understanding that many…

Paul Millerd shares a thought-provoking article on the current culture that drives a myopic view of life, work, and the all-encompassing career path. Modern work critics blame Frederick Taylor for the hyper-optimization of the modern workplace. The accepted narrative is that Taylor kicked off a movement that looked at work as something that could be optimized and managed and that his efforts kick-started a 100+ year movement of steadily increasing optimization. Sounds good but it’s not true. Today’s hyper-optimized workplace…

Priyanka Ghosh shares an article that identifies eight essential qualities in an effective leader and how what shapes them makes them.  The stories you tell are the stories that define you.  As you travel through you career to create the well-paved road from individual contribution to team leader and finally to the leadership role that you covet, you learn to tell stories through your actions.  Actions those are synonymous with leading by example.  But largely, it is these stories that…

Susan Drumm tackles the problem of CEO imposter syndrome and provides valuable tips to help overcome the problem.  Is there such a thing as CEO Impostor Syndrome?  When most of us hear Impostor Syndrome we picture 20-somethings who are new to their fields and feeling out of their depth. We might imagine fresh-faced new hires, struggling through client interactions and meetings, worrying that they’ll be “found out.” What if I told you that 90% of CEOs have had Impostor Syndrome-type…

Jessica Lackey shares an article designed to help you find and leverage your talents and strengths. “I never truly considered what I was good at and how those experiences fit together. I just did the next job that I was asked to do.” There are personality tests and strengths assessments galore. And they can be very helpful to put language around our gifts, our strengths, our geniuses. But what they lack? How to use our gifts in context. How to…

Amanda Setili shares a podcast from her series Fearless Growth where she interviews Ken Blanchard and Randy Conley,  the authors of the new book, Simple Truths of Leadership: 52 Ways to Be a Servant Leader and Build Trust, on leadership. The world is in desperate need for a new model of leadership, say Ken Blanchard and Randy Conley. We have seen the results of self-centered leadership, the kind that loves power and status. They make the case that it’s just…

David A. Fields provides a useful article developed specifically to win your firm more consulting projects. If you travel any major highway (a.k.a. motorway) you have passed numerous tractor-trailers hauling freight from one destination to another. Tractor-trailers provide a helpful metaphor that you can employ to improve your consulting firm’s business development process. The tractor is where the power resides, and the trailer holds the valuable goods. (Cookies in the cab for you; cookies in the back for others.) Hang…

In the current environment of information saturation, Rahul Bhargava highlights the importance of critical thinking skills and how to improve them.  Now and then, every individual comes face to face with some challenge or a problem, which requires them to make a decision. For an entrepreneur, it could be something as simple as deciding a name for their venture or something as crucial as choosing a location for the office. If you’re an employee working for an organization, you could…

Brittany Blackamore shares an always relevant post on how to ace an interview.  Ready or not, recruiting season is here. For many candidates, this means they face the dreaded case interview. I remember the first time I attempted a case interview. I was in a case workshop at UCLA Anderson, and we were told to work in teams on a practice case. My classmate read my first prompt. I was already intimidated, and when the answer wasn’t immediately evident to…

Zaheera Soomar shares a post that explains why you should take a proactive approach to examining the culture before you buy into the organization. I came across a few Linked in posts about candidate experiences and organizations requests in recruitment. I read through the comments to see how others felt and it didn’t leave me feeling comfortable. I tried to reflect and dig deep about why I’m feeling uncomfortable. I reflected on my past experiences in both joining organizations but…

Tobias Baer explores a question many may have on their mind right now. This morning I found myself in disbelief and incredible sadness that once again, there is a war on European soil. What will it take to end it? In my psychology studies, I found a voice of authority that can give us a perspective in these dark hours. In her monumental, raging book “The Body in Pain,” Elaine Scarry, a distinguished writer frequently cited even by leading psychologists…

Jared Simmons shares an evergreen post on team management and managing stress.  There are a lot of individual motivations on a team, and they don’t always align with what that team has been tasked to do. Because of these variants, you may find yourself caring when others don’t about the project tasks at hand. A big part of managing projects is not convincing people to get on board, but rather finding ways to make the team’s priorities serve their personal…

Alistair Hodgett shares a post that asks how you end the work week and offers tips on how to make the pre-weekend break productive. The end of the work week can be many things: The end of a period of work, consisting of achievements and difficulties A transition to leisure time, activities or time with family and friends A preparation for the next working week, making plans, lists or priorities Each of these is worth observing to discover how you…

Sherif El-Henaoui explains why judgment inhibits growth. … they will never know. When they try, they will always learn. I watch people dislike Airbnb, Tripadvisor, Uber, Twitter, alibaba, etc.. No problem disliking something in life except when one doesn’t have any clue about it… In recent times I have been facing people, who discredit things they don’t understand even worse they don’t want to understand. If one never has taken an Uber ride, never bought or sold through Ebay, never…

As we head into a new year and the new normal is old news, we may be thinking about who we are and how we are going to move forward. Mirko Jens Luebke’s article on reputation management provides a few signposts.  Companies invest a significant amount of time and resources in creating and marketing brands that they hope will become household names. What are you willing to invest to do the same for your “Personal Brand”? As Tom Peters once…

Paul Millerd recently self-published a book, and in this article, he shares the process and the practical details that will be useful for anyone considering self-publishing. “#1 There is a big gap between publishing blog posts and “writing a book” I decided to write a book with the mindset of I will throw together some blog posts, edit them, smooth the rough edges and hit publish. I estimated this would take me about three months. I was wrong. Quickly, I…

A six-minute read from Kaihan Krippendorff on how to be more influential at work.  Whether you’re trying to get your dream job, convince your boss to give you more responsibility, get your colleagues excited about your idea, get neighbors to vote for your proposal, or simply persuade family members to consider somewhere new for vacation, your influencing skills are key. We all know this. And yet, few of us do it well because we fail to exercise the full breadth…

Rahul Bhargava shares key tips on how to improve your notetaking and increase the efficacy of your notes. Want to make notes that do not get lost with million others. Start to make smart notes. What is that? Learn all about note-taking for professionals. Opt for a strategy that works and builds a strong knowledge store. Whether we are reading a book, an informational article, or having a client conversation, making notes is vital. It helps in breaking down our…

Jeremy Greenberg shares an article published on Entrepreneur.com that offers three ways we can improve our performance through self-monitoring.  Tens of millions of us — two thirds of all American full-time workers — are now working from home. This often means we’ve had little direct supervision or oversight in months, away from our colleagues’ (and our boss’s) watchful eye. That may feel nice… but data shows that we perform better when we know we’re being observed. For example, in a…

Guillermo Herbozo shares a few key tips to ensure a positive outcome when conversing with a customer.  Most conversations, whether you’re in sales, customer service, retention or any other customer facing position, start with a greeting. Then they move along until close and follow up. Now, how often do you review the customer conversation practices in your organization to see how they can be improved? This post is an invitation to do precisely that. Its focus will be reviewing best…

Priyanka Ghosh shares a case study from her company blog on preparing for professional readiness.  SITUATION A leading business school in Dubai approached ProMelior to run a series of workshops and 1:1 sessions to prepare students for job interviews as they approached the end of their MBA program. Many of the students aspired to careers in management consulting, investment banking, investment management and other professional/ financial services. However, many of the students lacked a thorough understanding of what each type…

Darryl Stickel shares a few best practices for parents who want to improve the bond of trust with their children.  When it comes to trust, kids are a special case.  They tend to trust us more than they should when they are young and less than they should as they mature.  Unfortunately, our kids tend to trust us least when they could use our guidance the most.  As they mature they are making life changing decisions and at risk for…

Bernie Heine offers advice on balancing analytical and emotional intelligence. Our Neural Networks Don’t Have to be Rivals. In times like these, we are all stressed, fearful, and worried for ourselves and others. Our people are concerned about their jobs and providing for their families. More globally, we are all concerned about the nation’s health and well-being. As a manager, you must persevere in managing budgets, sales targets, and the thousands of other decisions that keep your organization alive. All…

Kathryn Valentine shares an article published in Fast Company that offers an original approach to preventing burnout and includes tips on how to do it.  As the working mom of a 2- and 4-year old, I have felt it.  This pandemic is exhausting and seems to just. Keep. Dragging. On.  I’m not the only one. A report released by McKinsey and LeanIn.org shows that one in three women are considering leaving the workforce or significantly downshifting. Research by the National…