Identifying and developing your HiPos, the employees who are most likely to make impact on the organization, should be at the top of every organization’s strategic plans. With historically low unemployment and heavy pressure from headhunters/recruiters, your best employees are at high risk of being poached by your competitors every day. By engaging the right employees early, casting a vision for their career progression, and investing in their development, you’re likely to create a stronger talent pool to fill senior leader positions as they become available.
Engaging and Supporting the Team “Outsider”
From a very early age, our brains have been trained to evaluate “fit.” We place a series of objects in front of toddlers and assess whether they can identify the common theme and which item doesn’t belong. Those of us who grew up with Sesame Street can probably sing the “One of these things is not like the other” song from memory. Fast forward 20+ years and our brains are still working subconsciously to evaluate similarities and differences. We tend to connect more easily with people who think, feel, and behave the same way that we do. We accept small … Read More
What Leaders Can Learn from McDonald’s
“That’s the way we’ve always done it.” It’s the phrase that sends chills down the spine of every change agent and creative thinker. In change management training programs, we provide leaders with techniques and strategies for overcoming these objections and short-sighted modes of thinking that hinder progress. These change managers can challenge individuals with a rigid perspective and help them think beyond their current experience so they’re more open to new possibilities.
Leading in a Crisis
Today’s blog is from Australian contributor, Dr. Tom Verghese. Tom is Principal and Founder of Cultural Synergies. His work helps organizations perform at optimal levels, improving cross-border staff engagement, communication, and relationships. Welcome to 2020—a whole new decade! I hope this finds you well and focused on your goals for the year ahead. Being located in Australia, it has been impossible not to be affected by the situation currently occurring before my eyes. As many of you may know, Australia has been experiencing one of the worst fire seasons on record. The sheer scale and devastation brought on by the … Read More
Leadership Is Like Swimming
Guest blog by Robin Cochran, VP of Operations, Executive Forum Last Friday I had a meeting with someone who knew nothing about Executive Forum. As I was explaining why our leadership programs are primarily face-to-face, he broke in and said, “It’s like swimming. You can’t learn to swim on the Internet either.” There’s a lot to learn about swimming, but you really can’t swim unless you get in the water. He explained how his father had taught him to swim by taking him to the river near their home in India and pushing him in. He had to learn to … Read More
What’s Really Hindering Your Decision to Delegate?
“I’ll just do it myself.” We all say this from time to time as we rationalize our decision to take on additional work tasks and responsibilities. We may tell ourselves that it’s faster to just complete the task than to explain the process to someone else. At times, we fail to delegate due to lack of trust in the quality of a team member’s help. The success of the project may seem too risky to leave in another’s hands. Other times, we intentionally choose not to delegate because we love the task itself. While giving up control over critical projects … Read More