Congratulations! You’ve officially survived the first half of this wacky year. Take a moment to reflect on everything you’ve learned along the way as you overcame countless unexpected challenges. While we all hope the remainder of this year will be better than the first half, if 2020 has taught us anything it’s to expect the unexpected. As much as we’d all like to return to some degree of normalcy soon, there are some important activities we should consider replacing. On the top of that list is the mid-year review.
Stop Solving Problems
Critical thinking, decision making, and solving problems are among the top desired skills in nearly any role. We want people who can identify problems, evaluate information, and draw conclusions quickly and effectively. Studies show individuals with strong critical thinking skills have higher educational and occupational attainment than those who struggle to think critically. Naturally, with such an emphasis on selecting and developing great thinkers, that should translate into highly successful organizations where problems are effectively identified and addressed. Unfortunately, where we may lack a critical thinking problem, we often find a management problem. In hierarchical organizations and those with poorly distributed … Read More
Leadership Development: Choosing the Best Delivery System
There’s an old saying that “When the only tool in your toolbox is a hammer, you treat everything as a nail.” A similar phenomenon is happening in corporate training. Heavy investment in HR technology for employee development including eLearning, Learning Management Systems (LMS) and the accessibility of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) has changed the way we think about educating employees. Those changes, however, may not be in the best interest of the employee or the long-term health of the company. After spending tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of dollars on implementing a LMS and customizing courses, naturally, there … Read More
Navigating through Uncertainty
Over the weekend, I completed some pre-Summer cleaning in my office. This has become a bit of a coping technique for me to get through the past few volatile months. While unemployment rises and the economy dips, I can still maintain a degree of control through organizing my workspace so that I don’t add to the mental clutter. In the process of organizing old documents, I came across my 2020 Strategic Plan. Instead of tossing it in the shredder, I took some time to reflect on what a wild few months it has been. Like any good strategic plan, there … Read More
Addressing Microaggression in the Workplace
As important conversations about racism, equality, and equity take center stage due in part to the tragic death of George Floyd, now is a critical time to examine the progress we’ve made toward a diverse and inclusive workforce. While we’re slowly improving the degree of representation women and minorities have in senior leadership, there’s a long way to go. Despite an increased focus on Diversity & Inclusion initiatives within organizations and the implementation of policies forbidding harassment, we’ve failed to create a psychologically safe environment for a diverse workforce. The subtle slights or verbal snubs experienced daily by marginalized groups … Read More
Getting Back to Basics in the Face of VUCA
“In these unprecedented times…” How many times have you read (or written) an email with that introductory line in the past 2 months? The world has been turned upside down, and we all feel like we’re stuck in a lifeboat adrift in the sea. I used to loathe the use of the term VUCA in reference to the workplace because it was used so liberally. Was the workplace really more volatile, uncertain, complex, or ambiguous than in previous years, or do we just have a poor memory? But it would be hard to argue against labeling 2020 of the most … Read More