Vexed by Virtual?
Virtual teams—once a novelty—have become a standard feature of today’s workplace. According to Remote.co, a forecast of employment trends by the World Economic Forum called flexible work, including virtual teams, “one of the biggest drivers of transformation” in the workplace, while a Gallup poll found that 37 percent of respondents have already worked virtually. And virtual work makes tremendous […]
The Magic of Making an Effort
Just over a year ago I gave a keynote speech at a conference in Russia. I worked diligently to master a few key phrases. But, between having no natural capacity for foreign languages and not hearing much Russian in my day-to-day life, the result was dreadful. I actually might have insulted their mothers as I […]
Learn-gevity: Enhancing Your Ability to Learn, Perform and Succeed Over Time
Lifelong learning has long been understood to be a critical success factor. But today, it’s taken on even greater importance. The pace of change continues to accelerate and the level of complexity, ambiguity and uncertainty means that what you knew yesterday may be irrelevant today. The half-life of technical skills continues to shrink. According to Josh […]
Work-life Balance: It’s Becoming a Blur
First introduced in the UK in the late 1970s, the term “work-life balance” has only become more popular and relevant over time. While the focus has morphed over time to consider the needs of different audiences within the workplace—mothers, the sandwich generation, millennials and more—the basic question has remained constant: How can we find and keep hold of that elusive holy grail—the equilibrium between the […]
The Value of Visibility
If you’re a leader, you likely struggle to find creative and effective ways to help your employees grow. Formal training can be expensive and time-consuming. Informal training sometimes lacks the focus and application required to make the investment pay off. And the stretch assignments and projects that typically characterize experience-based learning require significant ongoing support over […]
Whoa! What are Today’s Most Common Leadership Mistakes?
In today’s highly complex and fast-paced environment, leaders constantly navigate a wide margin of error. Given globalization, heightened competition, and ever-shrinking budgets and cycle times, the potential for leaders to make mistakes is great. Some leaders err by commission—actively undertaking acts that undermine team or organizational success. Others err by omission—failing to do something that’s […]
“Pop-ups”: A Promising Model for Development
Have you noticed the recent trend toward “pop-up” establishments? Over the holidays, I shopped in pop-up stores and ate in pop-up restaurants, and so did many other people. It’s a phenomenon in which retailers, chefs or other entrepreneurs temporarily take over a space to operate their businesses. They’re only there for one night or perhaps […]
Life, Leadership and the Ukulele
On a recent trip to Hawaii, I decided to escape the afternoon sun for a complementary ukulele lesson offered by a local musician, Jason Jerome. About ten hotel guests gathered – from age 8 to 80 – to learn a little about how to play the instrument… and a lot more. After a few minutes […]
Are You a Micromanager or a Macromanager?
Micromanager. It’s one of the least flattering labels one can be tagged with in business today. It connotes an unproductive level of involvement in the work and work products, excessive need for control, nit-pickiness, attention to unnecessary details and a generally unpleasant overall workplace experience. Nobody wants to be a called a micromanager. Question: But, what’s […]
The FUEL that Propels Today’s Organizations
Organizations today face unparalleled pressures and challenges—from balancing the needs of customers and shareholders to combating new and evolving competitive forces to anticipating and planning for an uncertain future by ensuring a never-ending flow of innovations and improvements. It’s an exhausting 24/7 effort that can leave many organizations—and the individuals within them—depleted. Yet despite the […]