Archive for September, 2009

As a manager, I always liked it when one of the people on my team would challenge how we were doing things. Many new ideas or at least new ways of dealing with issues can be discovered by listening to what these people are saying. If you are a person who is "thinking" that... »

Some of our readers may remember a Thought from the past where I talked about the failure of many of today's top leaders, CEOs and presidents, in successfully implementing their organizations strategy. Out of 2,000 CEOs surveyed, only 38% admitted to successfully implementing their organization's long-term strategy, of which many had actually been the... »

A message to management: Have you ever stopped to think that "The worst performer on your team could be you?" When a sports team has a loosing record, you do not replace all the players, you replace the head-coach and in some cases, the entire coaching staff. So why is it that in business these... »

"Poor" management continues to be the number one reason worldwide that high-value employees leave their companies for perceived better opportunities. Maybe it is time that you took a serious look at how you are selecting your managers? On what basis you are promoting your managers? How you measure the performance of your managers?... »

Here's a simple idea that may help you. Start making a list of what constitutes the best performance from all of your team members, employees in your department or in your company. Make a similar list of what constitutes the worst performance from the same groups. Behavior is equally important as knowledge and technical... »

It is not unusual when you receive your first assignment with responsibility over others to project on the outside a "Can do!" attitude while on the inside your may be saying, "What have I gotten myself into?" Those of you who have heard me speak on leadership to university classes, and a few companies... »

Six particular people that I recruited come to mind. Each of these six people were leaders with their former organizations, three on a regional basis and three on a national basis. While all six brought in a sizable amount of new business over the short-term, 1 to 3 years, only three were successful with... »

Let's take a look at the key-points from the first chapter of Stoddard and Wyckoff's book. If these don't get your interest up to start on the road to discovery of a new way of recruiting and training, then stay with the quickie books you can read in an hour or less. But remember,... »

Continuing with "The Right Leader - Selecting Executives Who Fit" by Nat Stoddard and Claire Wyckoff. I'm on my second reading of Stoddard and Wycokoff's book as I write the latest Thoughts. "The Right Leader" has moved up to my must read list. The numbers provided by Stoddard and Wyckoff from their own intensive... »

During my early years I was a recruiter and trainer of sales people. After a couple rough years of playing the numbers and filling chairs, I came to realize that it all started with "selection". Not only did I waste allot of my own time and my company's money, I wasted the time of... »