Field notesfrom the practice.Read in sixty seconds.
Brief, practical pieces on leadership, talent, succession, and the hard parts of running a business. Read in sixty seconds. Apply on Monday.
Does Your Leadership Influence Travel at the Speed of Light?
Does Your Leadership Influence Travel at the Speed of Light? In October 2018, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be launched on an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana. According to NASA, “JWST will be the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It will study every phase in the history…
Read the pieceIs “Grit” the New Buzzword?
These days it’s difficult to avoid hearing reference to it; “grit” seems to be the new leadership, management, student, child “must have” ability, trait, skill, etc. It’s easy to nod our head, and agree it’s important, just as we did for “emotional intelligence”. But what does “grit” actually mean? In a recent article, Bravetta Hassell,…
Read the pieceTake 15 Minutes to Save Your Job
Take 15 Minutes to Save Your Job Take 15 minutes, and save your job, your department, and possibly, your company. How? You won’t need your smartphone, laptop, phablet, email, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Periscope, text messaging, or IBM’s Watson for this. Just your head, a pen, a piece of paper, and 15 minutes. Now, think of…
Read the pieceGive Them the Gift of Experiences
Give Them the Gift of Experiences Last Christmas, my wife and I decided not to give gifts to each other. For previous Christmases, we each had said “no more gifts”, but one of us would ultimately violate the mandate and end up buying the other something. Well this year we each said, “No more gifts”,…
Read the pieceWhat’s Your Leadership Presence Smell Like?
On a recent weekend afternoon, I was out for a jog on a stretch of 2-lane road. With no shoulder or sidewalk to use, I was running against what little traffic there was. From about 30 yards and traveling at about 45 mph, a car approached. And it slowed as it began to brake. The car…
Read the piece3 Ways Leaders Can Avoid the VUCA Vortex
Last month we spoke of the VUCA vortex: the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity that are challenging today’s leaders. We also noted several trends in leaders lives, namely: Significantly increased spans of control and responsibility; increased workloads and expectations; and an ever-commuting lifestyle based on mobile technology. Here are 3 things leaders can do to…
Read the pieceWhy are we leading in the “VUCA” vortex?
In 2007 and 2008, when the bottom fell out of the economy as well as many people’s jobs and careers, it set in motion a slew of factors that have led to a set of conditions that pundits have recently termed “VUCA” (an acronym for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity). If you haven’t heard about…
Read the pieceWhy the Universe Creates “Cry Potentials”
Why the Universe Creates “Cry Potentials” If I dropped a china plate on a tile floor, you’d expect to see it break and shatter into a million pieces. And if I waited for hours, you would never expect the fragments to re-assemble themselves back into the plate. Even if I waited years, you’d never expect…
Read the pieceWhy successful leaders focus on the 1%, not the 99%
“Learning is the most celebrated neglected activity in the workplace.” So states Gianpiero Petriglieri in a timeless HBR article. He continues: “Everyone says that learning is essential for companies’ success—and for your own. And yet, on a daily basis, who cares for your learning? No one. People care about what you have learned. They care…
Read the pieceIf You’ve Recently Failed at Something, Here’s Why You Should Cheer Up
If You’ve Recently Failed at Something, Here’s Why You Should Cheer Up If you’re human, you’re going to fail at something at some point. Hopefully it won’t be a big mess, and hopefully it won’t be too public. But safe to say, if you push yourself to succeed and push to achieve the famous “stretch” goals,…
Read the piece4 Key Behaviors for Frontline Leaders
McKinsey has recently published research on key leader behaviors (particularly among frontline leaders) based on a global study of 180,000+ people from 81 countries. Of 20 possible behaviors, 4 emerged as noteworthy, accounting for 89% of the variance between between strong and weak organizations in terms of leadership effectiveness. The 4 behaviors are (not in rank order): Be…
Read the pieceCanada Aggressively Recruits Skilled Talent
Oh, Canada! Canada recently announced its Express Entry program with the goal of attracting skilled talent from around the world. Successful applicants would be provided an expedited path to permanent (not temporary) residency, with their application being processed in 6 months or less. Candidates would be ranked according to various criteria, including language proficiency, education and work…
Read the pieceStudy: Want to be a CEO one day? Then find your way to an HR role.
New research from Ellie Filler of Korn Ferry and Dave Ulrich of U. of Michigan concludes that a stint as CHRO is great experience for those that aspire to be CEO. Interestingly, “except for the COO (whose role and responsibilities often overlap with the CEO’s), the executive whose traits were most similar to those of…
Read the pieceDo You See What You Need to See?
Do You See What You Need to See? Take a look at the following image: Would you believe me if I told you that Square A is the same shade as Square B? Probably not. If I told you that you can’t trust what you see, and that indeed the squares are the same shade, would…
Read the pieceWhy Your Executive Coach is Overrated
I recently Googled the term “executive coaching” and received nearly 1.5 million hits. Frankly, I was a bit surprised. I was expecting more, because it seems like everyone and their uncle and aunt is a coach these days. (Full disclosure: Count me in; I too have worked with numerous executives and managers, one-on-one, for periods…
Read the pieceYou and I May Not Know We’re Incompetent
You and I May Not Know We’re Incompetent But we certainly know that we’re above average. She was completely paralyzed on her left side. And yet if you asked her if she could move her left arm, she would say that she could. Even more interesting, if you pointed to her left arm and asked her…
Read the pieceDavid Moyes Now Truly Goes It Alone
Earlier this month, I wrote about David Moyes, the embattled coach of the UK soccer team Manchester United. Moyes had inherited the most successful team in the British Premier League from one of the most successful coaches, Sir Alex Ferguson. In fact, Sir Alex had handpicked Moyes to succeed him. Last year, Manchester United won the…
Read the pieceDo You Know When to Go It Alone?
He was about to be mocked in front of 75,000 people. The banner being towed behind the plane flying overhead would read, “Wrong One – Moyes Out”. Many of the fans wanted his head; it was time for him to go. The season was not going well to say the least. The dynasty handed to…
Read the pieceStop Playing to Your Strengths.
“It’s much easier to play to your strengths than to compensate for your weaknesses.” “You’ll go a whole lot further developing your strengths than developing your weaknesses.” “No one got promoted by improving a weakness; focus on your strengths.” And so it goes. The business literature is filled with articles and blog postings touting the…
Read the pieceSo Where Exactly is the Next Level?
We’ve all heard it at some point. And we may have even said it on occasion. The next level. “Because of the recent economic and competitive challenges confronting our company, it’s imperative that we reject the status quo, and instead, take this organization to the next level.” (Lots of applause) “Pat, if you’re truly serious…
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60-Second Read
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Brief, practical pieces on leadership, talent, succession, and the hard parts of running a business. Read in sixty seconds.