News & Tips
7 Ways to Set Up a New Hire for Success
No one has a bigger impact on new employees’ success than the managers who hired them. Why? Because more than anyone else the hiring manager understands what his or her people need to accomplish and what it will take — skills, resources, connections — for them to become fully effective. Managers...
Your Star Employee Just Quit. Time to Conduct These 4 Unexpected Interviews
You know the obvious steps when a great employee quits. These aren't those. Employees never cease to surprise us - in many wonderful ways. But sometimes the surprise stings, especially when they leave the company at a time you thought they were happy. This emotional topic is why high profile...
The Top 5 Leadership Mistakes You Might Be Making
Avoiding common pitfalls to become a better leader. As a chief people officer, I have a front-row seat to watch some leadership careers flourish - and some crash and burn. Here are the five most critical mistakes that derail promising careers. 1. You think you have to know everything. I once...
Is Your Best Salesperson Sitting in Your Marketing Department?
Marketing and sales have always had an odd relationship, as they can both be synergistic and antagonistic - all at the same time. It’s not uncommon to hear marketers say that, when business is good, sales gets the credit, but when business is bad, all fingers point to marketing. And if you ask a...
Selling: The Skill Everyone Needs
Whether you are interviewing for a job or are an established CEO, the ability to sell is critical to every career and beyond. "Selling is a life skill," said Jason Patel, the founder of Transizion, a college prep company focused on closing the opportunity divide in America. Not only does his work...
Are You a Talker or a Communicator? Part Two
In my last post we talked about accepting 100% responsibility for everything you say AND 100% responsibility for everything the person you’re speaking with hears. Once you’re willing to do that then you’ll have the opportunity to improve your own communication skills. The beauty of accepting...
Are You a Talker or a Communicator? Part One
Before I begin this post on communication I feel that I must point out that I’m only writing about half of the communication process. And it’s the least important half. The communication process of course involves speaking and listening. Of the two listening is far more important. Listening is...
Dam, Flow or Flood: How Does Information Travel in Your Organization?
In agile, complex, collaborative organizations, there is a direct connection between the quality of information flow and the quality of results. Shared context (or shared consciousness as described in the great book Team of Teams by General McChrystal) is a fundamental requirement for smart...
How to Make Your Business One of the Best Places to Work
At the turn of a new year, after the parties have ended and we return to our daily lives, people over the world consider how the next 365 days can be even better. We write down our New Year's resolutions and think about what we can to do to improve our health, happiness and prosperity. The same...