How To Find The Perfect Job
For some, getting a job (much less the right job) has never been more difficult. They struggle with knowing how to navigate in a complicated, noisy world where the global job market is messy and very competitive. For others, it doesn’t matter what’s going on in the job market, because finding the perfect position never seems to present a challenge. The latter group knows a few secrets the former…
The Five Obsessions of Winning Teams
March Madness resumes tonight and in a pressure-packed weekend of excitement, the Sweet Sixteen will shrink to the Final Four. Only the strongest teams will survive and while their defensive pressure, explosive running game, or deep shooting might define their style, their success rests on five obsessions. These obsessions are common to champions and may very well help your team in your…
Clear Counsel – How Sweet the Sound
When you want to know how your leadership is working--ask. Years ago, I learned this lesson when I received some unsolicited advice that challenged my professionalism, served as a wakeup call, and changed the arc of my career. The counsel came from a subordinate as I was leaving an important leadership position but it would have come earlier if I had only asked. I was very interested in my…
8 Ways To Spot Great Leadership
If you ever wonder why we’re in a crisis of leadership all you have to do is to watch and listen to those in positions of leadership. While there are clearly many aspects of leadership that must work together in harmony in order for leaders to be effective, everything breaks down when leaders don’t understand how to engage effectively. The saying "success leaves clues" couldn't be more true for…
The Silent CEO Addiction Killing Productivity and Talent Development
Corporate America’s dependency on consulting firms is nothing short of substance abuse in the purest form. The fact is most CEOs suffer from this very dangerous addiction and they don’t even know it – they are clearly in need of an intervention. Addicts don’t often admit they have a problem. They tend to rationalize and justify their behavior as normal. Here’s the thing – normally doesn’t always…
The Secret To Making Better Hires
Why do so many companies struggle when it comes to making great hires? They overlook the obvious. In other words, the people doing the hiring fail to understand, look for, and qualify the one characteristic that indicates the certainty of a good hire. While companies screen for many things, they often miss the gold standard litmus test – they play a game of chance when it’s simply not necessary.…
15 Ways to Identify Bad Leadership Qualities
Bad Leadership Qualities: 15 Ways to Identify Bad Leaders It’s important to realize that just because someone holds a leadership position doesn’t necessarily mean they should. Put another way; not all leaders are created equal. Many organizations are suffering from a recognition problem – they can’t seem to recognize good leaders from bad ones. In today's column, I’ll address identifying bad…
The #1 Reason Companies Make Bad Hires
Do you ever find yourself wondering how so many good companies can make so many bad hires? The fact is, all the rigorous and sophisticated hiring processes employed by the best companies in the world don’t prevent this issue. The good news is, addressing one single factor can easily prevent bad hires. The #1 reason companies make bad hires is they compromise, they settle, they don’t hire the best…
Leadership – It’s About The People
If you think leadership is about you, your ego has led you astray. Leadership has little to do with you and everything to do with those you lead. If you think leadership is about the bottom line, think again; it's about the people. Without people, there is no bottom line. Closely examine the core characteristics of great leadership, and you'll find it’s not power, title, authority, or even…
Recruiting vs Talent Management
I recently participated in a panel discussion about the future of the recruiting industry, and quite frankly, I was surprised by many of the prevailing attitudes and thoughts surrounding the topic at hand. As is often the case, I was the contrarian on the panel, and while I probably shouldn’t have been shocked, it was the fact most recruiters seemed to believe the status quo was fine, the future…
Training Isn’t Dead – But it Should Be
In the text that follows I'm going to poke holes in a process generally accepted as productive when it rarely is. In this piece, Training Isn't Dead - But it Should Be, I'll likely take some heat over this, and while this post works off some broad generalizations, in my experience having worked with literally thousands of leaders, they are largely true. According to the American Society of…
10 Steps to Creating a Talent Advantage
Creating a talent advantage begins with smart hiring. That said, it never ceases to amaze me at the number of people who are charged with hiring who possess absolutely no skill at doing so. While I rarely meet a CEO who is completely comfortable with the administration of the hiring process, most of them still seem to accept the status quo..."Who should do the hiring?" is a question more CEOs…
How to Hire & Manage Consultants
While you might be lucky enough to survive in business with little or no advice from others, you will certainly not maximize your potential for success by doing so. All CEOs and entrepreneurs need advice in a wide variety of constantly changing areas…That said, I’m always somewhat perplexed as to why people hire certain professionals. The nature of my business is that I often succeed other…
The Problem With Key Employees
What is a key employee, and who is worthy of such a title? Much has been written on key employees, and in my opinion, most of it flat misses the mark. I'll go so far as to say what most people refer to as key employees are not assets but rather significant contingent liabilities. I'm not disputing the need to retain talent and reduce turnover, but I am vehemently denying the conventional wisdom…
Leadership and Knowledge Management
It's one thing to possess the knowledge, but it's quite another thing to leverage it. Leaders who don't understand the value of distributable and actionable knowledge not only limit opportunities but they're also building huge contingent operating liabilities. One of the great challenges for any leader is to break down cultural tendencies that foster silo-centric thought patterns. Savvy leaders…
Smart Leaders Do More Than Talk About Talent
Those of you familiar with my work know how much I detest politically correct sound-bites. Even worse - when those sound-bites are used in an attempt to make statements that embolden a corporate position that doesn't really exist, to begin with. Just because something is written in a vision or mission statement, placed on a website, included in company collateral material, or frequently espoused…