Two Executive Personality Traits To Focus On As An Effective Leader
"Self Awareness" Does Your Potential Executive Hire Have It? Each year I debrief leadership assessment results with hundreds of C-Suite candidates as an Executive Coach & Consultant at N2Growth. Assessments are an excellent tool for understanding a candidate's self-awareness regarding their personality traits and help identify how one is "naturally inclined" to act, based on five inherent…
Leadership Interview: Rethinking The Future of Work
In a recent conversation with Sandile Hlophe, Partner and executive leader with EY-Africa, we discussed some ideas around what the future of work could look like over the next few years. Even though this interview took place before the COVID-19 pandemic, I still believe the topic will be just as relevant as we emerge from the global disruption. Leadership Interview Summary JH: I am always…
Memorial Day Should Make Us All Better Leaders
Is Memorial Day weekend just another holiday, or does it mean something more to you? Put simply, the lessons we can learn about those we honor on Memorial Day should help make us all better leaders. While this weekend simply signifies a long-awaited prelude to summer for some, it is much more than that for others. As a veteran and lifelong student of leadership, I have always found Memorial Day…
Talent Management and Preparing Leaders Correctly with Piet Hein Merckens
I recently sat down with Piet Hein Merckens, Former CEO of Aviko and leadership influencer to discuss a shocking talent management trend that was exposed in a 2018 global leadership survey... In this survey, the results stated that over 80% of CEOs say they do not have the talent within their organizations to execute upon their current corporate strategy. That is a tough statistic to try to wrap…
Leadership Interview: Ego Versus Eco with Ronald van Weegen
While traveling the world seeking answers on global leadership perspectives, we stopped in the Netherlands. I met with Ronald van Weegen, a seasoned senior executive in both Leadership Development and Human Resources. I asked Ronald to reflect upon his professional development and overall experience in life and provide us the one thing that he would recommend to younger executives on their…
Leadership: A Global Perspective
This fall, I embarked on a worldwide quest to gain insights and perspectives on global leadership in the 21st century. My goal was to meet with a globally diverse group of thought leaders and top executives to discover what is required to lead in today's volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment. To do this effectively, I sought to understand two things: Elucidate the emerging…
Leadership – No Talent Required
While not all leaders will develop their talents and abilities to the same level, all successful leaders more or less begin with the same foundation. Here's the thing - the foundational elements of leadership require no skill or talent whatsoever. Clearly the difference possessed by all great leaders is that they refine, develop, and build from their foundation - they don't ignore it or take it…
Why Leadership Development and Talent Programs Fall Short
Why are so many leadership development and high potential talent programs continuing to fail, or at the very least, not producing what we hope for? The answer is simple, those at the top of the organization are in denial about their own leadership capability. This is not to point fingers at the top leadership, but rather this should be a call to arms for all of us to take a good look in the…
6 Defining Values of a Leadership Culture
Twelve years after launching culture change consulting services, I am finally sitting down to write about six defining values of a leadership culture. These are factors I’ve learned that define whether an organization can improve their Culture or not. No surprise that all six values rise and fall on leadership. Before I unpack the six values, let me paint the backdrop of how it all began. In…
The Journey of Servant Leadership: Iron Sharpens Iron
Each day I reflecting upon the journey of servant leadership, what I now define as “relational leadership”. Although I certainly do not intend to make this a post with any religious overtones, I've found the bible has an amazing quote that shapes my thinking on this topic. Proverbs 27:17 proclaims: “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another”. This simple statement has been a calling…
10 Exceptional Strategies For Extraordinary Executives
Most extraordinary executives would agree that business practices evolve over time, and our experiences turn into knowledge. My such experience has inspired this article, 10 exceptional strategies for extraordinary executives. As a coach, my goal is always to see my client succeed. I want to high-five them when they hit a home run or score a touchdown. I want them to have experiences that will…
Is Innovation manageable?
In the years leading up to 2018, I have spent my time bringing innovation to the financial services space. Fintech, as this sector is colloquially referred, focuses for the most part on disrupting the state of affairs induced by the use of technology. As such it is all about innovation. And now, from a distance, my optimism regarding the sector’s ability to innovate and capture opportunities has…
Making the Turn: 10 Warning Signs You aren’t Shifting from Founder to Leader
You came up with an awesome idea. Your singular focus has been to make it real. You started the company. You got funding. Maybe you’re looking for Series B or C funding now. Maybe you’re prepping for the IPO. Congratulations! You’re ready to scale or go public. You’ve gotten this far. What could go wrong? Here are 10 warning signs you aren’t shifting from founder to leader. Every founder reaches…
Is Leadership Development the Answer to Low Employee Engagement? (Yes.)
This White Paper is excerpted and adapted from Ultra Leadership: Go Beyond Usual and Ordinary to Engage Others and Lead Real Change (Giuliano, Lioncrest, 2016). Where are we? 90% of leaders think an engagement strategy is important while only 25% of organizations have one (ACCOR). Research by Gallup, as reported in The State of the American Workplace in 2013, discovered that roughly 70% of…
High EQ: The Most Desirable Leadership Tenet of Them All
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the ability to identify, use, understand, and manage emotions in an effective and positive way. And, in many organizations around the world, it is on the rise! Contrary to popular belief, The Millennials, Generation Y, and Gen Next (those engrossed by tablets and screens) hold, on average, higher EQ levels than generations before them. In the business environment,…
Success Depends on You Asking the Right Questions
As a team leader, it may be uncomfortable for you to ask the right questions. After all, the people you lead expect you to have answers. While it may give you pause to develop a list of questions for success, a Harvard Business School study indicates it is a really good idea. Consider the following: Are you asking yourself and your team the right questions? Will those questions propel you to…