The Mark of a Great Leader
Years ago, when most organizations were based on the hierarchical business model of the Industrial Age, great leaders were those who were unemotional, rational, even mechanistic. Those days are gone. Today's leader, especially one who is in charge of a dynamic, global organization, finds himself or herself in desperate need of one key trait — self-awareness.
Are "High Potential" Programs an Anachronism?
Has your company labeled you a " high potential ?" Do you know? Do you care? There's a debate growing among human resource professionals on the usefulness of "hi-po" programs. In theory, the idea of singling individuals out for this label allows companies to focus their development resources and plum opportunities where they will have the greatest return — on people who have the capacity to grow into higher levels of leadership (typically, hierarchical leadership) in the company. In some European companies, the word "talent" is used in a similar way
T-Shaped People, Jobs, and Recruiting
Recruiting is about to be forced to start looking for people and assessing them in very different ways than they have. The nature of organizations is transforming right under our noses, but most of us are too deep in the forest to see what is happening. Over the past 100 years business owners and human resources folks created the concept of a job as a way of looking at and doing work. We define a job as a set of skills, experiences, and activities that a single person does.
How to Face Your Critics
When people criticize you, what's the best thing to do? Show up and face the music. President Barack Obama did just that when he met with Republican House members at their party conference last week in Baltimore.
Are You Fun to Follow on Twitter?
There's an art to tweeting. And, I'm sorry to say, most people just haven't mastered it. Twitter, for the few uninitiated out there, is a social networking site that limits your posts to 140 characters. You can sign up to "follow" (receive the Tweets) from just about anyone you choose.
How to Encourage Small Innovations
The announcement of Apple's iPad is turning many people's thoughts to the innovations behind big ideas . Innovations such as these play a critical role in a company's future, but companies often hinder themselves by focusing on finding the next big thing, when in reality, the next small thing might be more beneficial. The more that employees are encouraged to think creatively and apply that creativity, the more flexible in practice and nimble in responsiveness a company becomes. When you take pressure off people to come up with a "big" idea, you encourage the creativity that can bring about incremental innovations. As a result, a new service or product offering may emerge, but it's more likely that you will optimize your operations for cost, quality, efficiency, and speed
Our Generation X President's First Year
President Obama is arguably the United States' first President who is a member of Generation X. (I say "arguably" since the boundary line between Boomers and X'ers is subject to debate.
How Leaders Should Think Critically
If you want to succeed in 21st Century business you need to become a critical thinker. Roger Martin of the Rotman School of Management figured this out a decade ago and as dean, has been working to transform his school's business curriculum with greater emphasis on critical thinking skills. As Lane Wallace explained in the New York Times , what Martin and many others are seeking to do is approach learning and problem solving from a multicultural platform that borrows from academia, business, the arts and even history
