Leadership Fitness
Culture is an Outcome
Organizations confront opportunities to change on a regular basis. Whether it is an update to a long-held policy or procedure, an improvement in how leaders provide feedback to others or an increase on the part of managers to speak truth to power, one retort is heard more often than any other. This most common theme… Continue Reading Culture is an Outcome
Read More"To Be" or Not "To Be"
Is it possible that the words we use prevent us from seeing the world and the people in it as they really are? Our words directly shape how we see the world and how we engage with others. Benjamin Lee Whorf, a linguist, suggests that “by altering our use of language, we also revise how… Continue Reading "To Be" or Not "To Be"
Read MorePutting a Saddle on a Duck
In our interactions with others, it is all too common to get frustrated with what people aren’t. Rather than celebrating and leveraging the strengths of those we work with, we can easily end up communicating an expectation that everyone must be good at everything. Have you ever tried putting a saddle on a duck? How… Continue Reading Putting a Saddle on a Duck
Read MorePlay Your Way to Innovation
Innovation is serious business, and yet sometimes we are just too serious about innovation. Throughout history, we can see that play actually has served as a reliable gateway to innovation. In Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World, Steven Johnson illustrates how playfulness has fueled a remarkable amount of innovation and new discovery. Consider Charles Babbage,… Continue Reading Play Your Way to Innovation
Read MoreBuilding Better Leaders
In a recent New York Times article, Laszlo Bock, former senior vice president of people operations at Google, reveals what some might refer to as surprising. After synthesizing 10,000 data points including performance reviews done on managers, employee engagement surveys and even nomination forms for top-manager awards, the Google analysts found that technical expertise paled… Continue Reading Building Better Leaders
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