The use of executive coaches has grown rapidly over the last several years. There are several reasons for this, but probably the most prevalent are the performance and rapid development demands placed on executives. They are expected to quickly be effective in ways that pure work ethic will not address, particularly where interpersonal insights, emotional…
In both goal setting and performance evaluations, there is an ongoing debate as to whether to stress exclusively results or some mix of results and competencies. Companies answer this question in different ways. Those that significantly stress competencies strongly believe that the right behaviors matter as much as pure results, whether financially or project focused.…
This question always seems to get more than its share of attention and emotion: “should we use a three-point scale, a four-point scale or a five-point scale?.” The answer depends on your company’s performance rating history by scale point and on what is intended to be accomplished by any change. Here are the possibilities and…
Lately, it’s become fashionable for leaders to talk about healthy turnover. I hear things like “we’re not losing our best people, just those who aren’t really engaged.” As I listen to these conversations, it sounds like healthy rationalization — a way to avoid feeling bad about the consequences of a disengaged workforce. These statements could…
Most so-called teams do not really function as teams. Instead, they are a group of people working on a project or, perhaps, even leading an organization, who operate fairly autonomously. They do their work, staying in their swim lanes and making sure to contribute to regular team meetings and status updates. Of course, it doesn’t…
For weeks the news media has been buzzing with stories about poor planning for implementation of Obama Care. One Wall Street Journal Opinion piece went so far as to refer to the President as An Executive Without Energy. What’s really surprising is that Americans are viewing this as some kind of unique screw up when…
A recent HBR blog piece, Taking Over from an Incompetent Team Leader, provides some very helpful advice to leaders who are replacing predecessors who were not effective. One of the suggestion is to “explain your behavior; don’t make team members guess.” This is really excellent advice. Believe it or not though, new leaders often struggle…
In recruiting leaders, it is critical to pay close attention to how well the candidates will fit with the other members of the leadership team — a factor that is at least as important as the individual’s skills and experience. A recent Inc. blog piece, The Right Management Team Transforms Chaos Into Calm, discusses the…
The press is having a field day celebrating the demise of a GE-type forced performance distribution program by Microsoft, Here’s To The Death Of Microsoft’s Rank-And-Yank, as well as several other companies. Under the program, the forced ranking of employees by performance ratings was accompanied by a mandate to reward the highest performers and terminate…
I’ve been writing regularly about the challenges of gender diversity in senior leadership roles in the United States. A recent survey conducted by Columbia Business School and the Women’s Executive Circle of New York and cited in a Wall Street Journal Article, Women See Slow Progress In Leadership, clearly demonstrates that things have not improved.…