“Accountability breeds response-ability,” according to author and productivity guru, Stephen R. Covey. Yet, one of the most prevalent and dangerous accountability shifting techniques still in place with business today is what’s been coined as “The Blame Game.” … [Read more...]
The financial crisis that began in 2008 continues to unfold in unprecedented ways, thereby presenting business leaders with incredible challenges. How does one manage in such a crisis-laden environment? Here are "Ten Things To Do" based on my 40+ years in business. #1 -- Get the truth out on the table. You need to begin with an open, honest, candid assessment of the facts. Sometimes the truth can be ugly, but you're not in a position to deal with it until you get it out on the table. Making … [Read more...]
I’ll never forget my first After Action Review meeting. We were all huddled up in the ‘War Room’, a large project launch had been recently completed, and I’ll be honest…I figured the next hour would be painful. It didn’t help that the meeting invite had listed the subject as ‘Post Mortem’. After all, anything with a subject line of ‘After Death’ that invited all of my colleagues who’d I’d been working with over the past couple of weeks couldn’t be good. (It … [Read more...]
My most important management philosophy is "Start with the Answer, and work your way back to the solution". As a starting point, I apply this approach to virtually every situation that comes across my desk. Once you understand the basic facts, where you want to position your organization or yourself should become obvious. The real question is, "How do you get there?" Instead of wasting time dwelling on the problems of the past, you should devote all your energy to creating solutions for the … [Read more...]
I will start with two basic points that everyone can logically agree with: 1.) Every organization needs quality leadership to be successful in a highly competitive world, and 2.) Diversity is a reality that is here to stay, and its impact is increasing exponentially as our demographics continue to change. Further diversity's impact will broaden via globalization as the world continues to shrink and flatten. As a result, there is an automatic interconnectedness between leadership and diversity, … [Read more...]
I have been involved in turnaround situations at Topco Associates, Kayser-Roth Corporation, and Cordiant. The similarities between these situations were greater than the differences. In each case, they were companies that had fallen on hard times, but there was a belief that they could rise again like a phoenix from the ashes. Additionally, the fact that the companies were not doing well was by no means a secret to the employees, who were always eager to have the leadership that could bring it … [Read more...]
