There is much talk right now about Yahoo’s demise as an independent company. The Economist said the failure was due, first of all, to “a chronic lack of focus”, never deciding if it was a media company or a technology company. NPR’s “Morning Edition” said Ms. Mayer, the CEO, treated Yahoo more like a think-tank than […]
We think that when “leaders” speak, they will be followed. But who teaches leaders how to listen?
If you find yourself in a difficult position, make an unreasonable request – you might be surprised by the result. On Friday, April 13 Jeffrey received an unreasonable request from a colleague at Benedictine University. He asked if Jeffrey would come to Benedictine and teach an Executive Ph.D. course on organization change the following Wednesday, […]
One of the myths the students and managers in my leading and managing change classes persist in believing is that people don’t “buy in” to a change is because there is something they don’t understand. They are mistaken. Implicit in this “myth of understanding” is the belief that understanding is the key to agreement, acceptance, […]
I was recently asked by a manager in one of my classes what she could do to increase her credibility. I told “Keep a Due List and follow up on it.” Most people have some form of a “To Do” list, which lets them know the things they have to do. But credibility and a […]
I recently talked to Jeremy, a staff member whose organization is changing from one type of work structure to another. Prior to the change, each work unit in the organization made recommendations on how the allocation of work in their area, who should do the work, and the timelines that should apply. According to Jeremy, […]
Managers undermine their integrity in following a “don’t tell them” strategy. The topic in my leading change class today was integrity and its impact on a leader’s ability to effect change. Integrity was defined as honoring your word and doing what you said you would do by when you said you would do it and […]
Why is there such a high failure rate among projects? One reason is that there is a gap in the soft skills of project managers. Although project managers are well trained in the technical “hard” skills of risk assessment, project planning, etc., little attention is given to interpersonal or people skills – the so called […]
All of us have failed to keep a promise we made to someone. It might have been we forgot to make a call, failed to get something done on time, or only did part of what we said we would. And even though we may have a good reason for breaking our promise, there are […]
Leadership occurs in communication, both verbal and nonverbal. Verbal communication, however, does not mean just talking. Talking is not the same as communicating and not all talking is equally effective. If it were, all of us would have a much easier time doing the things with other people. One aspect of leadership communication is creating […]
Awarded "Best Management Book" by 800-CEO-READ.
Rated #5 "Best Business Book" by The Toronto Globe and Mail.