Over the last few weeks, I read with much interest a discussion among members of a particular LinkedIn group where they attempted to define the single most important attribute to leadership. For some participants, the most important trait was integrity; others felt that awareness was the key to effective leadership. … Click to continue reading
Image courtesy of Mary Jo Asmus. Today’s piece is a guest post by Mary Jo Asmus. Mary Jo is a former Fortune 500 executive-turned-president of an executive coaching firm, Aspire Collaborative Services. Her company works with high potential leaders and senior executives in Fortune 100, government, and non-profit organizations around … Click to continue reading
Have you ever noticed how discussions on improving business operations or possible solutions to today’s economic challenges rarely consider what the emotional impact will be on employees? In some ways, it’s not too surprising given how many of us have had leaders who taught us to not take things personally … Click to continue reading
I’ve been noticing a trend lately among certain business writers where they suggest that changes to the current business model will occur mainly as a consequence of the Millennial generation (or Gen Y) joining the workforce. From their vantage point, the social attitudes and upbringing of this next generation of … Click to continue reading
Around our house, nothing signals the end of summer more than helping our kids prepare for their return to the daily school routine. The arrival of the end of summer also means that companies are now returning to full strength with most of their employees having finished their vacation time … Click to continue reading
Recognition. It’s something we all seek in our workplaces and yet, it’s the kind of feedback so many of us find noticeably absent in our interactions with those who lead our organizations. There’s been numerous studies that show how making time to recognize the contributions of others helps to create … Click to continue reading
Every now and then when I sit down to write a post for my blog, I find my mind drifting off to other tasks; things that I could be doing at that moment instead of writing. In these cases, it’s not an issue of struggling with writer’s block, as I … Click to continue reading
When we look at the various examples of effective and successful leaders, one of the traits we see that they share in common is exhibiting a strong sense of confidence. Now by confidence, I’m not referring to pushy, aggressive, or self-serving behaviour. Rather, I’m pointing to those leaders who create … Click to continue reading
Throughout our lives, we receive all sorts of criticism, some valid and some that are simply meant to pull us down. And yet, for many of us, the worst criticism we face is not external; instead, it’s those comments we make to ourselves that question our ability to succeed or … Click to continue reading
A few days ago, my wife and I decided to take the kids to the beach, to take advantage of the beautiful summer weather that’s been absent in previous years. Admittedly, I did question whether I should bring along my laptop to use some of that lounging-around time to do … Click to continue reading
A few nights ago when my wife and I went out for dinner, I decided to order this very appealing appetizer which I soon found out was a lot trickier to eat than one might think. In fact, this particular plate was so messy that a few drops from the … Click to continue reading
Over the last several months, I’ve been writing about what leaders should be providing their team with to help them succeed and grow. Without question, leadership is a selfless role, one that requires an individual to give more than they get in return if they are to be successful in … Click to continue reading