Over 20 years ago, I raised the question of whether corporations were prepared to recruit, select, develop and utilize a diverse talent pool. I also wondered aloud whether managing a racial, gender and ethnic diverse pool of human resources called for a different capability than that of managing a relatively homogeneous group of people. I contended that two different sets of processes were called for, and I labeled the process for a diverse pool “Managing Diversity.”
The goal of this process was “full utilization of human resources” in pursuit of competitive advantage and productivity gains.
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Let’s be honest. In today’s volatile economy, foresight and planning are easily pushed aside in favor of reactively averting poisonous arrows and perilous moats. Those hazards continuously threaten us—and often appear from a surprise enemy. How many of us keep putting our foot on the gas and have not slowed down to finesse these dangerous conditions?
(photo courtesy of www.webweaver.nu/clipart/dragons3.shtml)
We may not be able to control unforeseen events and demanding clients. What we can control is how we respond. It starts with arming ourselves with knowledge and confidence.
Knowledge begins by understanding the most common pressures our clients are facing: Continue reading » »
Times are tough, and It is easy to become discouraged by the impact of the economic, political, and corporate trials we all regularly face. Recessionary living is a way of life and we are learning once again to use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. Frugality is at an all time high.
It feels good to voluntarily get the most out of what we have, but when it is constantly forced upon us, we can begin to feel taxed beyond our individual abilities. Sometimes that feeling of fatigue leads to doubt and fear, and those emotions can cause us to wonder if we will ever see a return to prosperity.
Life Is Good!
I believe that we will, so I live with that expectation. I refuse to give in to the shadows that these challenging times evoke. Instead, I walk in faith. I admit, that it is not always easy to do, but I just keep believing that things are going to be better soon, and act as if they will. Consequently, I am often surrounded with lots of movement in the positive direction.
Whenever I begin to feel discouraged, I pause and take inventory of the things that encourage me. All I really need to do, is to ask myself one simple question, “What encourages me?” Continue reading » »
Why is asking so important? In the Information Age, leaders must manage knowledge workers. Peter Drucker has defined knowledge workers as people who know more about what they are doing than their boss does. It is hard to tell people what to do and how to do it when they already know more than we do. In today’s rapidly changing world, we need to ask, listen and learn from everyone around us.
Research shows that asking works. Howard Morgan and I recently published a study involving more than 11,000 leaders and 86,000 of their co-workers from eight major corporations.
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After reading countless books on leadership, writing or co-editing 22 of them, and reviewing profiles for desired leadership behavior in more than 100 corporations, I think there is one critical question that repeatedly gets left out when assessing the potential of our future leaders: How much do you love leading people?
I have had the privilege of working with many wonderful leaders. Upon reflection, the best of the best had one quality in common. They loved leading people!
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