Effective and valuable advisory boards much have a purpose and provide measurable contributions to the top management teams and organizations as a whole. While in some companies certain folks are invited to join boards simply because of their name and popularity (which can be beneficial) in most instances you want members to contribute. Contributions of effective advisory boards can vary, …
Leadership styles
Most of us are familiar with or have at least heard of the 6 overarching leadership styles: Authoritarian Paternalistic Leadership Democratic Laissez-faire Transactional Transformational And while each of them have their followers I have to say that none of them is “head and shoulders” above the rest and here’s why. Leadership styles or approaches, even strategy depend on the environment …
Strategy vs. Operations
Strategy and operations work best when complementing one another and when they work for each other. Depending on your position and responsibilities within an organization you may be spending 100% of your time in operations while others may be spending majority of their time focused on strategy, vision and leadership and both sides undoubtedly bring value. However, while I am …
Customer centric, employee aware
Truly successful teams are both customer centric and employee aware. In order to be able to provide useful products and services one must design, create and build those with their customers in mind. However, equally important is the need to be aware of the needs of your staff in order for them to be successful. Leadership must provide resources and …
Leaders: born vs. made
Are exceptional leaders born or are they made? We have heard this question asked and discussed at length and it is my belief that truly exceptional leaders are a combination of both. Yes, they learn, grown and advance through their careers, but one’s DNA (for lack of a better acronym) must be predisposed for leadership. While majority of methodologies, tips, …
Diplomacy matters
Political “savviness” is a necessity in today’s business world and it is an integral part of one’s advancement, recognition and achievement. While it may be cumbersome and challenging to some it is necessary to be able to recognize how to use proper tone and inflection in certain situations in order to win people over, influence them and demonstrate that your …
Foster collaboration and share information
Foster collaboration and share ideas, information and knowledge. Mentality where each department thinks and acts as if they were in their own little world or a silo doesn’t work and will get them nowhere. No matter what team, group, department or a division you belong to the overall value for the entire organization needs to be kept in mind and …
Under promise, over deliver
Be honest and set realistic expectations considering the scope, resources, budget and time frame of the project. It’s is always better to exceed your clients’ expectations than to not have met them at all.
Open door policy is not optional
Managers and leaders must be available to their teams in any way their staff needs them to be (assuming professionalism and appropriateness of course). Your office door must be open to them, and you need to be accessible and approachable whenever they might need to speak with you. Staff needs to know that you are there to hear them out …
Overworked employees
Overworked employees are unhappy, they make mistakes and they are not contributing at their optimal levels of performance. They are constantly under pressure which has negative impact on their health and lives outside work as well (you do remember that work is only a PART of people’s lives, right?). While I understand that in certain professions and industries one can …