Image by Getty Images via @daylife What do Kansas basketball player Tyshawn Taylor, Giants football player Ahmad Bradshaw, and executives onboarding into new roles have in common? The need to overcome their instincts and training to score whenever they can. Kansas' Tyshawn Taylor got the ball with an open run at the net with just [...]
How Leaders Can Inspire Action through Compelling Storytelling
March 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Great communication changes people. It changes the way they feel. It changes what they do. The secret to inspiring others is connecting an idea or a vision with a hope or a need. Great communicators leverage their message and story in one way or another to make a connection and compel change. HOPEHIV’s Phil Wall [...]
Case Study: Swedbank’s Anki Ahrnell on Managing Complex Projects
February 29, 2012 By 2 Comments
When managing a complex project, leaders must play the part of producer, director and stage manager. Take a cue from show business and set your team members up for success in three phases: Get stakeholders aligned and assemble the right resources (producer) Clarify the “what” and “how” of success (director) Help stakeholders see and adjust [...]
Leverage Interim or Temp Help to Bridge Gaps
February 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Alex Raubitschek, Ortus Interim (Photo credit: Steve Bowbrick) Interim help can make the difference between failure and success. We've seen this over and over again. We've seen so many new leaders flailing around because there is so much more to do than they and their existing team can ever hope to get done. They [...]
Proactively Converge and Evolve when Onboarding
February 22, 2012 By 3 Comments
Converging and evolving is almost always the right approach for a new leader. You must become part of the team before you can inspire and enable it to evolve. You must get the timing right so that you are converging as long as necessary – and no longer. This involves pivoting from converging to evolving [...]
Five Steps to Turn Wasteful Meetings into Drivers of Success
February 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
At their best, most meetings are a waste of time. Instead of inspiring and enabling, way too many of them actually drain participants’ willingness and ability to do real work. Yet QlikTech has found a way to turn its annual corporate summit into a positive, culture-building and culture-reinforcing event that everyone looks forward to. When [...]
Executive Onboarding: The Key to Accelerating Success and Reducing Risk in a New Job
February 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The most effective executive onboarding includes: Getting a head start Managing the message Building the team Image via Wikipedia Failures in new roles almost always come back to either poor fit, not getting done what needed to get done, or something changing. Everyone involved tends to blame someone else. Failed executives say, “They turned out [...]
Corporate Culture: The Only Truly Sustainable Competitive Advantage
February 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Image via Wikipedia Given enough time and money, your competitors can duplicate almost everything you’ve got working for you. They can hire away some of your best people. They can reverse engineer your processes. The only thing they can’t duplicate is your culture. BRAVE CULTURES ARE SUSTAINABLE All music is made from the same 12 [...]
Rich Boughrum’s Top 5 Books for Interview Preparation
February 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Financial Executives Networking Group Newsletter February 5, 2012 – From Rich Boughrum, Charlotte NC Chapter, Rich writes: Hi Matt – Here is a short book review / recommended reading list for the newsletter based on my recent preparation for interviews. – I would like to pass on what I have felt is very efficacious input [...]