Leadership Caffeine: Do You See Beauty or Blemishes? | Management Excellence

Leadership Caffeine: Do You See Beauty or Blemishes? Management Excellence

Management Excellence
Ideas and approaches in business performance excellence.

Leadership Caffeine: Do You See Beauty or Blemishes?

June 27, 2011 by Art Petty
Filed under: Leadership, Leadership Caffeine, Leadership Skills, Management Education, Performance, Professional Growth, Talent Management

If you’ve ever worked for or around someone who is an expert critic…one of those individuals who can look at a masterpiece and spot a flaw, you know how demoralizing the experience can be. They look at beautiful pictures or great outcomes and focus on describing the flaws.


If you are one of these “Negative Motivators,” this one’s for you!


No Gold Stars Here:


A client struggled with a boss who believed that motivation and inspiration were outcomes of criticism. He wasted no time at every opportunity identifying what he perceived as flaws in the projects, programs, and presentations of his co-workers. When a frustrated and bold employee finally screwed up the courage to ask why he never offered positive support, his answer was immediate; “That’s not my job. I’m supposed to make you perform better, not cheerlead. You want a gold star, go back to kindergarten.”


Uh…OK. Thanks for the inspiration, I guess.


Look, I’m all for constructive criticism supported by coaching. That’s what we’re supposed to do. However, motivating by providing a never-ending string of criticisms is only going to demoralize people and teams and suck the life and creativity out of your organization.


Beware When You Start Believing Your Own Attempts at Rationalizing Your Behavior:


Every once in awhile, I run into a “Negative Motivator ” who has a well-developed and almost believable rationale for their approach. A few of the comments I’ve heard over time:


We’re all adults, and we don’t need daily pats on the back.


No one achieves greatness because someone was there telling them how great they were every step of the way.


How do people know how to improve if I don’t tell them?


It’s my job to ensure that people meet my high standards.


People want to please the boss. I use it as a carrot that’s out there in front of everyone. So far, no one has caught up to it.


In isolation, there’s just a bit of truth in every statement (OK, the bit might be really small in a few of those!), but what’s missing is an understanding of the human cost (energy, inspiration, environment) from a never ending slow-drip of negativity. A more balanced approach that acknowledges beauty where appropriate and offers encouragement and criticism will in my experience, produce far greater results.


5 Ideas for Achieving Better Balance in Your Feedback:


1. Know thyself. Many of the Nattering Nabobs of Negativity (thanks, Spiro Agnew) aren’t as semi self-aware as those who commented above. In case you dont’ know which side of the ledger you come down on…positive or negative, run a little experiment for a few days and keep a tally of how many criticisms you offer versus how many times you offer praise during a day. If the balance is consistently skewed towards the negative, you have work to do.


2. Know thyself, part 2. Give your employees a chance to share their thoughts on your feedback skills and habits. While the results of an anonymous survey can be skewed when groups fear the boss, if you are genuine in your pursuit of feedback on your own performance, you will likely gain some frank and useful input.


3. Advance your philosophy in pursuit of better performance (yours and theirs). You’re not completely wrong in your thoughts on constructive criticism. However, great coaches and great managers encourage the development of strengths and carefully help people navigate the weaknesses. They don’t bludgeon them into high performance with all that’s wrong with their work. There’s a needed balance of positive support and constructive criticism.


4. Don’t change your style suddenly and starting handing out gratuitous praise…support it with clear examples. You know when people are doing good work. Find time on occasion to acknowledge the work and share very clear and specific reasons about what’s good with the work. Your clearly defined positive feedback reinforces what people did right. Your goal is to get them to do that consistently.


5. Beware feedback sandwiches of all types. Sandwiching your feedback is a bad habit where managers who are uncomfortable offering constructive input surround the negative issue with big pieces of positive praise. (For more on this odious technique, see my post: Why I Hate the Sandwich Technique for Delivering Feedback.) In the case of our Negative Motivator here, beware Reverse Sandwiching…hiding the praise between two big pieces of your moldy negative comments. The praise will be overwhelmed by the negatives surrounding it.


The Bottom-Line for Now:


You can offer positive praise without being perceived as weak. Some “Negative Motivators” are concerned about losing their “tough” image, and they wrongly associate praise with weakness. I’ve worked for and around tough managers…those with high expectations and standards, who understood that positive praise was an important part of the success formula. While their minds might be drawn to the problems and the negatives they see in every image, they are emotionally intelligent enough to recognize that others both need and deserve positive support for their good work as well.

You don’t need to stock up on gold stars, but for top performance, you do need to learn to talk about and reward the positives on occasion. Just for today, start looking at the beauty in work and try and not preoccupy on the blemishes. You might be surprised how people respond.

About Art Petty: http://artpetty.com/about-art/

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********************************************************
http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.

1 in 2 U.S. Employees Looking to Leave or Are Checked Out on the Job

1 in 2 U.S. Employees Looking to Leave or Are Checked Out on the Job

WorldatWork.com

Newsline

1 in 2 U.S. Employees Looking to Leave or Are Checked Out on the Job


June 20, 2011 — Half of all U.S. employees are really unhappy, according to Mercer's "What's Working" survey, conducted over the past two quarters among nearly 30,000 workers in 17 countries, including 2,400 U.S. workers.


Nearly 1 in 3 (32%) U.S. workers is seriously considering leaving his/her organization right now, up sharply from 23% in 2005. Meanwhile, another 21% are not looking to leave, but view their employers unfavorably and have rock-bottom scores on key measures of engagement, a term that describes a combination of an employee's loyalty, commitment and motivation.


Figure 1: Disaffected Workers Post Lowest Engagement Scores, Views of Employers

	Percentage Who Agree
	Among those not seriously considering leaving (47% of all employees)	Among those seriously considering leaving (32% of all employees)	Among those who responded “neither” (21% of all employees)
Personally feel treated fairly by organization	83%	58%	50%
Proud to work for organization	82%	56%	48%
Get feeling of personal accomplishment from work	81%	63%	53%
Willing to go beyond job requirements to help organization succeed	81%	68%	58%
Would recommend my organization to others as a good place to work	80%	53%	46%
Feel strong sense of commitment to organization	76%	53%	34%
See a long-term future with organization	74%	49%	40%
Believe organization as a whole is well-managed	68%	50%	29%

Source: Mercer's "What's Working" survey.


"The business consequences of this erosion in employee sentiment are significant, and clearly the issue goes far beyond retention," said Mindy Fox, a senior partner at Mercer and the firm's U.S. region leader. "Diminished loyalty and widespread apathy can undermine business performance, particularly as companies increasingly look to their workforces to drive productivity gains and spur innovation."


Employee concerns about work are pervasive, reflecting an evolving employment deal that they have seen as a series of takeaways, plus further cuts made during economic tough times:

• Only 43% of U.S. employees believe they are doing enough to financially prepare for retirement — down from 47% in 2005, and just 41% believe their employers are doing enough to help them prepare, up slightly from 38%.
  
• 68% of employees rate their overall benefits program as good or very good, down from 76% in 2005, while 59% say they are satisfied with their health-care benefits, down from 66%.
  
• Base pay is the most important element of the employment deal, by a wide margin, but U.S. workers show lower satisfaction with base pay (53% satisfied, down from 58% in 2005).
  
• Despite improvements, scores for career development and performance management remain low. Just 42% of employees today agree that promotions go to the most qualified employees in their organization, up from 29% in 2005, and 46% agree that their organization does an adequate job of matching pay to performance, up from 33%.

As a result, overall scores are down consistently across key engagement measures while intention to leave is up across all employee segments, with the youngest workers most likely to be eyeing a departure — 40% of employees ages 25-24 and 44% of employees 24 and younger.

Figure 2: Key Engagement Measures Show Consistent Decline Among U.S. Workers

	2005	2010
Get feeling of personal accomplishment from work	72%	69%
Willing to go beyond job requirements to help organization succeed	75%	72%
Proud to work for organization	71%	67%
Feel strong sense of commitment to organization	64%	60%

Source: Mercer's "What's Working" survey.
Figure 3: Youngest Workers Most Likely to Be 'Seriously Considering Leaving' Today

	2005	2010
All employees	23%	32%
Age 16-24	20%	44%
Age 25-34	25%	40%
Age 35-44	23%	34%
Age 45-54	21%	27%
Age 55-64	19%	24%

Source: Mercer's "What's Working" survey.

According to Fox, an effective employment deal includes both how the deal is defined and delivered. "Employees see a 'disconnect' between what employers are promising and what they are delivering," she said. "Organizations should re-examine their deals — both the traditional and nontraditional elements — then support them with effective administration and consistent, authentic communication that fosters a sense of belonging and helps employees make better rewards choices and career decisions."

The "What's Working" survey was conducted among more than 2,400 U.S. workers in late 2010. The survey, last conducted in the United States in 2005, includes more than 100 questions on a range of work-related topics and reflects the overall demographics of the U.S. workforce in terms of age, gender and job level. This research also is being conducted in 16 other countries.

Contents © 2011 WorldatWork. No part of this article may be reproduced, excerpted or redistributed in any form without express written permission from WorldatWork.

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********************************************************http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.

The Happiness Dividend - Shawn Achor - Harvard Business Review

The Happiness Dividend - Shawn Achor - Harvard Business Review

Harvard Business Review

HBR Blog Network

Shawn Achor

Shawn Achor is the founder of Good Think, Inc. and the author of The Happiness Advantage. In 2006, he was Head Teaching Fellow for "Positive Psychology," the most popular course at Harvard at the time. He holds a Masters from Harvard Divinity School and has spoken in 45 countries to a wide variety of audiences, including bankers on Wall Street, students in Dubai, and CEOs in Zimbabwe.

The Happiness Dividend

8:16 AM Thursday June 23, 2011
by Shawn Achor Comments (0)

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Nearly every company in the world gives lip service to the idea that "our people are our greatest asset." Yet when the Conference Board Survey came out earlier this year, employees were the unhappiest they have been in their 22 years of tracking job satisfaction rates. Around the same time, CNNMoney reported a survey that indicated 84% of Americans are unhappy with their current job. And earlier this month, Mercer's "What's Working" survey found that one in three US employees are serious about leaving their current jobs.


Why is this lack of happiness at work important? Job satisfaction is not only the key predictor of turnover rates, in The Happiness Advantage, I make the research case for the fact that the single greatest advantage in the modern economy is a happy and engaged workforce. A decade of research proves that happiness raises nearly every business and educational outcome: raising sales by 37%, productivity by 31%, and accuracy on tasks by 19%, as well as a myriad of health and quality of life improvements. Yet even those companies that do take leadership training seriously still ignore the role that happiness plays in leadership effectiveness.


Given the unprecedented level of unhappiness at companies and the direct link between the employees' happiness and business outcomes, the question is NOT whether happiness should matter to companies. Given this research, it clearly should. The real question is: Can a company do anything to raise the happiness level of an employee?


To test the ROI of investing in happiness, I wanted to find a company in the midst of high challenge. In 2009, I chose the auditing and tax accounting firm KPMG, as they were about to be hit with perhaps the most stressful tax season in decades after the banking crisis in 2008.


January to April is the most stressful time for the managers at KPMG, so in December, half of the managers in the study at the New Jersey and New York offices were provided a three-hour introduction to positive psychology research and how to apply those principles at work. The employees were then evaluated three times — before the training, a week after the training, and four months later in April — using a battery of standard metrics including life satisfaction measures, perceived stress, social support, perceived effectiveness at work and work optimism.


Every single positive metric improved significantly for the trained group between Time 1 (before the training) and Time 2 (a week after the training). This indicated that the training was an initial success, but the real question is whether the training would hold. There is often a "honeymoon effect" after trainings in which respondents feel totally changed, then immediately return back to their previous state as soon as they see their inbox.


Yet in this case, the effect held for the entire four months. Most significantly, the life satisfaction scores, which indicate personal and professional happiness, were significantly higher four months later as compared to how the managers were before the training, and also as compared to the managers in the control group. A brief three-hour training and a non-mandatory invitation to create a positive habit for 21 days created a high ROI not only in the short-term, but in the longer term as well.


Individuals can begin to do two things on their own. First, recognize that happiness is an advantage at work. This will encourage you to seek happiness in the present instead of waiting for a future success. As a result, your brain will have more resources necessary to accomplish your work. Second, you can literally train your brain for higher levels of happiness at work by creating habits shown to increase job satisfaction. In the training with KPMG, we suggested five:

• Write down three new things you are grateful for each day;
• Write for 2 minutes a day describing one positive experience you had over the past 24 hours;
• Exercise for 10 minutes a day;
• Meditate for 2 minutes, focusing on your breath going in and out;
• Write one, quick email first thing in the morning thanking or praising a member on your team.

Gratitude, focusing on positive experiences, exercise, meditating, and random acts of kindness are all ways to change the pattern through which your brain views work. And if you have other tips you've tried on your job, please share them in the comments! This research is only the beginning of understanding how to create and sustain a positive and engaged workforce. These findings clearly indicate that not only can a company influence the happiness of its employees with a short intervention and low investment of resources, but the effects are sustained even in times of great challenge.
In other words, investing in happiness pays great dividends. For a copy of the study, please contact me or visit goodthinkinc.com

Shawn Achor

Shawn Achor is the founder of Good Think, Inc. and the author of The Happiness Advantage. In 2006, he was Head Teaching Fellow for "Positive Psychology," the most popular course at Harvard at the time. He holds a Masters from Harvard Divinity School and has spoken in 45 countries to a wide variety of audiences, including bankers on Wall Street, students in Dubai, and CEOs in Zimbabwe.

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********************************************************http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.

6 Great Ways to Neutralize Annoying People | Kate Nasser#utm

6 Great Ways to Neutralize Annoying People Kate Nasser#utm

KateNasser.Com

6 Great Ways to Neutralize Annoying People

Jun 21st, 2011 by Kate Nasser 9 Comments »

Are there people at work or in your personal life that goad and annoy you? They provoke you whether they intend to or not.


You can neutralize the personal invader, the busybody, the micro-manager, the patronizer, the idea embezzler, and those who presume.


Add these 6 great ways to your people skills (soft skills) toolkit and neutralize the effect they have on you.


Used consistently instead of emotional responses, neutral responses become your virtual do not disturb signs that don’t insult or block future communication.

Best Neutral Responses to Keep Cool

6 Great Ways

1. To very personal questions:
   Silence and look of surprise.
2. To the busybody:
   “Aren’t you full of questions!”
3. To the micro-manager:
   “I’m capable.”
4. To presumptuous remarks or quips:
   “There’s an odd remark.”
5. To patronizers:
   “You must have little ones at home. I can tell.”
6. To those who state your ideas as theirs:
   “I hear an echo.”

Neutral responses keep your cool while giving others time to realize what they have said or done to you.


To get comfortable using neutral responses, consider that:

1. Detouring to their emotional agenda is not valuable to you, your life, or your work.
2. It’s not rude to hold your own.
3. Inner peace is a gift you give yourself.

Neutral responses show inner strength and inner strength is its own billboard.


From my experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach


What responses have worked well for you in emotional moments? I hope you will share your story and voice in the comments section below.

©2011 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ.

 

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Reposted with permission from Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach" http://katenasser.com/

About Kate Nasser

BS Mathematics, MA Organizational Psychology
The People-Skills Coach in this Technical World

Kate Nasser is smart, feisty, wise, down-to-earth, funny, and just wild and different enough to inspire growth in professional people-skillsand improvements in communication, customer service and teamwork. “I have a natural GPS about peopleand have used it for 20 years tospring them to greatness”.

As a speaker on professional people-skills(also known assoft skills),Kate captivates and provokes audiences with energy, humor, caring and realism. She inspires them to action. “Your teams will take my messages of service and teamworkand act on them. I combine facts, insight, humor, and logic to deliver keynotes on customer service and teamworkthat produce real change in behavior.”

As a trainer, Kate is the best at inspiringand teachingprofessional people-skills(changeability, customer service andteamwork). Read more…

She is credible to many diverse audiences because of a varied background. Special note: “IT teams, tech. support teams, Help Desks, scientists, doctors, lawyers, engineers have an extraordinary connection to my teamwork and service programs.” To read what others say about Kate’s programs and service, see the endorsementspage on this website.

Prior to founding CAS, Inc. 20 years ago, Kate worked for Johnson & Johnson (IT Client Services) and American Home Products (IT Systems). Her corporate client service and IT experience supplied a solid base for working with corporate and government organizations in various industries.

********************************************************http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.

How to Become a Great Finisher - Heidi Grant Halvorson - Harvard Business Review

How to Become a Great Finisher - Heidi Grant Halvorson - Harvard Business Review

Harvard Business Review

How to Become a Great Finisher

10:01 AM Wednesday June 22, 2011
by Heidi Grant Halvorson Comments (0)

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The road to hell may or may not be paved with good intentions, but the road to failure surely is. Take a good look at the people you work with, and you'll find lots of Good Starters — individuals who want to succeed, and have promising ideas for how to make that happen. They begin each new pursuit with enthusiasm, or at the very least, a commitment to getting the job done.


And then something happens. Somewhere along the way, they lose steam. They get bogged down with other projects. They start procrastinating and miss deadlines. Their projects take forever to finish, if they get finished at all.


Does all this sound familiar? Maybe a little too familiar? If you are guilty of being a Good Starter, but a lousy finisher — at work or in your personal life — you have a very common problem. After all, David Allen's Getting Things Done wouldn't be a huge bestseller if people could easily figure out how to get things done on their own.


More than anything else, becoming a Great Finisher is about staying motivated from a project's beginning to its end. Recent research has uncovered the reason why that can be so difficult, and a simple and effective strategy you can use to keep motivation high.


In their studies, University of Chicago psychologists Minjung Koo and Ayelet Fishbach examined how people pursuing goals were affected by focusing on either how far they had already come (to-date thinking) or what was left to be accomplished (to-go thinking). People routinely use both kinds of thinking to motivate themselves. A marathon runner may choose to think about the miles already traveled or the ones that lie ahead. A dieter who wants to lose 30 pounds may try to fight temptation by reminding themselves of the 20 pounds already lost, or the 10 left to go.


Intuitively, both approaches have their appeal. But too much to-date thinking, focusing on what you've accomplished so far, will actually undermine your motivation to finish rather than sustain it.


Koo and Fishbach's studies consistently show that when we are pursuing a goal and consider how far we've already come, we feel a premature sense of accomplishment and begin to slack off. For instance, in one study, college students studying for an exam in an important course were significantly more motivated to study after being told that they had 52% of the material left to cover, compared to being told that they had already completed 48%.


When we focus on progress made, we're also more likely to try to achieve a sense of "balance" by making progress on other important goals. This is classic Good Starter behavior — lots of pots on the stove, but nothing is ever ready to eat.


If, instead, we focus on how far we have left to go (to-go thinking), motivation is not only sustained, it's heightened. Fundamentally, this has to do with the way our brains are wired. To-go thinking helps us tune in to the presence of a discrepancy between where we are now and where we want to be. When the human brain detects a discrepancy, it reacts by throwing resources at it: attention, effort, deeper processing of information, and willpower.


In fact, it's the discrepancy that signals that an action is needed — to-date thinking masks that signal. You might feel good about the ground you've covered, but you probably won't cover much more.

Great Finishers force themselves to stay focused on the goal, and never congratulate themselves on a job half-done. Great managers create Great Finishers by reminding their employees to keep their eyes on the prize, and are careful to avoid giving effusive praise or rewards for hitting milestones "along the way." Encouragement is important, but to keep your team motivated, save the accolades for a job well — and completely — done.

Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph.D. is a motivational psychologist, and author of the Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals (Hudson Street Press, 2011). She is also an expert blogger on motivation and leadership for Fast Company and Psychology Today. Her personal blog, The Science of Success, can be found at www.heidigranthalvorson.com. Follow her on Twitter @hghalvorson.

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http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.

Are You a Control Freak? | BNET

Are You a Control Freak? BNET

BNET

Are You a Control Freak?

By Steve Tobak June 20, 2011

Read more: http://www.bnet.com/blog/ceo/are-you-a-control-freak/7722#ixzz1Q0TRncMo

“My name is Steve Tobak,” he said, swallowing hard, like the words just didn’t want to come out, “and I’m … a control freak.”


There, I said it. If any of my former employees, coworkers, or bosses are reading this, you now have my permission to laugh your freaking heads off.


The reason why that’s LOL funny - no, it’s not the “permission” thing, although that was mildly amusing - is this: if any of those people had called me on it at the time, I would have said they were full of it.


The truth is I didn’t even know what a control freak really was because, well, I didn’t want to know. I didn’t like the sound of it and, more importantly, I didn’t like it when anyone tried to judge me, get inside my head, put me in a box, whatever.


In case you didn’t know, that’s classic controlling behavior. There you go. But hey, if I can admit it, maybe you, your boss, or your coworker, can too.


Sure, it’s a stretch, especially for what I like to call highly-functioning control freaks: successful executives who get the job done, along with a little bullying and abuse on the side. And control freaks are typically afraid to upset that fragile little house of cards their entire self-image is built upon.


Still, there’s a big upside to understanding what you’re dealing with. See if any of these 7 Signs of a Control Freak sound like you or that lovely person in your life who makes you want to have that extra glass of wine at night:

1. Is there an executive in your company who appears to be genuinely charismatic and confident but, when challenged, he goes into attack mode and won’t back down until his opponent is shredded, sort of like a pit bull?
2. Does your boss constantly cut you off, not even letting you articulate a single thought before pouncing on what he assumes you’re about to say and ripping it to shreds?
3. Is there a coworker who’s always telling you what kind of person you are and what you think, as if you’re made up of a set of evil traits she’s created for you - her enemy - and doesn’t even see or hear the real you at all?
4. Do you always need to be right? Of course, you’d never admit that, because that would mean admitting that you were wrong, right? I know; it’s confusing.
5. Does your CEO have a small inner circle of people he trusts and treats inequitably, as if they walk on water, while everyone else gets mercilessly grilled up one side and down the other over the slightest issue?
6. Are you so anxiety ridden before a potentially contentious meeting that you have to preview the entire dialog in your head before the meeting even begins or anyone says a word?
7. Does your boss ever sit you down and go on and on about what’s wrong with you, what she’s not getting from you, what others say about you, or accusing you of bad behavior? And yet, you can’t believe your ears because she’s describing herself and not you.

What makes people that way? Now that’s a can of worms better left for a shrink to crack open. The better question for this forum is what can you do about it?


Well, before you go off and confront your boss, here’s a dose of reality. Don’t do it. You can’t just walk up to someone you work with and tell him he’s a control freak and expect him to say, “Wow, really? I didn’t know that. I’m so, so sorry if I verbally abused you, treated you as if you didn’t exist, or demeaned you in any way. I’ll be better, promise.”


That’s never going to happen. Control freaks aren’t typically conscious of their behavior and, as with all behavior of that sort, they won’t change until there’s a crisis of some sort or they’ve bottomed out. Then they’ll get help and anything’s possible.


What you can do, however, is read Controlling People, by Patricia Evans (that’s right, my wife gave it to me … as a present to herself), realize it’s not you, try not to let it get to you too much, and refuse to be treated like a doormat.


If it’s really bad and stressing you out, you should quit and work somewhere else. I know that’s tough advice in a down economy, but if you feel trapped and helpless, you’re at risk for depression. And nothing’s more important than your health, right?


Related posts:

• How to Deal With a Bad Boss: Don’t!
• Are You a Dysfunctional Manager?
• 7 Signs You May Be a Bad Manager

Follow Steve Tobak on Twitter or Facebook

Steve Tobak

Steve Tobak is a consultant, writer, and former senior executive with more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He's the managing partner of Invisor Consulting, a Silicon Valley-based firm that provides strategic consulting, executive coaching, and speaking services to CEOs and management teams of small-to-mid-sized companies. Find out more at http://www.invisor.net/ Follow Steve on Twitter or Facebook.

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********************************************************
http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.

The Headhunters Are Coming ... Are You Ready?- Fistful of Talent: Joshua Letourneau

Fistful of Talent: Joshua Letourneau

Fistful Of Talent

Posted by Josh Letourneau on Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 07:19 AM

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

The Headhunters Are Coming ... Are You Ready?

The Assassins lay in wait. The Ninjas hone their resolve. The Samurai sharpen their swords in silence. Yes, it is time -- like the "White Walkers" on HBO's 'Game of Thrones', the Headhunters are coming.


As the new dawn awakes from the cold winter of the recession, there is one thing Organizations can count on - the Headhunters are coming ... and unless they're on your team (or you have them on your take), they don't come in peace.


Headhunters are the modern day Mercenaries of the business world. The highest bidder is most usually the Victor; and to the Victor go the spoils. When it's all said and done, it's the Victor who writes history (accuracy and truth not withstanding).


This begs the question: Just how fortified are your defenses? How resilient is your network? How impermeable is your security?


Here's a quick list to immediately bolster your armour and harden your Organization as a target --

1. Look at the roots of your Organization first. Are your Managers and Leaders those who instill trust and confidence in their teams? Can they define "integrity"? If not, you might as well get rid of them. Sure, feel free to dump more money into "training", but remember this - leopards rarely change their spots. Upgrade your leadership and watch the impact on your retention. "Leadership Retreats" and seminars look great in marketing materials, but breaking a leg while jumping off a ledge into a group of co-workers (who don't want to catch you in the first place) doesn't make one a Leader. This isn't easy and it takes time, but time and time again, it works. Hire Leaders that people will follow, not run from.

2. Do you have a Career Development Plan? What do your Employees have to aspire to? 20 years and a gold watch? Those days are behind us, and playing Frank Sinatra in the background still doesn't make a superficial "Thanks for the years" ring any better. Instead, show Employees that caring about their development is more than just lip service - ensure you have a plan that is documented and accessible by all levels in the organization. And, oh yeah, stick to it.

3. Is "Black Friday" a term in your organizational vocabulary? Does your firm lay off 20% of the workforce every October so your numbers look a little better in January the next year? If so, good luck. The only talent you're retaining is the Employee that either lives in a bubble or hasn't heard of that "social media thing-a-ma-jigger" called LinkedIn yet. Sure, in a down economy, you can screw people - that's life. But remember, once your employment brand becomes associated with hatcheting off employees to earn Executives an extra week of vacation at the Jersey Shore, it's pretty darn tough to break that stigma.


In the end, it's your call - fortify your defenses or watch your market share burn to the ground as the Headhunters pilfer and loot you of every HiPo you have. The choice is yours.

Editor's Note - Josh Letourneau is the owner of Knight & Bishop, an Executive Search and Human Capital Intelligence firm, with an emerging focus on Social Network Analysis (SNA). Nope, not like MySpace, but more like who is connected to whom in organizations and how does that impact their influence on decision making and P.O.V.s. And you can learn more about all of this on his new blog Collaborative Chaos.

Access Content Source And Other Great Stuff: http://www.fistfuloftalent.com/2011/06/the-headhunters-are-coming-are-you-ready.html

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http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.

INNOVATION- Leadership Wired - The John Maxwell Company

Workshops - The John Maxwell Company

Leadership Wired

INNOVATION

"It's easy to come up with new ideas; the hard part is letting go of what worked for you two years ago, but will soon be out of date."
— Roger von Oech

"The achievement of excellence can only occur if the organization promotes a culture of creative dissatisfaction."
— Lawrence Miller

"After years of telling corporate citizens to 'trust the system,' many companies must relearn instead to trust their people – and encourage their people to use neglected creative capacities in order to tap the most potent economic stimulus of all: idea power." – Rosabeth Moss Kanter

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." - George Bernard Shaw

"The way to get good ideas is to get lots of ideas, and throw the bad ones away."
— Dr. Linus Pauling

"This article is used by permission from Leadership Wired, John Maxwell's premiere leadership newsletter, available for free subscription at http://cl.publicaster.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=8365%7c7101%7c678885%7c654001&digest=Hu4Gm6x2TLYzv9Gwzr8nbw&sysid=1."

Access Content Source And Other Great Stuff: http://www.johnmaxwell.com/products-resources/free-resources

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http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.

Disclosure law targets CEO pay | ajc.com

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Disclosure law targets CEO pay ajc.com

Disclosure law targets CEO pay
June 4, 2011

Excerpts:

Under a relatively little-known section of the new Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law, companies will be required to calculate how their CEOs’ compensation compares to the median pay of their global work forces, including part-time clerks in Peoria and assembly workers in Guangzhou. The median is the pay level at which half the employees are better paid and half are paid less.

Access Content Source: http://www.ajc.com/business/disclosure-law-targets-ceo-967180.html


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http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.

Interview question – what project are you most proud of?

CubeRules.com

Interview question – what project are you most proud of?

Written by Scot Herrick on June 8, 2011 in Job Search

1 Comment - Leave a comment!

photo credit: h.koppdelaney


Whether you’ve had a long or short career, you’re proud of at least one project, one deliverable, or one great collaboration with others on the job, right? Hiring managers want to know about that peak moment. They want to know about it because it represents everything that is best about your work — your job skills, your motivation and your ability to work with the team.


You can’t answer with just ”Oh, it was the XYZ project.” No, you have to not only explain that moment, but also why it was the one moment you are most proud of in all of your illustrious career. It’s not a right answer to just trot out some project with some business results. It’s not enough to show your ability to answer with a CAR framework. No, this is the time when you show the best of the best.


The right answer: the one that you are proudest of and is told as the hero’s journey.

The call to adventure

This is when you are told your life will change, whether you know it or not. You are called by your manager and asked to work on something important, whether it be a task, project or collaboration with others.


Here, you give the context to the work that will happen, just like the regular telling of the context of a story — the size of the project, importance to the business and what happened before you entered the picture.

The road of trials

If the proudest thing you’ve accomplished in your career was all easy, without difficulties, you’re missing the point of this interview question. No, what you are most proud of speaks to the trials you faced, the problems you had to overcome and the difficulties you experienced in doing the work. This is your time to talk through the big obstacles that you had to overcome to deliver results to the business — because these trials and how you overcame them is what the hiring manager wants to hear about.


Talk about the trials. Talk about how you overcame them. Show the hiring manager what it took to overcome difficulties.

The crossing

Here, our hero has learned from experiences from the quest and shares what has been learned with others.


To sum up this story of your proudest moment, you must summarize what you learned from the project or event, how it influenced you through today, and how you have shared that experience with others.


Sure, you need to tell the business results that you achieved here, but in the proudest moment question, you have to give the personal learnings you took away from the experience.

Your proudest moment is your career summary

When you tell your hero’s tale (your story), you are really summarizing your unique reasons for hiring you. You are telling the hiring manager that [1] you have the job skills, [2] you have motivation to overcome obstacles, and [3] can work with a team to make business results. After all, those are the only three answers to interview questions. And your hero’s journey provides the powerful answer to all three.

Access Content Source And Other Great Stuff: http://cuberules.com/2011/06/08/how-answer-project-most-proud-of-interview-question/

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http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.

Being there: 4 situations where human touch is required in work — Online Collaboration

Being there: 4 situations where human touch is required in work — Online Collaboration

GIGAOM.com

Being there: 4 situations where human touch is required in work

By Aliza Sherman Jun. 8, 2011, 10:02am PT 1 Comment

I often extol the virtues of virtual work. But no matter how much I love virtual, I’m also keenly aware that being remote isn’t always ideal. In my experience, there are four specific situations that should never be handled by phone or email. Doing so welcomes problems that can lead to disasters.

1. Overcoming “hidden” conflicts. An obvious and undeniable challenge with managing an entirely virtual team is a lack of visual cues and body language when communicating that can trigger misunderstandings. But less obviously, frequent misinterpretations can chip away at someone’s confidence or comfort level, creating tensions that are hard to name and even harder to address. In one virtual work situation I’ve experienced, all the team members were only privy to what they read in emails or heard on the phone for nearly a year before the company brought everyone to the same location for a retreat. Just sharing moments in a physical space melted away much of the negative energy that was damaging the remote interactions. At this gathering, one person even said to me that just seeing my eyes showed them more kindness than my terse email messages conveyed. Ouch! What an important lesson to learn about e-communications and the human touch.
2. Building stronger bonds. Nothing can strengthen the bonds between team members in the same way as physical presence. I will never deny the incredible power of online communications and online community, but the bottom line is that we are social creatures. We crave belonging, being near others, not being alone. Virtual work can thrust even the heartiest of us into isolation, and the only real way to solve that isolation with lasting effects is a face-to-face meeting. It may not be feasible to bring an entire company to a single place due to the number of people involved or budget constraints. But maybe it is realistic to arrange gatherings of smaller teams or to put together a schedule of in-person meetings over the course of a year — even a series of one-on-one meetings. Another possible solution is to have team members meet up at industry events, several at a time, for both bonding and learning.
3. Delivering really bad news. If your company is in crisis, it is not the time to send out a short email that can be misconstrued or a long email that is confusing and triggers panic. Find a way to get everyone together in one place to drop the bomb. If getting everyone in a single physical space isn’t doable, you should have smaller groups meeting physically or management meeting team members individually. And if those options aren’t possible either, use the best virtual workplace solution you can find, be it a virtual world or virtual meeting space with video. An audio conference call? Barely a step above an email. Be a more solid presence to cushion the blow.
4. Delivering really good news. If you’ve got something big to report, do it when everyone is together on that big client pitch or the company retreat. Small wins can be shared well in email or on weekly calls, but the huge wins deserve more presence to infuse the team with the power of the accomplishment. When you’re managing a team of remote workers, the wins somehow seem a lot smaller than the losses, and over time that dynamic can drain morale and affect productivity. Surround good news with as much “physical” fanfare as possible. People often need something tangible to hold onto. Provide mementos of the big wins that they can take back to their remote workplaces to remind them of being a part of something real and positive.

In our everyday work, far from our team members, face-to-face and in-person may simply not be affordable. Invest in a quality virtual meeting space or conference tool, whether it’s iMeet, Google Talk, Skype, Second Life or any of the myriad solutions out there. Let your team test several of those solutions with you, and get their feedback before making a final purchase and rolling out the technology. Let your workers be just as invested in being present as you are.

What other situations warrant face-to-face and what do you do when you can’t be there?

Access Content SOurce And Other Great Stuff: http://gigaom.com/collaboration/being-there-4-situations-where-human-touch-is-required-in-work/

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http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.

The "Elephants" in the Job Interview: Handling Difficult (but Impossible to Ignore) Topics - The Monster Blog

The Monster Blog

Monster.com

The Monster 5 for Friday--Careers Edition--June 3 Main Bad Manners at Work »

June 07, 2011

The "Elephants" in the Job Interview: Handling Difficult (but Impossible to Ignore) Topics

You don't want to talk about it, but you can't ignore it: You left your last job because you were fired. Or because you shouted "I quit!" in a rage and stormed out. Or maybe your last job wasn't the problem, but you can tell that this interviewer is just, as they say, "not that into you."


Dealing with the metaphorical "elephant in the room" can be as difficult as handling an actual elephant -- but when a new job is on the line, it can be even harder. We asked Jim Camp, the president and CEO of Camp Negotiation Systems and the author of the bestselling book Start with No: The Negotiating Tools That the Pros Don't Want You to Know, for some advice on getting past elephants.


Camp explains, "A job interview by definition is a negotiation. It is an effort to bring about an agreement between two or more parties, with all parties having the right to veto."


Camp has developed a negotiation-management system and tools that he says can help anyone, in any type of negotiating situation, deal with barriers to negotiation. "Having such tools before you get to the negotiating table helps you prepare for, execute, and debrief the negotiation step by step," he says.


Now let's bring on the elephants:


Elephant #1: You were fired from your last job.


Before your initial job interview, Camp recommends creating a checklist. "In the checklist," he advises, "you would list any problems that you foresee might hurt your efforts, such as a firing on your resume, and that [might] keep you from the conclusion you want -- getting the job. Then you will address each problem in your first interview, either in person or on the phone. It would sound something like this: 'There is a potential problem I would like to address. It is important that we have transparency and openness as we begin. I was terminated from my last position. If that is important, I would like to address that at the very beginning. How would you like me to proceed? If termination is a game stopper, let's know right now.'"


That may sound scary, but Camp believes that not addressing the firing directly can be far worse: "Your directness, and your invitation to allow them to 'veto' -- in this case, to bring the interview to a stop -- will set them at ease," he says. "Such honesty puts you in a good light."


Elephant #2: You quit in an angry blowup (or just without giving notice).


Camp says you can use the same strategy here that you would use if you were terminated -- and for the same reason: "There's a good chance that your interviewer will call your previous employer. If you don't bring this out into the open, you'll be in a compromised situation when it comes time for your interview. That is, you'll be wondering whether and when they'll bring up the topic. You'll be wishing you'd said something. ... In the interview, you should be focusing on your words and behaviors, definitely not emotions such as fear or worry. Instead, just bring it out into the open, using a similar statement as previously discussed. And remember to talk about it in a way that helps the interviewer see you as an asset -- someone who made a mistake and learned from it, perhaps, and someone who will be forthright, honest, and direct. These are positives for the employer, not negatives."


Camp says that once you vanquish elephants like this, you can then discuss your job history "in the context of creating a well-rounded picture of the circumstances -- one that puts you in a beneficial light and helps the interviewer see you as an asset to the organization."


He adds that it's very important for you to retain control of your image -- and if you hide part of your history, you can give up some of that control.


Elephant #3: The interviewer says you're overqualified (and you just might be!).


Camp says that, like the first two elephants, this one should have made it on to the checklist of problems that you are facing. And, he says, you have to negotiate those problems out first.


"If it's not a deal breaker," Camp says, "then you've just gotten the interviewer to open up to the vision that you are going to start building for them, the one that shows them their problems, and that offers yourself and your top three or four qualities as the solution to those problems."


(For more tips on dealing with this particular elephant, read "I'm Overqualified.")


Elephant #4: The interviewer is hostile and aggressive.


Camp explains that his system of negotiation is made up of soft skills and hard structures: "The soft skills fill the structure," he says. "Within the behaviors that make up the soft skills, we have two that come immediately to bear on this situation. The first is the 'stripline.' It is the ability to be a little more negative than the other party. For example, the interviewer says, 'It just doesn't appear to me that you accomplished near as much as you could have in your last job.' Your response: 'From what you have to go on, it probably seems even worse than that.'"


Then you can speak about your accomplishments in more detail.


"The second is to nurture," Camp says. "Lower your voice, slow your pace of speech, and sit back as the discussion continues. By utilizing the stripline, nurturing, and a strong checklist, this type of interviewer is fairly easily handled."


Elephant #5: You can just tell that the interviewer is just "not that into you."


Again, Camp says it's crucial to get this problem out into the open: "By this, I mean stopping the discussion and stating the new problem you see, followed by a great open-ended question that can't be answered with a plain yes or no. For example: 'May we stop, please? I see a problem growing here. I sense I'm falling short in your eyes. Where am I falling short? Can you help me see that?' With that you should be able to re-engage and reboot the discussion."

Get more job-interview tips from Monster.com. For daily career-advice tweets, follow @monstercareers, and then join the conversation on our Facebook page.

Access Content And Other Great Stuff: http://monster.typepad.com/monsterblog/2011/06/the-elephant-in-job-interview.html

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http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.

47 Mind-Blowing Psychology-Proven Facts You Should Know About Yourself

47 Mind-Blowing Psychology-Proven Facts You Should Know About Yourself

Access Slide Show: http://www.businessinsider.com/100-things-you-should-know-about-people-2010-11


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Note from Jim: Fascinating and useful! - Insights about human behavior with citations of psychological studies. Oriented to tips for electronic communication and web design yet containing lessons for marketing, social interaction, perception, decision making, and influence. 
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Business Insider

Susan Weinschenk, What Makes Them Click


47 Mind-Blowing Psychology-Proven Facts You Should Know About Yourself

Excerpts:
#1 — You Have “Inattention Blindness”

#2 — You READ FASTER With a longer Line Length But PREFER Shorter

#3 — You Can Only Remember 3 to 4 Things At A Time (The Magic Number 3 or 4)

#4 — You Imagine Objects From Above and Tilted (The “Canonical Perspective”)

#5 — You Make Most of Your Decisions Unconsciously

#6 — You Reconstruct Your Memories

#7 — You Actually Can’t Multi-Task

#8 — Dopamine Makes You Addicted To Seeking Information

#9 — Blue and Red Together is Hard On Your Eyes (Chromostereopsis)

#10 — You Want More Choices and Information Than You Can Actually Process

#11 — Why You Can’t Resist Paying Attention to Food, Sex, or Danger

#12 — When it comes to technology, you definitely “act your age”

#13 — Want To Change a Habit? Use Fun, Surprise, and a Crowd

#14 — Reading Text Online Is Not Fun

#15 — If You Use Social Media Without Laughter You Aren’t Being Social

#16 — The Ability To Delay Gratification Or Not Starts Young

#17 — Your Unconscious Knows First

#18 — What People Look At On a Picture Or Screen Depends On What You Say To Them

#19 — It’s a Myth That All Capital Letters Are Inherently Harder to Read

#20 — Your Attention Is Riveted By Pictures Of People

#21 — You Overestimate Your Reactions to Future Events

#22 — Peripheral Vison — Keeping You Alive or Channel Surfing?

#23 — You Are Hard-Wired For Imitation and Empathy

#24 — You Are Most Affected By Brands and Logos When You Are Sad Or Scared

#25 — Trust Your Gut or Be Logical? It Depends On Your Mood

#26 — Culture shapes our brain

#27 — We go below the “fold”

#28 — Things that are close together seem to belong together

#29 – Brand Names Talk To Our “Old” Brains

#30 — Our “strong tie” group size is 150 people

#31 — The Desire For Control And Choice Is Built In

#32 — Synchronous activity bonds the group

#33: Bite-Sized Chunks Of Info Are Best

#34 — Too Much Stress Results In Poor Performance

#35 — People Make Mistakes

#36 — People are Inherently Lazy

#37 — People Assume It’s You, Not The Situation

#38 — Even The Illusion Of Progress Is Motivating

#39 — Your Mind Wanders 30% of the Time

#40 — “You’re Easily Influenced, but I’m not”

#41 — Your Most Vivid Memories Are Wrong

#42 — We’ll spend more money if you don’t mention money

#43 — People Expect Online Interactions to Follow Social Rules

#44 — When Uncertain, People Look To Others to Decide What To Do

#45 — You Choose (And Vote For) The First One On The List

#46: The more uncertain you are, the more you dig in and defend your ideas

#47 — People Value A Product More Highly If It Is Physically In Front Of Them


What else should you know about people? Find out from...


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/100-things-you-should-know-about-people-2010-11#what-else-should-you-know-about-people-find-out-from-48#ixzz1OmaFuVHA


Dr. Susan Weinschenk has been applying psychology to the design of technology for 30 years and is the author of Neuro Web Design: What makes them click? and 100 Things Every Designer Needs To Know About People. Susan is Chief of User Experience Strategy, Americas, at Human Factors International, and runs a popular blog: Whatmakesthemclick.net.

You can contact Susan at: Weinschenk@gmail.com or twitter@thebrainlady


Contact:
e-mail:weinschenk@gmail.com


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/author/susan-weinschenk#ixzz1OmcGYZMC

Access Slide Show: http://www.businessinsider.com/100-things-you-should-know-about-people-2010-11

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http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.

Facebook facial recognition technology sparks renewed concerns | Reuters

Facebook facial recognition technology sparks renewed concerns Reuters

Access Article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/08/us-facebook-idUSTRE7570C220110608?feedType=nl&feedName=usmorningdigest

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http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.

Still teaching: Warren Bennis on leadership | SmartBlog on Leadership

Still teaching: Warren Bennis on leadership SmartBlog on Leadership

SmartBlog On Leadership

Still teaching: Warren Bennis on leadership

By John Baldoni on June 3, 2011 Comments (2)

John Baldoni is an internationally recognized leadership development consultant, executive coach, author, and speaker. In 2011, Leadership Gurus International ranked him No. 11 on its list of the world’s top leadership experts. Baldoni is the author of nine books on leadership including “Lead By Example: 50 Ways Great Leaders Inspire Results” and “Lead Your Boss: The Subtle Art of Managing Up.” His website is http://www.johnbaldoni.com/


I don’t know Warren Bennis personally, but after reading his latest book, “Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership,” I feel I do. And this is only right, since I have quoted him often in my own work.


Bennis is a giant in the world of leadership development, and this book is a welcome addition to his canon. It begins with the title. “Still Surprised” is an apt description of a man who is truly a seeker, one looking not just for answers but for experiences that will lead to greater understanding.


Born in Brooklyn in 1925, Bennis joined a military training program in high school that led to his becoming. likely. the youngest second lieutenant in World War II. His first assignment was daunting, as a replacement platoon commander during the Battle of the Bulge. His first lesson was to defer to the experience of those he knew more than he did, namely his first sergeant and his captain. Later, he learned how to stand up for them when he ordered a tank commander to provide support for his men who were to take a Bavarian town in April 1945, just days before the war’s end. That action earned him the Bronze Star.





The book blends the story of his life with that of his career as an academic, provost, and university president. For the past three decades, he has been teaching and leading at the University of Southern California. What comes to mind for me are five key insights that all who are in charge can take away from this book:


Be curious. Academics ask questions in the search for knowledge. They must be willing to research, as well as be open to, new sources of information. Curiosity for leaders comes as a means of ascertaining the status quo as well as a means of questioning it. At times this will be liberating, but other times, it will cause discomfort because leaders must be change agents, a term Bennis coined decades ago.


Be collaborative. So much of what a leader accomplishes is not through command but through influence. Bennis brings this lesson to life by retelling the story of heading a committee to choose a new president at USC. As head of a committee of 19, Bennis deftly demonstrates how leaders listen patiently, cajole gently, challenge appropriately and even flatter in order to bring people into agreement.


Be a networker. Any memoir of a famous personage will contain details of acquaintances and friendships with other famous people, and so a cursory reading will seem like a collection of anecdotes. Not so with this work. Bennis is by nature a networker. Leaders need to network purposefully, both as a means of determining the current situation as well as the capabilities of the people in the organization.


Be self-aware. Bennis is candid about his failings as a husband as well as his shortcomings as an administrator. The university president at the State University of New York at Buffalo, who recruited Bennis, betrayed him. And his presidential tenure at the University of Cincinnati ended prematurely due to partisan politics. His candor is refreshing and reminds us that a leader who does not know himself will have trouble getting others to follow his lead.


The final chapter, “The Crucible of Age,” is a frank assessment of the aging process but also one that is full of hope “I see the world with the same wide-eyed wonder [of children] because everything is different than it was 25… 50… or 75 years ago. I can’t wait to find out what happens next.”

Good advice for every leader.

Access Content Source And Other Great Stuff: http://smartblogs.com/leadership/2011/06/03/still-teaching-warren-bennis-on-leadership/

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http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.