Leaders who are serious about getting more women into senior management need a hard-edged approach to overcome the invisible barriers holding them back. Despite significant corporate commitment to the advancement of women’s careers, progress appears to have stalled. The percentage of women on boards and senior-executive teams remains stuck at around 15 percent in many […]
Read More ›Ever have occasion to do an in-depth review of the academic and practical literature on leadership? I have — twice in the past five years. The first time was for a 2006 book with Jeff Pfeffer, Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense. The second time was for my new book, Good Boss, Bad Boss. […]
Read More ›Through more than 40 years of service in the military, in higher education and with non-profits, I’ve been privileged to work with and learn from superb leaders, from the young instructors who taught me how to fly airplanes for the U.S. Navy to the very smart group of corporate chief executive officers I met during […]
Read More ›First impressions are earned quickly, but it takes time for employees to figure out the impact you are attempting to create in your leadership role. I’ve seen many leaders attempt to use their power and influence to impress their employees only to find this strategy backfiring because they were too aggressive – rather than taking […]
Read More ›Women have been a growing factor in the success of the US economy since the 1970s. Indeed, the additional productive power of women entering the workforce from 1970 until today accounts for about a quarter of current GDP. Still, the full potential of women in the workforce has yet to be tapped. As the US […]
Read More ›Worried about a leadership shortage? Gazing at a thin management pipeline? Wondering how to get the most out of the talent you have? It’s time to expand and amplify your organization’s leadership by looking beyond your proven superstars and management-track talent. Young professionals and experienced individual contributors need to be part of the leadership equation, […]
Read More ›If you’ve ever been led by a Mushroom (everyone’s in the dark), a Seagull (swoops in, squawks and dumps), or a Kipper (two-faced and gutless), you’ll be all too aware of the leadership style you don’t want to be known for. Fortunately, the simple fact that you are reading this article instantly places you in an elite […]
Read More ›Fortune just published a list of the top 50 leaders. At the top of the list was Pope Francis. An excerpt about the Pope: “His hardest work lies ahead. And yet signs of a ‘Francis effect’ abound: In a poll in March, one in four Catholics said they’d increased their charitable giving to the poor […]
Read More ›When an organization is performing well, investments in talent and innovation should be at full-throttle. As recent history has shown, companies tend to get complacent when they are on top, instead of sustaining their momentum through strategic focus. Great leaders know how to keep momentum alive by leveraging their distinct competitive advantages. They remain hungry in […]
Read More ›Modes are orchestrations of how we feel, think and act. They dictate how we perceive and react. Each mode has its own behavioral repertoire – we are, literally, a different person in our different modes. Modes are usually invisible to us – though everyone we interact with while in them senses what’s going on. The […]
Read More ›We’ve always said that human resources should be the most powerful part of an organization. So why, in reality, is its impact more often felt in a negative way? Because human resources, unfortunately, often operates as a cloak-and-dagger society or a health-and-happiness sideshow. Those are extremes, of course, but if there is anything we have […]
Read More ›To ensure that corporate culture supports—not hinders—the ability of women to reach top management, companies must address mind-sets and develop a more inclusive, holistic diversity agenda. Female executives are ambitious and sure of their own abilities to become top managers, though they are much less confident that their companies’ cultures can support their rise. In […]
Read More ›Wouldn’t it be great if the interests of shareholders, employees, and customers interlocked perfectly? If the day an employee fell ill were the day your customer wasn’t planning to come in anyway, and the day after the numbers had already been made for the quarter? I don’t want to patronize my readers by stating the […]
Read More ›There are very few great managers. And even fewer great leaders. Making your team happy by displaying behaviors that are expected from you as a manager is hard. But it is even harder to inspire people to follow you, especially if you don’t have direct authority over them. Leaders are not always perfect. And, sometimes, […]
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The 2014 Cranfield Female FTSE board report, launched on 26th March, reveals that the number of women on the boards of FTSE 100 companies has risen to 20.7% (from 17.3% in 2013) and 15.6% on FTSE 250 boards (from 13.3% in 2013). There are now just two FTSE 100 companies with all male boards, a considerable […]
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