Leadership
Looking for something specific? The following topics address a wide range of business needs and challenges.
Why GE’s Talent-Review System’s Secret Ingredient is Still a Secret
Raghu Krishnamoorthy, a vice president at GE, recently wrote an HBR-Online article about GE’s secret ingredient to its purported Talent-Review System. One can assume by reading the comments on…
Leveraging the 4:1 Ratio—In Sports and in Business
It’s built into what we do with our clients, in understanding and applying the science of behavior. While it may not seem revolutionary, correctly applying the 4:1 Ratio matters and does affect…
Don’t Blame Employees for Lack of Effort—Managers Hold the Key
It’s generally agreed that persuading employees to give more than required can make or break a company. Yet many leaders struggle to get that discretionary effort. The 2022 Gallup State of the…
Why Mary Barra Should Be the Norm, Not the Exception
One issue has been largely overlooked in the discussions about women in leadership: Do the traits of one gender have an advantage over the other in the boardroom? Direct and self-promotional…
Encouraging Creativity: You Never Know Where the Next Billion Dollar Idea Will Come From
There is nothing mysterious about creativity. Contrary to what many writers write and to the many so-called myths out there; it is not a brain thing or a province of just a few. As a matter of fact…
5 Fool-Proof Ways to Set and Accomplish Productive Goals
Goal setting is a common practice in organizations and can lead to improved performance and productivity. But many companies struggle to properly execute the goal setting process. Check out our…
Fast Company Article on "Stack Ranking"
It’s hard to believe but Stack Ranking has found its way back into corporations as a means for motivating employees. What will it take for leaders to understand that this practice doesn’t work and in…
Rank and Yank: Would a Rose by Any Other Name Smell as Sweet?
Jack Welch joined the fray about Microsoft’s abandoning “rank and yank” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed titled “Jack Welch: ’Rank and Yank’? That’s Not How It’s Done.” Welch now says that rank…
Zero Tolerance Policies Should be Called “Don’t Blame Me” Policies
While I understand the appeal of zero tolerance policies in that they allow difficult decisions about behavior to be dispatched easily and quickly, the decision to expel a child from school or to…
President Obama, You Say You Want Ideas—Here’s One!
President Obama says he wants ideas. How about this one? The government will designate a fixed dollar amount to be deducted from each taxpayer each year. This fund will be…
A Better Way for HP to Boost Performance
Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Meg Whitman has rekindled the debate over whether to telecommute with a memo urging employees to show up at the office more often. She wrote that “HP needs all hands…
Breaking Bad: A Lesson in Creativity For the Workplace
On the heels of the series finale of Breaking Bad, I heard a radio interview on NPR’s show “Fresh Air.” The host was interviewing Peter Gould and Thomas Schnauz, part of the writing team for…
Justin Bieber, Senior Leaders and “Yes-Men”
Recently I heard Charles Barkley on ESPN radio, but he wasn't talking basketball. He was talking about Justin Bieber and how Bieber’s life is gradually unraveling. It’s been a slow shaping process…
Building Reinforcement Into Your Work
Managers can’t be everywhere all the time. So an important part of providing positive reinforcement to keep desired behaviors going is to build it into the work. This is referred to as natural…
Getting New Employees Game Ready
The start of the school year is my favorite time of the year because it marks the start of the college football season. While college freshmen have plenty of adjustments to make, freshmen football…
Rank and Yank and Other Business Nonsense
When will they learn? I wrote my book Oops! 13 management practices that waste time and money in 2009 and the one that has caught the most attention is Performance Appraisal. An article by Will…
5 Tips for Improving Your Effectiveness as a Coach
There is always a lot of buzz surrounding leaders– what makes an effective one, are they born or made, and why do some transform into bad bosses. Yet the most common trending topic today seems…
The Behavioral Minute: The Secret to Listening
Behavior is all around us: the good and the bad. Yet so often the actions and reactions of others go by without thought. In support of our quest to bring the science of behavior to the masses,…
