Carrots, Sticks, and Unintended Consequences
Having seen example after example of the “power of the carrot” I have long maintained that organizations large and small should be careful, very careful what they incentivize people to do, because it will absolutely, positively drive behavior… in every one of us. We’ve seen it on a super-sized scale in the healthcare fee-for-service model, where providers […]
Whether Your Management Style is Trending “Hard” or “Soft”, Some Iron Laws Are Immutable
Spurred by incessant jousting over whether one of the U.S. presidential candidates might be “hardening or softening” their position on immigration policy, I thought recently about an altogether different arena, the workspace, and the evolution of management style that many of us find ourselves in the midst of, as we journey between a top-down command […]
Bad Bosses are Bad Business
Who among us would keep seeing a dentist who was lousy at administering anesthesia? Or would knowingly board an airplane piloted by someone who’d never really learned to fly? I think I know the answer. So why, then, do so many of us tolerate people in management positions who have demonstrated a remarkable ineptitude for […]
Seven Reasons Why You’re Losing Your Leadership Bench, and What to Do About It
For nearly three years, CEO’s (and other C-suite occupants) have been voicing mounting concern about the length and strength (or lack thereof) of their leadership bench. Following are a few thoughts about the underlying causes of those concerns, and what can be done about them. Causes 1. Lack of developmental opportunity / assistance – They […]
So, You Think You Want to Be a Leader
In a recent speech for about sixty undergrad management students, I posed the question: “How many of you either already occupy, or aspire to a professional role as a leader?” Everyone in the room raised a hand. After acknowledging delight in seeing so much interest, I then remarked soberly, “some of you probably need to […]
Leadership: Principle vs Popularity
The long life of an old family friend came to an end last week. More than a generation ago, this fellow was a high-profile public official in my hometown (appointed, not elected). And something of a controversial figure. I was a kid at the height of his notoriety, and I was always struck by the […]
Brexit and Feet Voting: Are Your Employees Next?
Since the June 23 referendum in which voters in the United Kingdom opted out of the European Union, there has been no small volume of ink and electrons applied to discussing the ramifications, good and bad (mostly bad) of what many describe as a surprising outcome. So rather than heap more words on that argument, I’m going […]
Take a Stand – A Leadership Lesson From Muhammad Ali
As a sports-minded teen growing up in West Virginia in the mid 60’s, I was an impressionable witness to the metamorphosis of a brash young boxer named Cassius Clay into the more fully formed adult who became known as Muhammad Ali. Our town wasn’t exactly a bastion of racial or social tolerance, so there wasn’t […]
I’m Sorry…Hold the If’s, And’s, and But’s
The song, “If I Could Turn Back Time” written by Diane Warren and performed by recording artist, Cher, laments our inability to completely erase and undo harm caused to another: “If I could turn back timeIf I could find a way I’d take back those words that hurt you and you’d stay. I don’t know why I […]
One Reason U.S. Productivity Growth Has Slowed, and What to Do About It
Economists have struggled over the last decade to attribute and explain the dramatic slowing of U.S. productivity growth. Since 2005, U.S. labor productivity growth (growth of measured output minus the growth of labor input) has been effectively sawed in half. As one of the few real indicators of economic vitality, understanding this phenomena is anything […]