Tag Archives: business

Executive Presence: The X Factor In Leadership

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Suzanne-Bates-101-copyby Suzanne Bates and David Casullo

As every CEO knows, there is an X factor in leadership that is hard to nail down but essential to successful management.

We’ll start with a case example. Steve, the CEO of a company we’ll call ICON, wondered whether the leader of one of ICON’s businesses had that X factor necessary to lead a key strategic initiative for her business, Logistical Systems Advisors (LSA).

The board of directors and executive team had set a new course for LSA to grow by acquisition, and though Jane, the business president, was delivering results, her style chafed some members of the company. Smart, focused and results-driven, Jane’s style had improved product performance and client responsiveness. However, Steve also thought her style might not be collaborative and inclusive enough to ensure successful integrations. Continue reading →

If You’re Always Giving Orders, You’re Not a Great Leader

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by Jessica Stillman

The best leaders spend five times more time teaching with questions than telling people what to do. What’s your ratio?

Think about a leader and chances are your first image is of someone giving orders — maybe it’s the quarterback in a huddle outlining the next play for his teammates, maybe it’s an army officer coolly  barking commands in the heat of combat. But chances are, when many of us think of leadership, we picture a person telling others what to do. Continue reading →

What CEOs Can Learn From College Students (Yes, Seriously)

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by Kurt Hanke

It’s the season of college graduations and their attendant commencement speeches–a time of hopes and dreams, of carpe diems and fare thee wells.

This past year, I had the good fortune of spending some time with a handful of incredibly thoughtful college students. And as I watch another sea of caps and gowns enter the workplace, I can’t help reflecting on a spirit that I observed within each of them that left me inspired, refreshed, and reinvigorated. Continue reading →

Negotiations

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Beth Carterby Beth Carter

How good a negotiator are you? Do you push back or do you not try to counteroffer? Many people do not realize that most products and services are negotiable. When you buy a car it is expected to haggle with the salesperson over price but why is that not the case in other scenarios? In the workplace, how many accept the first compensation package that is provided or the standard raise rate and not think to question it? Continue reading →

An Organizational Structure That Drives Change

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a6bd8901b34cc3128cf6680491af16abby Tom Somodi

Most people would argue that the ability for an organization to change over time is critical to that organization’s long-term survival. To this end, the literature is full of theories, methodologies, recommendations and analysis on how an organization should be structured in order to maximize the likelihood of obtaining successful change.

Organizations need to be structured to provide employee empowerment, lean operating techniques and continuous improvement philosophies. Yet organizations still fail to obtain desired change even though they put in exemplary efforts to support such structural recommendations. Continue reading →