2 TIPS FOR CLIMBING AND 2 TIPS FOR LEANING YOUR LADDER AGAINST THE RIGHT WALL In talking to some top performing college students today, I realized that they have what it takes to climb the rungs: 1. You don’t have to give them m&ms to motivate them. They are self-motivated and conscientious. This is a characteristic that employers want. In fact, coupled with IQ, this is the greatest predictor of job performance across all jobs. Here’s some more info on the analogy of the m&ms. 2. They can wait for another marshmallow. They have the ability to delay gratification
Over the last week, I’ve given a lot of thought into which client I should highlight as an example of discovering talents. There have been many, all unique, with so many talents to share. I anticipate using this person as an example throughout the process of describing how you discover yourself and match it to the market, so it has been difficult to pick the “best” one. With much thought, I’ve decided to make this example personal. No, I’m not going to describe myself and my journey, but I’m not going to use a paying client either. Instead, I’m going
LESSONS ON LEADERSHIP FROM BOB WOODWARD I had the unique opportunity to hear Bob Woodward, who along with Carl Bernstein broke the Watergate Scandal, speak in a private session to the Blackburn Institute at the University of Alabama. Bob was asked the question, “What advice would you give to students about leadership?” Instead of giving points on leadership, or even discussing one of the seven Presidents he has interviewed, he told the story of Katharine Graham, owner of the Washington Post. By describing the key points of one of their discussions about the Watergate story he emphasized these key points: She was “mind
4 TIPS FOR C LEVEL EXECUTIVES TO EMPOWER THE MIDDLE MANAGER I often think that being a “middle manager” may be the worst place to be in the organizational hierarchy. I often have middle managers in my leadership classes who complain that they feel stuck in the role of go-betweener. They feel as though the purpose they serve is to act as a buffer between employees and upper management without the authority to make key decisions that they feel are best for their people and the company. I recently saw this happening to a middle manager that told me, “I
I attended a seminar last week discussing ways to improve productivity and communication in the workplace. One thing that stood out to me in the presentation was the emphasis the presenter placed on eliminating stressors so that people could be innovative and creative. He placed a value on innovation and creativity as the only differentiating factors in creating a sustainable advantage. What if standard or traditional work arrangements are creating workplace stressors and reducing innovation and creativity? This leads me to consider a tie to a book I mentioned last week, The Elephant and the Flea and its emphasis on