Thoughts on Sheryl Sandberg and Personal Leadership
As we reach the end of one year and enter into a new one, we all feel the need to recap on what has been and look toward the future – at what will be. Perhaps we are drawn to predictions as a way of helping us make sense of what is otherwise unknowable. But I am a...
We All Need to be Critical
Over the course of my career I have been presented with new roles and new opportunities. Each time, as I meet with my new colleagues, I spend a great deal of time listening, trying to capture and understand their context and mapping this against my own experience and...
Are You an 18 Second Boss?
I have a task for you. During your next customer call, or a team meeting – ask about pain points. Delve into the issues that your customer or your team has. Ask for the number one issue and ask for the context so that you can adequately understand it. Now, time...
Getting off the Social Media Starting Blocks
“Have you joined the conversation?” This is a question often asked in relation to social media. These days, I hear it in executive meetings, in team meetings, at conferences and of course, at the coffee shop. It seems everywhere I look, people are blogging, tweeting...
The Buck Stops With You
President Truman famously kept a sign on his desk with the words “The Buck Stops Here.”This sign indicated that, ultimately, decisions cannot be passed to anyone else. President Truman was acknowledging that decisions can be hard – that there are always other options...
Learning from Smart Women in Technology
I am not alone in writing about the lack of women in technology-based leadership roles. But often, the focus of such posts is on the startup sector – on the web based businesses that gain a large share of the popular press. Yet this is a more widespread issue – it’s...
What is Customer Oriented Thinking
When you work for a consumer goods company – it’s easy to know who your customers are. They are the people who buy your product, right? But what if your business is selling to other businesses? What if you work in a multinational company? Who is the customer? One...
Customer Leadership
Earlier this year I took on a new role – leading SAP’s Premier Customer Network. Now, I have been working with SAP since 2004 and have taken on some challenging roles, but there was something particularly interesting about this opportunity. And while I could not quite...
Take Money Off the Table
The issue of remuneration is challenging for any leader or manager. For sure, we want our teams to feel rewarded for the work that they do – but that reward doesn’t always have to manifest in monetary form, after all there are a number of ways that we are motivated....
Leading From a Distance
There was a time when business was done face-to-face. Sure there’d be some travel, but it was over shorter distances. We’d have networks of offices spread across the country servicing our customers in close proximity to one another. We’d know our bosses and their...
A Breakfast with Smart Women Leaders
Last week I attended SAP’s premier customer event in Orlando – Sapphire Now. It is a feast of presentations, discussions, forums and workshops. There are keynote sessions, luncheons, chance meetings and conference floor demonstrations – and around 50,000 people in...
Wanted: More Women in Business and Technology
I have written many times in the past on the subject of wanting more women in technology roles – or in the wider field of business. This is not just a favorite topic of mine – it has dramatic ramifications for every business, large and small. As Claire Cain Miller...
Honoring Massy Mehdipour this Ava Lovelace Day
Ada Byron, also known as Ada Lovelace was born in 1815. The daughter of the famous poet, Lord Byron, applied her naturally creative mind to the study of mathematics – attempting to put the science of mathematics and technology into an “appropriate human context” (you...
Getting Active for International Women’s Day
On this day, ninety-nine years ago, the first International Women’s Day was declared. And yet, almost a century on, women and girls continue to struggle on many fronts. There is inequality, discrimination, violence, poverty and exploitation – that particularly affects...
Women to Drive High Tech Growth
It seems that the global financial crisis is prompting a wide-ranging re-think on the role of women in leadership. The Shriver Report indicated that, in total, the US working populations are balancing out - with women now comprising 50% of the total for the first time...
What Leaders Can Learn from Conan and Leno
Watching the way that NBC has been handling the Conan vs Leno debacle has me thinking … why do experienced leaders continue to make poor decisions when it comes to succession? Many organizations now have systems in place that help identify emerging leaders – the rock...
Understanding the Two Percenters
Last year’s Shriver Report (which I discussed here), noted the transformations that have taken place regarding women’s participation in the workforce. This is reinforced in a recent article in The Economist, which suggests that the “rich world’s quiet revolution” is...
Are We a Woman’s Nation?
When we look at the facts and figures it seems clear that women are not just transforming the workplace, they are transforming the entire country. The recent Shriver Report indicates that for the first time, half of US workers are female – and in 40% of American...
Which Women Make Your Top 50 Thinkers List?
Last year I was predictably disappointed by the small number of women representatives on the Thinkers 50 list. I felt that we really needed to add more women to the Top 50 thinkers list. This year, Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove have included FIVE women – up from...
It’s Time for the Do-able Strategy
Every organization has politics. Every business has a power base and a structure. And every organization has internal and external barriers that need to be straddled, worked-around or overcome. This often means that success comes not from following the rules but from...