Striking the Right Balance
President Obama recently sparked an interesting dialogue about empathy when he stated that he would nominate a Supreme Court justice "who understands that justice isn't about some abstract theory. ... It is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of...
Understanding the Leadership Contract
It doesn’t matter whether you are a chief executive or a newly hired intern, it is up to each and every one of us to tap into our drive, our ambition, and our creativity to transform our work and the business of business. We do this by taking on the responsibility for...
We Are Only What We Do…
A recent series of articles from Canada's The Globe and Mail newspaper featured Isadore Sharp's new book, Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy. One thing that struck me when reading this was an expression that too many leaders don't internalize nor...
Seventh Annual American Business Awards(SM)
The Stevie Awards has named nine executives who will chair specialized final-judging committees for its Seventh Annual American Business Awards. I am proud to say that I have been selected as the chairwoman for the Management category. The American Business Awards...
Are Hackers Our Future Heroes?
There is no doubt that we are facing challenging times. Within many workplaces we are losing experienced workers as they are either retrenched or retire, replacing them, if at all, with the sea of less experienced Generation Y. This is part of a structural realignment...
Pay it Forward
The concept of paying it forward is one which can truly benefit many and was featured in a great movie from 2000 starring Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt & Haley Joel Osment. It reminds me of a commercial from the 1970s for Faberge shampoo in which they had the...
Making the Matrix Work For You
Increasingly, businesses are seeing the benefits of working in a matrix. But while this works for the organization, individuals can often find operating in a matrix, more than a little challenging. But there are some very simple things that you can do to make the...
Got Questions? I’ll Offer Answers…
Following my webinar with Jo Miller, there were many questions asked about leadership, virtual teams, work-life balance, and the like. I offered answers to many of these questions and Jo posted them on her website. This exercise made me realize that there are many...
Follow Up Questions from My Conversation with Jo Miller
Last week I had an opportunity to talk with Jo Miller, CEO of Women’s Leadership Coaching, and the many listeners who attended the webinar on office politics. Our discussion prompted many questions from the listeners and in response to these questions, Jo and I took...
Pick Your Preferences
We like to think that we can have our cake and eat it too. However, in business, few leaders have such luxuries available. Instead, we must make choices regarding our preferences or priorities. A simple example might be speed versus accuracy. Obviously, we'd love to...
My Conversation with Jo Miller of Women’s Leadership Coaching
Jo Miller, CEO of Women's Leadership Coaching, and I will be talking about "Winning at the Game of Office Politics" on Tuesday, February 24 2009, 11:00am-12:00pm PST Some topics we'll be addressing include: Is it possible to navigate office politics without becoming a...
Unearthing Creativity
You know the type. They are there in your office somewhere – a flash in their eyes, a zing in their step, a perspective that surprises. And while we all consider ourselves to be creative on some level, there are those in your business who really do walk to a different...
Check Out MyVenturePad.com and SocialMediaToday.com
Recently, I had an opportunity to talk with Brian Roger of Social Media Today and its sister site MyVenturePad.com. Brian writes for these online, B2B social communities on topics that help companies use social media to connect with and build deep relationships...
I’ve Said it Before, I’ll Say it Again … Communication is Critical!
Ok, so I know I have harped on the necessity for leaders to communicate and, more importantly, to know how best to communicate. Communication is a critically important activity involving all of the senses and in today's economic environment, communication takes on an...
Smart Growth for Leaders
With governments around the world developing economic stimulus packages and high level meetings of the world’s leading politicians (Davos) and thinkers (TED) – there is clearly a lot of activity and talk around growth, innovation and productivity. In amongst all this...
Don’t Wait for Leadership
In the current economic climate, companies across the world are trying to figure out how to best weather the storm. Layoffs have seemingly become the norm; just google "layoffs" or look here and you'll see what I mean. Such dire circumstances leave many wondering...
A Brief Discussion with Michael Gallagher, President – The Stevie Awards®
In November 2008, I was humbled by being named the winner of the 5th Annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business in the "Best Executive - Service Businesses - More than 2,500 Employees". This was truly an honor and I can only again point to and congratulate the...
Global Gender Gap Shrinks?
Late last year the Global Gender Gap report was released. This report by the World Economic Forum covers 92% of the world population and delivers some surprising findings. Of the 130 countries studied, 87 have narrowed the gender gap since 2007. Norway, Finland and...
What Leaders Can Learn from Chesley Sullenberger
Well if we've ever needed an example of what it really is to lead during a crisis, this past week's U.S. Airways flight 1549 water landing shows us loud and clear. Just moments after takeoff, the 29-year U.S. Airways veteran captain of the plane and a pilot for 40...
Leadership’s All About Academics…No It’s Experience…No It’s Ability
As we enter this new year, I am taking time to reflect on leadership, what it means, what makes a great leader, and what people can do to improve their leadership skills. In the spirit of always being willing to improve, I read lots of other leadership related blogs,...