Inspiration

Inspiration

Do you listen enough?

Mark Stelzner thinks human resources “has done a historically lousy job of seeking answers from within,” so his New Year’s resolution is to “listen...

Inspiration

How engagement can screw up your culture

So you want to improve things around the place. You’ve heard about the business performance and financial benefits of a highly engaged culture, and...

Inspiration

6 guidelines for resolving intergenerational conflict

This guest post is by Larry and Meagan Johnson, the father-daughter team behind Johnson Training Group, whose clients include several government agencies, American Express,...

Inspiration

How to prevent and resolve disputes at work

This guest post is by Arte Nathan, a veteran HR professional with more than 30 years of practicing human resources, most of it as...

Inspiration

Chris McGoff, on using visual tools to help organizations successfully implement change

Chris McGoff is author of  “The Primes — How Any Group Can Solve Any Problem.” He is the founder of The Clearing, Inc., a...

Inspiration

3 strategies to stop proscrastinating

Did you ever find yourself facing an important assignment, but somehow, you just couldn’t get yourself motivated to start working on it? Does time...

Inspiration

John Hamm, on the 3 games of leadership

John Hamm is author of “Unusually Excellent, The Necessary Nine Skills Required for the Practice of Great Leadership.” Miri McDonald, a strategic communications consultant,...

Inspiration

Can entrepreneurial and corporate women help each other?

This guest post is by Dana Theus, principal of Magus Consulting. Learn more about her at www.ReclaimingLeadership.com. Facebook’s COO recently gave a rousing commencement...

Inspiration

Spotlight on Association Leadership: Are you really running a democracy?

This guest post is by Shelly Alcorn, CAE, an association-management consultant. Reach her on Twitter @shellyalcorn, on LinkedIn or at the Association Subculture Blog....

Inspiration

A conversation with Cvent’s Reggie Aggarwal

Reggie Aggarwal is the CEO and founder of Cvent, a provider of event-management technology. He led the company from a two-person startup to an...

Inspiration

VIP Corner: Where Mitt Romney draws his leadership inspiration

SmartBrief is partnering with Big Think to create a weekly video spotlight in SmartBrief on Leadership called “VIP Corner: Video Insights Powered by Big...

Inspiration

Diamonds in the rough: How to recognize your star employees

Chery Gegelman is president of Giana Consulting, an organizational development company that seeks to be a source of light, help and understanding so the...

Inspiration

Leaders open their ears wide

The ability to hear sound comes naturally, but the ability to understand a sound’s meaning (including someone’s words and emotions) is learned. Listening at...

Inspiration

Leadership lessons from real, live leaders

In leadership and management, we love to look at best practices. In leadership literature, we love to look at the people themselves for insights...

Inspiration

Leadership upside down: A review of “Turn The Ship Around”

Empowerment is bunk. Most people who’re serious about leadership know this, but it’s not because empowerment is a bad idea. It’s because most leaders...

Inspiration

The art of leading your peers

Peer leadership requires conviction that the person in charge is one whom you trust and are willing to follow even though that person has...

Inspiration

The etiquette of career development

“Nothing is less important than which fork you use. Etiquette is the science of living. It embraces everything. It is ethics. It is honor.”...

Inspiration

Surprising “woo-woo” solutions for becoming a better leader

For years, I laughed in the face of “woo-woo” stuff that the gurus of self-improvement have touted. Like many leaders, I tend to be...

Inspiration

Take teams from to low to high trust

When something goes seriously wrong, it’s often first announced by subtle signals. The two of us are living proof of how important it is...

Inspiration

Trademarks of a great boss: Provide growth opportunities

Of course you’re already a good boss, or you wouldn’t be reading this article. You may even be a great boss. But how do...

Inspiration

2U’s Chip Paucek and the power of focus

Focus is a difficult state to achieve and even more difficult to sustain over time, even for longtime entrepreneurs like Chip Paucek, CEO and...

Inspiration

What are your cheap tricks for boosting motivation and morale?

Times are tough and employees are getting tired of doing more with — and for — less than they have in the past. Still,...

Inspiration

How to manage in difficult times

Today’s guest post is by Bob Rosner and Allan Halcrow, co-authors of The Boss’s Survival Guide. Our uncertain economy makes managing extremely difficult. Why?...

Inspiration

Embrace social media to drive engagement and retention

This guest post is by Alan Matcham, director of the Leading Edge Forum Executive Programme and co-author of “The Effective Organization: The Nuts and...

Inspiration

Peter Bregman, on what today’s business leaders need to succeed

Peter Bregman, the CEO of Bregman Partners, has served as an adviser to leadership teams at some of the world’s best-known organizations, including Morgan...

Inspiration

Why you can’t skimp on rehearsals

This post is by Andrew D. Gilman, CEO of CommCore Consulting Group, a privately held specialty communications firm serving businesses, government agencies and nonprofit...

Inspiration

How introverts can excel in the workplace

Jennifer Kahnweiler, Ph.D., is the author of The Introverted Leader: Building on Your Quiet Strength and the founder of  AboutYOU, a career and leadership...

Inspiration

Q&A with Mike Matalone: How to hire and retain valuable workers

Mike Matalone is president of Excelsior, a human capital consulting firm that helps companies and CEOs to  recruit, develop, manage and retain effective employees. SmartBrief...

Inspiration

Are you the office know-it-all?

This guest post is by Kristin Kaufman, founder of Alignment, which helps individuals, corporations, boards of directors and nonprofits find alignment within themselves and...

Inspiration

Effective leadership begins with professional intimacy

Christina Haxton combines psychology with humor and brain science to enable newly promoted executives to harness the power of their potential to become authentic...

Inspiration

How to honor your workers’ dignity

This post is by Donna Hicks, an associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and author of “Dignity: The Essential...

Inspiration

3 tips to power up your pitch

Shannon Alter is president of Alter Consulting Group. She helps managers and companies succeed by developing the skills they need to provide client solutions....

Inspiration

Leading with an attitude of gratitude

One of my executive-coaching clients recently shared something that bears repeating. Years ago, when he was a bank officer in training, a senior vice...

Inspiration

Do you confuse what you do with who you are?

What is the first question you are asked when you meet someone at a business or social function?  “Hi, my name is …. What...

Inspiration

Stop driving your employees nuts

After dedicating a large portion of my professional life to helping leaders develop new skills to improve workplace performance, I’ve come to a startling...

Inspiration

Great leaders make it personal

My oldest daughter brought home her first paycheck last week. The household was celebrating uncontrollably. She’s just 17, and this is her first “real”...

Inspiration

Tips from Mentor Scout’s mentors of the year

Mentoring can be a difficult relationship to navigate for both mentors and mentees, but there are several steps that participants can take to ensure...

Inspiration

How biased is your presentation?

Oh, what tangled webs we weave when we practice to deceive. How much more tangled when the people we deceive are ourselves? In the...

Inspiration

Let your stars shine: Why your team needs a coach, not a manager

Managing and coaching are both necessary functions in the corporate world, but they have different purposes and outcomes. Managing is largely task-oriented and focuses...

Inspiration

Business IS behavior

The following is an excerpt from “Performance Management: Changing Behavior That Drives Organizational Effectiveness,” Fifth Edition, revised, by Aubrey C. Daniels, PhD., and Jon...

Inspiration

How to save a dying company like “The Shack”

RadioShack is on the ropes. What can be done to save it? I’ve seen this scenario several times. Xerox comes to mind. In 2000,...