Inspiration
Thanks to a manager
You’ve probably never heard of Byron Lionel Kohlbusch from Hermann, Mo. He wrote plenty of “poison pen” corporate memos but never any famous business...
Inspiration
Inspiration
3 ways to maximize your workers’ happiness — and performance
Today’s guest post is by Cathy L. Greenberg and Barrett S. Avigdor, authors of “What Happy Working Mothers Know.” Every business, regardless of the...
Inspiration
Is it better to take a slow approach to promotions?
David Bianconi?, founder and CEO of an Ohio provider of managed care services, says he learned the hard way that giving an employee a...
Inspiration
How to innovate your way out of BP-sized problems
This guest post is by Alex Hiam, an innovation expert and consultant to Fortune 500 firms and government agencies. He is the author of...
Inspiration
Jackson Nickerson, on what the elections can teach us about corporate communications
Jackson Nickerson is a professor of organization and strategy at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, director of the Brookings...
Inspiration
38 questions to assess your company’s cultural readiness for social media
This post was written by Jay Baer and Amber Naslund and was culled from their forthcoming book, “The NOW Revolution: 7 Shifts to Make...
Inspiration
Q&A with David Matsa: Gender equality in the workplace
David Matsa is a finance professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He recently completed research that found that companies with...
Inspiration
Commencement addresses: 6 steps for making the grade
This post is by Richard McKeown, an executive communications coach, a conference speaker and a workshop leader specializing in presentation training, media training, crisis-communications...
Inspiration
Struggling with change? Stop telling and start listening
This guest post is by Richard Bevan, former adjunct faculty member for the University of Washington Master of Business Administration program and author of...
Inspiration
Aardvarks or eagles? How to spot strategists
This guest post is by Linda Henman, author of “Landing in the Executive Chair: How to Excel in the Hot Seat.” Aardvarks are really...
Inspiration
A conversation with Zingerman’s Ari Weinzweig
Ari Weinzweig co-founded Zingerman’s Delicatessen in 1982 with a $20,000 bank loan. Today, the company is an Ann Arbor institution, and Weinzweig has branched...
Inspiration
VIP Corner: Joel Klein on the role of private philanthropy in public education
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
Your leadership trump cards
Eileen N. Sinett, author of “Speaking that Connects,” is a coach-consultant and keynote speaker whose knowledge spans several cross-functional disciplines: the speech arts, communication...
Inspiration
Want to earn trust and respect? Ask these questions
If you’ve ever seen the TV reality show “Undercover Boss,” you’ll know that the premise involves corporate CEOs working anonymously on the front lines...
Inspiration
Surviving the whims of a narcissistic leader
At a recent talk, a member of the audience shared with us a story about a manager in her organization and a particularly unfortunate...
Inspiration
4 outcomes of character-based leadership
“Leadership is Influence, Nothing more, Nothing less.” — John Maxwell As our world becomes more complex, with more activities and beliefs tugging for attention...
Inspiration
5 ways to ruin employee morale
You have a job to do, and you’re focused on getting it done. You rightly expect your employees to be useful and on board...
Inspiration
Listening 2.0: Making a splash with employees
I’ve opened a few recent workshops using electronic polling applications. (If you’re not familiar with the technology, it might be worth a look.) I...
Inspiration
5 opportunities for boosting employee engagement
How engaged are people where you work? According to business owner Kevin Kruse, author of Employee Engagement for Everyone, the essence of employee engagement...
Inspiration
4 senses of character-based leadership
Too often, I read blog posts or engage in discussions where different definitions of leadership are present. One definition of leadership implies position. It...
Inspiration
Present as a leader
Have you ever seen an executive scurry across the stage, head down, clutching a copy of his presentation, and on reaching the podium, immediately...
Inspiration
Why we can’t neglect diversity
Heather R. Keller, owner of communication consulting firm Successfully Communicating, wants to remind organizations that promoting cultural diversity through communications is still vital to...
Inspiration
Employee happiness? It depends on what you call happiness
There’s this guy whose work I admire immensely. His particular calling in life (although I dare him to use the word “calling”) is to...
Inspiration
How to rebuild your team in a crisis economy
Nothing will strain a great team like a terrible crisis. And thanks to wave after wave of crises recently, I’m seeing a refreshed need...
Inspiration
Oncology nurse Theresa Brown, on promoting a patient-centered culture
Theresa Brown, BSN/RN/OCN, is a floor nurse in Pittsburgh and author of “Critical Care: A New Nurse Faces Death, Life and Everything in Between.”...
Inspiration
SmartBrief’s Henry Tam, on why alignment trumps ideas
SmartBrief is proud to announce that Henry Tam has joined the company as chief product officer. Before joining SmartBrief, he worked as vice president...
Inspiration
Going beyond the 5 W’s in your next media appearance
This post is by Andrew D. Gilman, CEO of CommCore Consulting Group, a privately held specialty-communications firm serving businesses, government agencies and nonprofit organizations...
Inspiration
Leadership reality check: 5 ways to tell whether you’re really in touch
This post is by contributor Jennifer V. Miller, managing partner of SkillSource and author of the blog The People Equation. Connect with Jennifer on...
Inspiration
11 ways to build trust within your team
This post is by Mike Henry, founding instigator of the Lead Change Group, where they’re instigating a leadership revolution. He’s @mikehenrysr on Twitter and...
Inspiration
Spotlight on Association Leadership: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Barry Melancon
Barry Melancon, CPA, is president and CEO of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, a position he has held since 1995. Prior to...
Inspiration
GE encourages the continuous evolution of leadership development
This guest post is by Janice Semper, General Electric’s manager of executive development. A lot can change during the lifetime of an organization. One...
Inspiration
The most powerful question for creating creativity in your company
Paul Batz is an author, speaker and executive coach. He is also founder of What Really Works, a leadership coaching and publishing company, headquartered...
Inspiration
How thinking like a child can help any leader achieve more goals
Becky Robinson is the director of social marketing for The Kevin Eikenberry Group and the owner and chief influence officer of 12 Minute Media....
Inspiration
How to get your team to speak up
Trina, a leader in an IT department, asks during a staff meeting for a status update on a high-visibility project. There is a brief...
Inspiration
Talk less to get your employees to listen
Whenever managers talk to me about work issues, the conversation inevitably turns to employees seeming to “not listen.” Evidence? Work is not getting done...
Inspiration
How to find and mentor future company leaders
Who are the rising stars in your company? People in upper management must always be on the lookout for talented employees who could become...
Inspiration
Make coaching others more than a one-time event
There are lots of indications that leaders who coach the people in their organization are more effective. These leaders, through the people they coach,...
Inspiration
Where you place the “a” matters: Are you just a leader or a just leader?
It’s just a trivial part of speech, just an “a,” no big deal. But it is! How often do we combine the words “justice”...
Inspiration
3 ways to retain and engage your valuable employees
Valuable in-demand leaders are what turn a company from good to great. An organization’s most important asset is its talented, high-performing employees. Companies that...
Inspiration
Going live: Tips for first-time corporate speakers
Credit: iStockphoto You’ve been asked to speak at an upcoming business meeting and have learned that some important people will be in the audience....
Inspiration
Employee recognition: The KISS… method
Recognition may be among today’s most heavily researched leadership and supervision topics. And the results are consistently disturbing: According to studies by Badgeville research,...
Inspiration
10 ways to engage your best millennial talent
Chances are you’re over-thinking your millennial engagement strategy. What’s really changed I have this vivid memory of being the youngest and lowest-ranking person in...