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May 12, 2014

Outliers: The Story of Success – Book Review

Are you as tired of thinking about the dire economy, war casualties, and the oil spill as I am? Do you want to read something that is somewhat related to work, but easy and fun, and you won't feel guilty about spending the time? If so, then I recommend anything by Malcolm Gladwell. This writer has an amazing ability to find patterns out of things that others miss, and his writing is entertaining and stimulating. He's the guy who brought us the concept of the "tipping point," which describes the point at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable. He's written several books, all million sellers, and I chose to read Outliers for this review.

An outlier, according to Gladwell, is something that is markedly different in value from others in a statistical sample. He primarily focuses on the stories of people who have had great success, including Bill Gates. Gladwell looks underneath the stories to find that success is partially about individual striving, but it also includes luck, taking advantage of opportunities that are denied to others, talent and smarts, and lots and lots of practice.

May 12, 2014

The Truth About Middle Managers: Who they are, how they work, why they matter.

Paul Osterman brings his academic perspective from the MIT Sloan School of Management to the issue of what is happening with middle managers today. Basically, he finds that middle managers are insecure in their jobs, more loyal to their teams than to the larger corporation, and like the work they do. None of these conclusions will be a surprise to people who work within corporations, but the data-driven analysis gives his words some weight.

One of the most intriguing discussions in his book is the history and perceptions of middle managers in the overall culture. Early in the twentieth century, advances in technology permitted cheap production on a very large scale. Middle management was the key actor that facilitated the remarkable growth and efficiency of the American economy. Without middle management's coordination of production and distribution, firms could not grow big enough to take advantage of the technological potential of mass production and low unit cost. In other words, middle managers were heroes at first.

April 29, 2014

Do Generational Differences Affect Your Self-Assessment?

Too often I have heard from managers and recruiters who are Boomers or Generation X that Millennials have an unrealistic, inflated view of their capabilities. On the other hand, many Boomers and Generation X have a deflated perception of their competencies. Is this generational?

There are studies that would support that Millennials have an inflated view of their capabilities. A study of the generational differences in psychological traits of college students by Jean M. Wenge and Stacy Campbell, (Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol 23 No. 8, 2008) found that the Millennial generation has the highest scores of self esteem and narcissism of any generation. Comparing scores of college-aged students on psychological inventories between 1950 and into the 2000s, the authors were able to track significant changes in generations. By the mid 1990, the average “Generation Me” college student had a higher self-esteem than 71% of Boomers. Narcissism scores also raised significantly. The average college student in 2006 scored higher in narcissism than 65 percent of students in the early 1980s. Specifically, a significant number of Millennial college students responded affirmative to questions such as “If I ruled the world it would be a better place,” “I think I am a special person,” and “I can live my life any way I want.”

April 16, 2014

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, A Take on Leadership Changes

Taking the reins at one of the largest and most influential companies in history is an undoubtedly daunting assignment. Following in the footsteps of one of the most important figures in modern history only adds to the challenge. Satya Nadella,…

April 12, 2014

A Whole New Mind – Book Review

Daniel Pink opens our minds and shows us new possibilities in this entertaining book about how the right brain can contribute in a world that has long been devoted to left brain thinking. He begins by reviewing how the two halves of the brain work: the left hemisphere is sequential, analytical, verbal, and detail-oriented, while the right hemisphere processes information simultaneously, specializes in context, understands metaphor and nonverbal cues, and synthesizes the big picture. Pink's thesis is that right-brain directed thinking, so often disdained and dismissed, will increasingly determine who soars and who stumbles.

He explains the reasons behind the shift from left to right brain dominance: abundance, Asia, and automation. In our abundance, we acknowledge that our left brains have made us rich. We can buy just about anything we want at a minimal price. This puts a premium on the aesthetic. For business, it's no longer enough to create a product that's reasonably priced and adequately functional. Now it must be beautiful, unique, and meaningful to be competitive.

April 1, 2014

Leading Through Change: Effective Leadership during Times of Transformation

Change is good…except when it’s bad. One of the most relied upon adages in any endeavor is that at some time things will change. Oftentimes change is visited upon a company by unforeseen outside influences; a market contraction, an event that disrupts the supply chain, or the sudden departure of valuable talent. Other times, change within an organization can come voluntarily, as a necessary means for survival or to move in a direction that will bring future prosperity and a strengthened position within a market. In either case, leadership during a time of transformation will make the difference between a successful shift and a disastrous one.

Quality leadership requires managers who are not only prepared and adept at handling matters during the sublime, but leaders who are agile and composed enough to navigate through turbulence. The keys to effective management during times of transformation are varied, with each leadership trait playing a critical role in the effective stewardship of the company through the turmoil of change. To ensure your company has what it takes to survive and even thrive through the adversity that transformation can bring, pay diligent attention to a few crucial leadership attributes that will serve you well and lead your company back to a more serene environment.

March 21, 2014

2014 HR Trends: Invest in your Employees

As the tide continues to turn and the economy steadily (if sluggishly) rebounds from a historically trying recession, the outlook for most companies shifts toward efforts that will ensure their ability to take advantage of a more fruitful marketplace. One of the most important avenues to pursue involves training and an overall initiative of investing in employees. While the potential array of investment strategies varies based on industry and other factors specific to certain enterprises, 2014 is a time in which investing in the development of employees serves as an invaluable tool for prosperity going forward. Three of the most important factors employee training investment can affect are business efficiency, retention of employees and overall cost-effectiveness.

March 12, 2014

Our Iceberg is Melting – Book Review

When was the last time a business book made you smile? I believe this book will put a smile on the face of even the most discouraged business person. It's a fable about a group of penguins whose iceberg may or may not be melting. If it melts it will break apart and leave the group homeless, and many penguins would die. Only Fred can see the potential disaster, but he's a nobody in the penguin colony. Fred finally gets an audience with Alice, one of the leaders, and he shows her the fissures and other symptoms of melting. Alice is amazed that she had managed to ignore the signs, and she takes the problem to the leadership council.

The leaders have a variety of reactions, like leaders in all organizations. Some of them debate the validity of Fred's statistics. One falls asleep. Another nods at everything because he is uncomfortable with numbers, but doesn't understand a thing. In desperation, Fred constructs a model of their iceberg that shows the problem, but even he cannot guarantee 100% that the iceberg is melting, only that it appears to be. The head penguins realize that they need to tell the rest of the colony about this potential disaster. They call a general meeting, with the purpose of reducing complacency and increasing urgency.

February 20, 2014

Up Your Motivation Mojo

"If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges." - Pat Riley

Motivation is one of the most difficult actions to maintain on a consistent basis. When dealing with a group of individuals, this problem intensifies, and the business can lose out on new potential sales and lose longtime customers. In order to ensure steady growth and maintain customer satisfaction, team members have to work hard both together and individually. This is where team leaders find the biggest challenges. They don't understand how to consistently keep their teams motivated. Their current practices aren't working and what's good as an industry standard may not work well for them. Surprisingly, turning things around isn't that hard -- in fact, it's quite simple.

February 19, 2014

An Unconventional Leadership Style: Richard Branson, Founder and Chairman of Virgin Group

What makes Richard Branson so cool? For starters, he built the first airline to sell tickets into space with Virgin Galactic, he was chosen by young entrepreneurs as the Ultimate Business Role Model and he’s probably the only CEO you can name who has won a Grammy.

To call his management style “unconventional” would be a gross understatement. For example, he promotes a hands-off approach to management that encourages employees to make their own decisions. Failure is taken in stride as proof that his people are really stretching themselves. For another, he has made it clear that brand awareness is a much higher priority than profits. It sounds like a recipe for disaster, but there’s no question he has been successful. The Virgin brand has proven itself successful across a range of industries, from a record shop, to an airline, to a telecom provider and 400 other companies. His personal wealth is estimated over $4 billion and he shows no signs of slowing down. His supporters say he has astounding foresight. His distractors say it’s just dumb luck.