Building an Innovation Ecosystem
As the new year begins, organizations are looking to up the ante. Fresh slates and new ideas abound after employees relaxed over the holidays. As such, Harvard Business Review’s recent article, How to Create an Innovation Ecosystem, is timely. Though geared toward for-profit businesses, a majority of its suggestions are ideas found in many international […]
Four Steps to Employee Engagement
What company doesn’t face lean, tough times? I heard a great podcast recently that interviewed the former CEO of Campbell’s Soup Company, Douglas Conant. He shared some excellent recommendations and insight for keeping employees engaged during tough times. According to Conant, the challenge leaders face today is leading in a “frenetic environment”, where workers are […]
Do Unhappy Employees Stifle Innovation?
I recently read an article in Bloomberg Business Week titled, “Three people to fire immediately.” I know what you’re thinking – you loathe the idea of discussing problem areas that a certain ‘You Know Who’ needs to address. However sometimes, no matter how effective your management techniques, there are people who will not change and […]
Freedom Does Ring for Millennials
More and more, college students and young professionals are looking for specific characteristics within the workplace, not just a secure salary. This article mentions that 40% of Millennials, those born between 1981-2001, would accept less pay for more autonomy. Where do they want the most autonomy? In their mobility – both physical and throughout the […]
Intangible Rewards Motivate Better than Hard Cash
Intangible rewards are often the best kind of reward. That’s where we left off on the last blog. Positive reinforcement is a way to remind employees of the type of culture and behaviors you want emulated. Intangible rewards are a great way to encourage a specific type of behavior. Boyd cites Dan Pink, who is […]
Communicating Culture with Positive Reinforcement
A lot of big words for a simple theory. Or as Boyd so eloquently puts it in the recent Fast Company article, “People want to be inspired, not lectured. They tend to respond better to humor and gentle reminders than they do to dictates or presumptions of guilt before innocence.” In essence, people don’t respond […]
How to Harness Organizational Creativity
Leadership lessons can come from the most unexpected places. Burning Man is a great example of this. Fast Company recently wrote an article about this eight day “festival” of sorts. Except the way that Burning Man is framed, it’s not a festival – it’s more of a town. As the author explains, “Once a year, […]
Gen Y and Emotional Intelligence
Does Gen Y lack Emotional Intelligence? As this article describes, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is “the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions.” In other words, EQ is knowing your own personality traits and triggers, […]
NextGen Leaders
This AOL article highlights the success of one Gen Y entrepreneur, Farrah Gray. Gray crew up in inner city Chicago and from an early age spotted opportunities and turned them into dollars. He was a millionaire by age 14, which makes him a “NextGenLeader.” This term refers to the entrepreneurial spirit of GenY and was […]
Negotiating with the Generations (Part 2)
We’ll continue with our focus on inter-generational negotiation in this post. Read on for Tips #3-5. Tip #3: Tailor Your Presentation You might not realize it, but each generation prefers to see presentations differently. And no matter what business you are in, I’m sure PowerPoint is involved. When making a presentation or negotiating, be sure […]
