The higher you go in any organization, the more the leadership culture tends to solidify around you. This increases – or decreases – the chances that you’ll fit in. Too many fast trackers see this as a reason to conform to the culture around them and thus too many end up feeling like they’re...
Corporate Culture
Different-but-Good – What We Can Learn From Women In Leadership
This year on International Women's Day I am sharing a story about a woman and how she leads differently from the men around her, and is highly effectively in the process. I'm hopeful that in dialogs like these we're finally moving beyond the question of "are woman better leaders than men?" and...
The Paradox of “Women’s Leadership Training”
Our economy needs women in leadership. When women are more than tokens in leadership – representing over 30 percent of the team in diverse business specialties – their organizations perform demonstrably better. Not only are women naturally good leaders, showing the capacity to balance their...
Stuck at 15%: Are Women Doomed to Second Place?
Some athletes are simply not destined to get the gold. Women have a record-breaking presence in the Olympics this year - every nation sporting women on their teams for the first time in history and more women than men on the U.S. team. But when I look at the participation stats across the other...
The Business Case For Gender Balanced Leadership
I have been honored with a regular writing gig at the Smartblog on Leadership - an extention of the Smartbrief empire. This was my first post as a contributing author and it generated a lot of interesting comments (read them here). The comments reminded me that there are plenty of people (men AND...
Research Says: Top-Team Diversity Equals Greater Financial Gain
Study: Is There A Payoff From Top-Team Diversity? (McKinsey 2012, Thomas Barta, Makus Kleiner, Tilo Neumann) Finding: Companies with diverse executive boards have notably higher earnings and returns on equity. InPower Insight: Increase the diversity of your executive top-team to increase your...
Breaking the Pattern of Management
Gary Hamel is awesome. I remember doing strategic planning in the 90’s and reading Hamel’s guru stuff. Here he is 20 years later still blowing our minds and giving us new change management insights to play with. Gary Hamel: Reinventing the Technology of Human Accomplishment In the video above...
5 Ways to Advance Amid Dysfunction
Old boss - mentoring and advancement opportunities. New boss - frustration, competition, neglect, stupidity and powerlessness. What's your strategy for getting ahead now? In the last week, I've talked to three people in situation "new boss" - at all levels including a CXO (no, my friends,...
An Open Letter To Bully Bosses: Steve Jobs’ Greatest Failure Should Be Your Greatest Success
Yes, Steve Jobs changed the world. He was brilliant, fearless, courageous and undeniably successful by all measures but one. But, in his most blatant imperfection, I see great opportunity for you. The ends don’t justify the means I know that part of your justification for being a jerk and a...
How to Encourage Folks to Stay in Corporate America… 3 Lessons from Solopreneurland
Even when I left Corporate America, I didn't leave. For at least a few years I think I was still caught in the corporate culture trance as I contracted in semi-permanent positions. It was lucrative and fun, but I didn't really experience the freedom of the outside until later. Freedom can be...