Leadership is the skill CEOs say their companies need the most. Why is leadership development stuck in the 1950s? US companies spend $50 billion a year on leadership development but the rate of failed managers and leaders remains stuck at almost 50%. And the cost of that 50% is enormous – lost productivity and inability to [...]
Bad managers cost companies billions but can be improved rather than replaced Research consistently shows that half of managers are rated as fair or worse, and half of managers fail within two years, regardless of whether they're hired into the company or are newly promoted internally. CEOs routinely say that leadership is one of the [...]
Exceptional leaders lead to their teams, not their own needs We often think of leaders as the boss, the person the team is there to serve. In this old-fashioned model, the team is there for the leader, and everything revolves around the leader's desires. But in reality, it's just the opposite. The thing that separates [...]
Trust is the most important trait of exceptional leaders If the 1980s view of leadership was the strong and charismatic visionary, the 2010s vision is the empathetic and trustworthy servant. And study after study supports the idea that trust is one of the most important factors for leaders today. In "What Leadership Trust Really Means", [...]
Early career leadership development puts managers on the path to long-term success Fewer than 15% of CEOs believe their companies have the leadership talent they need to maximize their growth opportunities. But these lost growth opportunities are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the impact of poor leaders and managers - [...]
Changing leaders' behavior is hard. Public health research helps us understand how to make change happen. Leadership is consistently ranked as one of the most important and difficult skills for companies to find, and it’s no wonder US companies spend $50 billion a year on developing leaders. But research also consistently finds that most leadership [...]
Is your leader development world-class and comprehensive? CEOs consistently rank leadership development as one of their top priorities and report that a lack of leadership talent limits their ability to grow and pursue their strategic plan. But developing leaders at all levels isn’t easy – it requires ongoing support, accountability, feedback and insight. And like [...]
Feedback is one of the most important parts of being a manager - when done well, it builds culture, motivates, helps employees learn and more. But feedback is complicated - leaders have to be clear about what they want to accomplish and have to speak in a way that's heard by the employee. But people [...]
Build trust to improve your team's performance and lower attrition If the 1980s view of leadership was the strong and charismatic visionary, the 2010s vision is the empathetic and trustworthy servant. And study after study supports the idea that trust is one of the most important factors for leaders today. In "What Leadership Trust Really [...]
Trust can be developed, but you have to know where to start Good luck finding an article on leadership today that doesn’t talk about trust – the 1980s view of the strong and charismatic leader has been replaced in the 2010s by the empathetic and trustworthy leader. And study after study supports the idea that [...]
Leaders are made, not born. And lots of practice is the key. You know that practice makes perfect – and that’s also true for managers who want to become great leaders. Great leaders are happier and have teams that perform better and have higher retention and engagement. It’s little wonder that managers and their companies [...]
Recent research has noted that great leadership, and great leadership development, drive great customer experience. It might not be an obvious linkage - leadership development focuses on how managers work with their teams, not outsiders. And we don't encourage our teams to "manage" our customers. Then why is leadership development of junior and mid-level managers [...]
Great managers deliver great performance – 25% to 200% better according to research – as well as higher engagement and retention and better hiring. It’s little surprise that US companies spend almost $20 billion a year on leadership and management development. But most doesn’t work very well – only one-half or less of managers are [...]
Getting the best out of your team means making sure they participate and share - great ideas don't help anyone if they're kept holed up. One way this appears, of course, is with diversity - diversity of all sorts, including backgrounds, areas of expertise, experience, etc. Research shows that diverse teams and companies outperform homogeneous [...]
Average leaders cost American companies tens of billions of dollars in lost productivity and attrition. But they can be improved. American companies have a leadership crisis – barely half of managers are rated as good or better and ineffective managers cost $350 billion a year in lost productivity. Given the voluminous research showing that great [...]
