Musings of an organization consultant
Posted in Leadership, Performance, Uncategorized on Jan 3rd, 2012
Would you prefer to be on a team that makes you feel inspired to give all you got, or a team where you will be treated the same whether you give your best or your worst performance? Most of us think we prefer the former, but as it turns out, the latter is also important [...]
Posted in Leadership on Jun 18th, 2010
Today the U.S. emerged from its 2nd game in the World Cup Championship with a 2-2 tie against Slovenia. While this is not a bad showing, no one is likely to soon forget the spectacular goal made by the U.S. near the end of the game, which was never counted because a referee called a [...]
Posted in Competencies, Employee Engagement, Leadership on Mar 29th, 2010
David McClelland’s early work in competency development led to large scale efforts in the 1990’s toward developing competency models for various employee groups. I was a part of that movement and worked with a number of organizations to develop competency models from the ground up to energize and engage employees around what is most critical [...]
Posted in Competencies, Employee Engagement, Leadership on Mar 29th, 2010
Not that it makes us feel any better, but according to the Towers Watson 2010 Global Workforce Study, we in the U.S. are not the only ones to be faced with an anxious, stressed out workforce. According to the study findings, “From the global recession, to financial defaults, to changes in business models, both employers [...]
Posted in Employee Engagement, Labor Management Partnerships, Uncategorized on Jan 28th, 2010
It is not unusual to hear managers say that employee engagement is important to their organization culture, and in the next breath offer a caveat – except for the bargaining unit. The sour tone of labor negotiations has either made management and labor want nothing to do with each other, or, the history of the [...]
Posted in Labor Management Partnerships on Jan 28th, 2010
The primary motivation for this article is my quest to help clients achieve better employee engagement in the face of labor negotiations that can sour management employee relations. Although labor management partnerships (LMP’s) are separate from the collective bargaining process, they are instrumental in building relationships and mutual understanding of the challenges facing the organization. [...]
Posted in Employee Engagement, Labor Management Partnerships, Pay and Benefits on Jan 28th, 2010
One example of what can happen when employees, union and non-union, and management work together, can be found in Montgomery Ohio, a small city not far from Cincinnati. Several years ago the City implemented a Health Care Committee that relies upon labor, union and non-union, and management to work together to guide the city health [...]
Posted in Leadership, Performance on Oct 23rd, 2009
What is critical for success? Does anyone wonder if my friend Dylan is going to forget this time in his life when he mastered what was critical for success? Performance management involves coaching, discipline and also inspiration. When we take the first step out, others will follow. We set the tone, show the way, model [...]
Posted in Leadership, Performance on Aug 8th, 2009
Posted in Leadership, Uncategorized on Jul 11th, 2009
What does a WWII movie made in 1957 have to do with leadership challenges today? Grab the DVD and a few friends, and discover (or more probably re-discover) the amazing lessons of this paradoxical drama, based on historical events, that shine through time and cross many boundaries of conventional thought. If you haven’t seen the [...]
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