With the rapid changes in technology and globalization the past decade has seen organizations of all types undergo change more than ever before. The experiences of other organizations that have undergone change initiatives large and small serve to teach us about what works and what doesn’t work when trying to introduce and implement change. Though varying sources stress competing factors as critical to the success or failure of these initiatives, certain underlying themes are common among theories. In this case, we examine the “don’ts” of implementing change in an organization. …

As Michael Watkins depicted in his book, The First 90 Days, leadership transitions can often be a sink-or-swim event for leaders and managers. Indeed, this is not without a good reason. Many times, by after being promoted based on their good performance, leaders and managers falsely assuming that the strategy that has got them there will take them on in their leadership journey.
This group of leaders falls into the trap of wrongly generalizing the nature of their work, and the skills demanded of them in each position. By being promoted …

Do you find yourself groaning at the thought of the next meeting? When you are at a meeting, have you ever wished so much that it’ll be done quickly? As Patrick Lencioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and Death by Meeting puts it, a meeting is much more relevant and important than a movie, yet nearly no one ever finds it as half exciting. On the contrary most people are instantly put off at the mention of the next meeting. Moreover, such an experience is universal and …

At the point our body and our senses (eyes, ears, touch, etc.) meet the world lies a crossroads. At this very point we experience a constant, two-way flow from the…

Outside in-situations, actions and events in their environment
Inside out-how we feel, interpret, process these situations and decide on our response

Kevin Cashman talks about this intersection as it applies to leaders. On the one hand, a leader’s environment obviously affects what goes on in the leader’s mind and, in return, the leader’s …

Among the highest order of maintaining a culture of respect with our team members is honesty and the provision of constructive feedback. This is not just a hallmark of a good culture of respect, it is also essential for healthy communication in the workplace. Many a time, we, as leaders and managers, fail to provide feedback to our team members when we see them performing below expectations as we are uncertain of how we may do so while being tactful, avoiding conflict and hurting their feelings.
At times, we don’t quite …

The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner is outdated, having originated in the early 1980′s.when everyone was trashing management. Hence why Tom Peters said in the preface to their first edition of 1987 that ”…management as we know it is not dead. But it darned well ought to be!” There is no mention of management in their book. The result is an overloaded concept of leadership. One problem with this account is that it makes it hard to see how lower level employees can lead. Greater specialization, driven …

As leaders and managers, among the best means to demonstrate respect for our team members is simply to show trust in them. This way of demonstrating respect works at the level of respecting the capabilities of one, and is hence a very powerful leadership lesson we can learn to employ to demonstrate respect in our workplace.
Let us take for example, Francis, who works in a human resource team. Adam, her manager, assigned her to see to the planning of the reception for the company’s Family Day outing to the beach. …

The subtitle of Maxwell’s book is “Follow Them, and People Will Follow You.” Each time I read that, I hear a rejoinder in my head: “Don’t follow them, and people won’t follow you.” Revised and updated in 2007 for the 10th anniversary of The 21 Irrefutable Laws, this book is rightly regarded as a foundational piece of the leadership literature.
As the title indicates, Maxwell presents 21 laws of leadership, all of which are free-standing and yet buttressed by one another. You can learn a lot simply by reviewing the 21 …

It is important that as leaders, we are aware of our own leadership styles, and the effects of it. One of the largest mistakes a leader can make is to be uncertain about his own style of leadership, as when he can’t make up his mind as to what kind of leader he wants to be, he’ll not just create confusion for himself but for his team too. Can you imagine if one fine day your boss wakes up and can’t decide whether he wants to be a dictator or …

Many leaders and managers often fall into the trap of shrieking responsibility in their attempt to delegate their tasks to the team.
Magnus, an operations manager in an IT firm, was tasked to draft out the car parking and traffic plan for the company’s upcoming 30th anniversary celebration. He was given three weeks to prepare before he had to present the plan to the CEO. As he was off on a course for the first two weeks, he only began on the plan on the third week. Believing that the task …