Push the lever get a reward. Skinner’s operant conditioning or the old ‘carrot and stick’ behavioral theory. This motivational theory continues to underpin most of the management tools the business community mistakes for good business and leadership practices. Does your company reflect this theory? “ Today there is a mismatch between what science knows and […]
Management
Why Leaders Can’t Listen
A common refrain about the characteristics of a successful Leader/Entrepreneur is they have “passion, are resourceful, willing to improvise and listen to others and have a strong determination to succeed”. I have worked with a significant number of successful owners, CEO’s and Presidents and they ALL fit the profile except for the listening part.
Manager: What is their Job
Should a Manager be evaluated as a Coach, Counselor, or Worker Bee in today’s world? Like it or not Covid fast-forwarded us into a new work world. Dragged along were the ‘issues’ of the younger workforce, changing cultural norms, a growing labor shortage, and then the new hybrid work environment. What didn’t change was the […]
Do You Need a Leadership ‘Team’
The idea of a team at the top is a seductive notion for Leaders. There are very few who do not refer often- both privately and publicly – to their ‘top team’. Why is it then that employees often see less team performance at the top of the organization than elsewhere in the company.
IS A TEAM JUST A TEAM ?
Leaders get in trouble right away with Teams is two-fold. First, they use the term team generically. They want their work group to ‘feel’ like a team and function like a team (whatever that means). Second, Leaders perceive only one definition of a team or application, when there are really three (or sometimes more) distinct ones.
What IF?
A business owner recently remarked that he finds himself spending more time asking What IF questions relative to his business than ever before. Is he wasting his time?