Month: March 2014

What it takes to be a great leader

Posted on by azahn123

There are many leadership programs available today, from 1-day workshops to corporate training programs. But chances are, these won’t really help. In this clear, candid talk, Roselinde Torres describes 25 years observing truly great leaders at work, and shares the three simple but crucial questions would-be company chiefs need to ask to thrive in the future.

BCG’s Rosalinde Torres cites a disturbing statistic: 58% of 4,000 companies studied reported significant talent deficits in critical leadership roles.   What we are currently doing in leadership development isn’t working.

Leadership in the 21st century depends on the answers to the following:

– Where are you looking to anticipate the next change to your business model or your life?

– What is the diversity measure of your personal and professional stakeholder network?

– Are you courageous enough to abandon a practice that has made you successful in the past?

Our leadership development strategies must find ways to help leaders  face confidently towards the uncertainties of the future with the abilities to operate in an increasingly complicated world.

The Best Predictor of Lasting Success? Steady, Sustained Growth

Posted on by azahn123

“What does it take to expand year after year, even through the Great Recession? Very few companies have ever done so. You can learn a lot from those that have.” Hire. Grow. Repeat. Scott Leibs, Inc. Magazin

Growth birch trees

Looking for the case for leadership development and coaching?  Inc.’s economist-in-residence researched 1,000 mid-size U.S. companies and identified the “Build 100” top companies that added headcount for five consecutive years. Inc. found the following five points to be commonalities among the Build 100 and notable differences from others:

  1. More than 50 percent of respondents said “people/talent” and “customer service” were the only drivers of competitive advantage and identified those attributes as core to their company’s identity, ahead of nine other factors.
  2. A “big change in senior management or leadership” was among the top three factors credited for triggering company growth “breakouts” ahead of six other factors.
  3. Two of the top three challenges or obstacles to growth were “attracting top managerial talent” and “training future supervisors and managers,” ahead of 11 other challenges.
  4. More than 82 percent of respondents said “sharing financial success with your employees” helps a company grow — tying that practice for the highest response among six management practices.
  5. Some 81 percent of respondents named “sudden loss of a key employee” as a concern — the highest such percentage among 11 “unplanned events” that were rated.