Alignment doesn’t just happen. Leaders create it. Sync up your team for success with these 3 components of effective alignment.

This week my team met for strategic planning. We set aside several days so the leadership team could review our values, goals, and budget. We’re just finishing up today, actually. But Day 1 was dedicated not just to leaders, but to the full team. Why? I prioritize my team. Customers are important for a business. […]

I’m an assessment geek. I’m always looking to improve my own performance as well as my team’s. And I find measurement essential for upping our game. I first started using personality tests over a decade ago when I became the publisher of Nelson Books. It was a way for me to peek under the hood […]

Every team experiences friction. But there is one source of friction I’ve observed in almost every organization I’ve ever been involved with. It comes down to a simple distinction, and I bet you’ve noticed it too. Depending on what side of the distinction you come down on, it’s easy to get frustrated with people on […]

I love watching people succeed, especially if I can learn something I can apply in my own life and share with you. That’s why I’m excited about what I learned from watching Slack’s success this year. Slack is a communications tool that enables natural and effective team collaboration. The company, started by Stewart Butterfield, the […]

Did you know many of your favorite Disney moments from the 1930-1970s were birthed from a mastermind group of animators? Walt Disney referred to them as “Nine Old Men.” While still in their twenties and thirties, when Walt first coined the phrase, this mastermind group brought to the world such classics as Snow White and […]

Where do the great ideas come from in your organization? The short answer is anywhere. They can come from at least four sources. More important, there are specific things you can do to ensure your organization nurtures and harvest’s the best ideas.

The bigger and more successful you become, the easier it is to rest on your creative laurels. This is one of the things I have really admired about Apple. They keep pushing the envelope. I don’t think this happens by accident. Someone there is doing a lot of thinking about how to encourage and reward creative thinking.

Our interaction with the Web and the expectations it creates have shaped what we expect from our leaders. Therefore, if leaders are going to be effective with the current generation of Internet-savvy followers, they must adapt their leadership style. I call this Leadership 2.0.