How To Be A Leader Of Leaders

I believe a quote by Ralph Nader in his book Crashing the Party sums up the role of a leader well: “The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” If you’ve worked very long in the corporate field,

The Skill Of Workplace Negotiation

When your work life is good and everyone is getting along, it’s easy to let your negotiation skills slip. However, it never seems to last long. As much as you may dread it, change happens. You might get a new

How To Develop ‘Gravitas’ And Boost Your Executive Presence

It can be difficult to explain “gravitas.” It tends to be one of those you-know-it-when-you-see-it qualities. It’s that certain something that makes a great leader. It’s a seriousness and gravity that’s conducted with grace, dignity and poise. If you think of someone

How To Avoid The Pitfalls Of Office Politics

Although you might think of “office politics” as a phenomenon beginning in the business world, I believe its origins trace back further. For example, if you take a long view of it, one’s behavior in the workplace might stem from

The Impact Of Connecting At Work

Humans are social animals — we crave meaningful interaction with others. Unfortunately, when we don’t get enough of it, there can be serious repercussions. This need, unsurprisingly, carries over to our lives at work. We spend so many hours of

Cognitive Bias: Human Brains Are Only Human

Determining truth from what is believed to be true is a lot like being in the beginning of the movie The Matrix. As Morpheus explains to Neo, “You take the blue pill — the story ends; you wake up in

Are Your Employees Engaged At Work?

According to the latest Gallup Poll on employee engagement “The percentage of ‘engaged’ workers in the U.S. — those who are involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace — is now 34%, tying its highest level since Gallup

Saving Time With Structured Thinking

We’re all busy. Our personal lives are stuffed full of appointments. Our business lives have seemingly endless reports, deadlines, meetings and problems to solve. Time management has never been so important. Although we have an amazing array of electronic gizmos,

Creating An Ethical Workplace May Not Be Easy, But Is It Critical? Yes, It Is

In today’s difficult business environment, it can be easy to overlook ethical dilemmas in the workplace out of sheer exasperation. But when a company makes the effort to treat employees in a fair and consistent manner, it can reap the

Why Cultural Intelligence Matters (Even If You Never Leave Home)

Cultural intelligence, also known as CQ, is the ability to connect with others and work effectively in multicultural situations. Some people seem to have an innate ability to observe a new culture as an outsider, but act and react in