The toughest job in corporate America is middle management, yet it’s often the most overlooked. In many companies, middle managers are an afterthought, thankless positions, simply cogs in the machine. Caught between the pressures of senior executives and the will of the employee, the middle manager is between the proverbial rock and a hard place. […]

Balancing accountability and empowerment takes work. And the fine line between the two can be very tough to manage if not done correctly. This gray area is ambiguous and not always certain, it requires that you make decisions, have a clear opinion and drive forward. In an ideal setting, you would know your marching orders. […]

Most organizations that I’ve consulted with or have worked for primarily focus their talent management efforts on a small cadre of individuals. These folks are commonly known as “high potentials” within the organization. The field of leadership development and talent management has been explicit in its focus of narrowing efforts toward the few and the […]

It’s that time of year again, the dreaded end of year performance reviews have arrived. I work in this business, and I dread them. I know the line managers and executives do too, but we continue on with the process, forcing people into neat boxes and then having awkward conversations with them about why they […]

There’s a line of thought out there that if you want happy employees all that you need to do is pay them well and give them a little positive reinforcement. The ol’ atta’ boy, good job, great work or a high five. Only problem with this thinking, it’s just not true. If you want to […]

There’s a moment in the employee life cycle when they are forced to confront the inevitable question of fit. Are they a fit for the role is one aspect of the question, but it doesn’t go deep enough? The more important question is, are they a fit for the organization? Technical skills can be taught […]

Organizational cultures get built over instances of time. They don’t get created  overnight. It takes time to build them, but they can come crumbling down in a blink of an eye, so you have to actively manage it. You can deny its existence and hope that benign neglect of its existence works, but the reality is […]