Seven Ways To Inspire Employees To Love Their Jobs

Seven Ways To Inspire Employees To Love Their Jobs: Smart leaders take advantage of the fact that some things never change. Take employee engagement, for example. In my book, Fire Them Up, which I wrote in 2007, I cited several studies that showed the majority of workers as being “disengaged” and hating their jobs. Unfortunately the numbers haven’t changed. In Gallup’s most recent report on the state of the American workplace, we discover that only 30 percent of the U.S workforce is engaged in their work. In other words, they love their jobs. Seventy percent are “not engaged” or “actively disengaged,” meaning they hate their jobs or, at best, are unenthusiastic about their roles (Forbes staff writer Susan Adams did a nice job of explaining the survey’s details).

Four Pillars Of Leadership

Four Pillars Of Leadership: Listening to CEOs and other senior leaders talk about building businesses is always a privilege. Last week I did this at the XSite conference in Boston (designed to recognize the high-tech revival in Boston) and again at the 50th anniversary gathering of 1,000 past and current partners of my former employer, the Boston Consulting Group (“BCG”).

10 Steps To More Confidence At Work

10 Steps To More Confidence At Work
Phase #1: Eliminating Self-doubt
Building self-confidence is a two-phase process. The first phase involves purging yourself of self-doubt; in the second, you build up your confidence. It’s like erecting a skyscraper...

The Six Steps To Trust

The Six Steps To Trust: Many people have been given the feedback, “Others do not trust you.” Most people, hearing this, are perplexed as to what they might do to change. One leader actually asked me, only half joking, if it would help if he wore a sign on his back that says, “JUST TRUST ME!”

Collaborative Marketing Is The Next Big Thing

Collaborative Marketing Is The Next Big Thing: Those of you who know me well, and who follow my columns, could readily guess that I’m a proponent of collaboration in any business function. Marketing is no exception. I’ve been talking about the “softer skills” of business quite a bit as of late as I’ve been gearing up for the launch of my book, The 7 Non-Negotiables of Winning, at the end of July.

Should You Consider Public Speaking

Should You Consider Public Speaking: Entrepreneur and adventurer (I love that self-description) Rodolphe “Rudy” Dutel got in touch with me to help him kick off his new blog on self-improvement, Karma, and yes, adventures.  I think I checked the self-improvement box, since the discussion was all about storytelling, rehearsal, the career of professional speaking, and other public speaking mysteries.  We conducted the interview as a Google + hangout, a first for me, so perhaps that checks the adventure box.  The interview is casual, relaxed, and covers many of the kinds of questions I get asked all the time, so check it out here and let me know what you think, or what further questions you have that didn’t get answered in the 30-minute discussion.  Enjoy!  And thanks, Rudy.

Ask Great Questions: Leadership Skills

Ask Great Questions: Leadership Skills:
Building a successful venture means consistently making good decisions. The question is how to become great at making good decisions. The answer is to look to Socrates. This ancient philosopher holds the key to an essential leadership skill: ask great questions. The challenge is that too few leaders, managers and employees ask great questions. This is a big problem. Cultures that embrace a culture of questioning thrive and those that fear it either fail or are doomed to mediocrity.

12 Counterintuitive Practices For Long-Term Success

12 Counterintuitive Practices For Long-Term Success: Life is a complex combination of interactions, events, and relationships. We all chase “success,” but we struggle to define it. We all want true happiness, but we usually settle for the appearance of it. We all seek meaning, but we often succumb to doubt.

Seven Do's And Don'ts For Mentors

Seven Do's And Don'ts For Mentors: I just finished reading Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, and the “Are You My Mentor?” chapter really stood out for me because it highlighted an issue I've grappled with for years: how awkward and ineffective a formal mentorship can be. There's already plenty of advice for young people on how to be good mentees. But as someone who has been both a mentor and a mentee, I want to provide some solid tips to mentors instead, so they can guide their mentees in a more meaningful way:

The Two Most Underrated Leadership Skills

The Two Most Underrated Leadership Skills: Leadership is changing. A big part is the impact of the Millennials. They are less apt to respond to command & control and respond much more positively to a different kind of leadership. Even a recession has not cured them of this. I believe that this is a fundamental part of how they view the world. Mainly due to what they are taught at high school and particularly in university. One of the most interesting projects on emerging approaches to leadership is at MIT. I had the considerable pleasure of interviewing MIT's Deborah Ancona. She discussed their Four Capabilities Leadership Model, focusing on the two most neglected of the four, over to Deborah:

Coping In A Toxic Work Environment

Coping In A Toxic Work Environment: Recently, I had the occasion to observe a group of employees who were working in a toxic work environment.  I witnessed the decline of self-esteem in each one of them as they endured month after month of poor leadership and dysfunction in their workplace.   I was truly amazed at the change to the countenance of each of these employees as their situation continually grew worse.   If one could have taken a before photo of these employees prior to their being in a toxic environment and then an after photo when they were months into it, the physical manifestations of the negativity they endured would be staggering.  Slowly, I observed each of these employees reach their breaking point and one by one resign from the company.  Each of them had good paying jobs with fabulous benefits, but the toxicity they dealt with each day was so unbearable that no amount of money would have made it worth the cost to their own self-worth.   They left their jobs without having new jobs lined up because they recognized that the toll the toxic environment was taking had become far too great to stay another day.

7 Management Practices That Can Improve Employee Productivity

7 Management Practices That Can Improve Employee Productivity: All companies want to improve employee productivity, but how often do they examine their own management practices as a means of attaining it?  Studies consistently show that a disturbingly high number of non-management employees are disengaged, not working at full productive capacity.  Following are 7 practical suggestions - steps management can take to improve productivity by putting employees in a more productive mindset.

Six Verbal And Nonverbal Tips For Selling

Six Verbal And Nonverbal Tips For Selling: If you think that these tips aren't for you because don't have "sales" in your job description, I'd ask you to think again.

10 Lessons In Teamwork

10 Lessons In Teamwork: Standing on the deck of a sailboat, far at sea in the middle of a wicked storm. A freak wave climbs higher and higher until you are looking up at an 80-foot high wall of swirling green water. Your teammate desperately shouts at you from the other side of the boat, but all you can hear is the deafening howl of 100-mph winds.

How To Avoid Distractions In The Workplace

How To Avoid Distractions In The Workplace: Some of us get pushed off balance by the slightest interruptions at work, while others easily tune out distractions. The truth is, nobody is completely attentive to their work 100% of the time?and we can all use some guidance on ways to avoid or ignore disruptions in the office.

4 Questions To Identify Your Innovation Killers

4 Questions To Identify Your Innovation Killers: Rules can get in the way of the goal. If someone messes up, should they get fired? Your average manager's pat answer is always "yes, it sets a 'what not to do' example for the rest." An exceptional leader would answer "it depends." My colleague Ken Perlman offers a clear example of why punishing failures is the fastest way to stifle innovation in your organization.

4 Ways Open Innovation Can Drive Your Business Forward

4 Ways Open Innovation Can Drive Your Business Forward: Ever since General Electric built the first industrial lab in 1900, research and development has been a highly secretive affair.  Security protocols have been regarded almost important as scientific ones to stay ahead of the competition.

5 Transitions Great Leaders Make That Average Leaders Don't

5 Transitions Great Leaders Make That Average Leaders Don't:

The secret to leadership is there aren’t any real secrets. The best leaders have simply gone to school on improving their tradecraft. While the capabilities possessed by the best leaders might seem otherworldly to many, they are merely the outcome of hard work, experience, perspective, and yes, a bit of

The One Belief That Keeps You Locked In Career Inertia

The One Belief That Keeps You Locked In Career Inertia: This one core belief is responsible for thousands of professionals remaining stuck for years in career inertia and unhappiness.

Smart Leaders Engage Tomorrow's Workforce

Smart Leaders Engage Tomorrow's Workforce: I'm off to Chicago for #SHRM13 and am very excited to see everyone and for all the events. The topic most pressing on my mind today is the battle for young, emerging talent and how fierce the competition is these days in certain sectors. Companies that win it are the ones that will succeed in the years and decades to come.  So what is the key to first hiring and then unleashing the full potential of Millennials and thus building your future workforce? And what exactly are we doing about The Class of 2012, 2013?

The Most Successful Fail Frequently. Are You Making Enough Mistakes?

The Most Successful Fail--Frequently. Are You Making Enough Mistakes?: We have argued throughout  that the best way to deal with uncertainty is to act.

3 Networking Habits To Drop And What To Do Instead

3 Networking Habits To Drop And What To Do Instead: Summer is a great time to network. People are in a better mood because of the warmer weather and upcoming vacations. You might even schedule those hard-to-get lunches because it’s nicer to be outside. Workload typically slows so you actually have the time to rekindle those relationships. So summer is also a great time to revisit your networking strategy. You might have developed bad habits around your networking that you need to adjust:

Advice From The Most Innovative Leaders

Advice From The Most Innovative Leaders
Anyone can change his or her behavior to improve creative impact in a company. According to the authors of the Innovators DNA, the five skills of disruptive innovators are questioning, observing, networking, experimenting and associational thinking...

Turning Takers Into Smart Givers: The Reciprocity Ring

Turning Takers Into Smart Givers: The Reciprocity Ring: Americans enjoy explaining almost every act of their lives on the principle of self-interest.
Alexis de Tocqueville (1835)
Earlier this week, I reviewed Adam Grant’s wonderful new book, Give & Take, which shows why "givers” typically outperform “takers” and “matchers”, so long as givers are smart enough to avoid being treated as doormats by takers, fakers and others who want to take advantage of their giving spirit. It’s an important thesis, because smart “giving” is the ideological foundation of delighting customers and the new management paradigm.

Eight Essential Leadership Lessons From America's Greatest Skyline

Eight Essential Leadership Lessons From America's Greatest Skyline: Downtown Chicago is a skyscraper lover's paradise; it's also a business-school classroom writ large for entrepreneurs and managers. Here are eight essential lessons, care of an eye-popping summer riverboat tour through the Windy City.

9 Tips For Boosting Productivity At Work This Summer

9 Tips For Boosting Productivity At Work This Summer: Summer is upon us and over the next few weeks schools will be closing, the sun will be shining, and you’ll be daydreaming that you’re at the beach, on a boat, at the pool, or anywhere but your desk. There’s a good chance that all the excitement and distractions of summer will curb your productivity—but if you manage your time properly, communicate well, and shift priorities as needed, you can get through the season without slacking too much.

3 Ways To Become A More Effective Leader

3 Ways To Become A More Effective Leader: The only way we can create the impact we want is by giving everyone a seat at the table. Addie Thompson (@adelinemt) shares tips for more effective leadership.

7 Ways To Improve Employee/Boss Relationships

7 Ways To Improve Employee/Boss Relationships: There is a secret to becoming a more likable leader. It doesn’t have to do with how tall and charming you are, or how often you give employees a raise.  In fact, we have evidence that the majority of the behaviors displayed by the most likable leaders have to do with the way they interact with employees on a day-to-day basis.  But first, does being liked by your employees even matter?

Innovation: Leadership Is Always The Key

Innovation: Leadership Is Always The Key: The transformation will come from leadership.

Five Ways To Build An Effective Team

Five Ways To Build An Effective Team: It is not easy to be the CEO of an up-and-coming startup, especially when you are frequently out of your office talking to investors and the actual time you spend in contact with your team is limited. It gets even more complicated when you manage multiple teams working in different cities.

Six Ways To Earn Respect At Work

Six Ways To Earn Respect At Work
1. Pay Attention To Your Title
Don't be fooled, title matters, says career consultant Emily Bennington, author of Who Says It's A Man's World: The Girls' Guide To Corporate Domination. Right or wrong, your title is how people in and outside your organization judge your value to it, she says. Don't overlook it...

The Four Questions Great Leaders Ask

The Four Questions Great Leaders Ask: “Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.”

Five Ways To Build An Effective Team

Five Ways To Build An Effective Team: It is not easy to be the CEO of an up-and-coming startup, especially when you are frequently out of your office talking to investors and the actual time you spend in contact with your team is limited. It gets even more complicated when you manage multiple teams working in different cities.

What Defines You?

What Defines You?: What do you think defines you? Is it your job? Is it your sport? Is it your life principles? Is it where you live? It is your friends? Is it your age?

Are You Managing Change Or Leading It?

Are You Managing Change Or Leading It?: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every purpose under heaven.”

Making Meaningful Connections With Influencers

Making Meaningful Connections With Influencers: As the CEO of an economic development organization that accelerates the growth of innovation clusters in Northeast Ohio, I connect with influential people to position the region as an innovation hub, raise visibility of its technology assets and attract resources. In this role, I make sure my organization, NorTech, effectively uses its industry expertise in advanced energy, flexible electronics and water technologies to align and leverage our cluster member’s assets to build a globally-competitive economy.

Five Ways To Get Unstuck And Get Things Done

Five Ways To Get Unstuck And Get Things Done: There have been days when I’ve been so overwhelmed by my options that I’ve become completely stuck–I couldn’t get anything done.

In the end, no single task will help to move the business forward without a larger goal behind it...

The Secret To Effective Delegation

The Secret To Effective Delegation: While most everyone in business would agree that delegation is critical to managerial success, how often are we dissatisfied with the results of what we've delegated?  How often is the "product" that is returned to us not exactly what we'd hoped for?  While this is sometimes the fault of the person of completing the assignment, it's  often the fault of the person giving the assignment.  And there's a common root to the problem.

5 Powerful Ways Leaders Practice Patience

5 Powerful Ways Leaders Practice Patience: Today’s business climate is more complicated than ever and fueled with many unknowns.  Every leader feels the pressure of generating results, building the most effective teams and creating a high-performance workplace environment to secure sustainable outcomes.   At the same time, employees are tired of the uncertainty and necessity to do more with less – often causing tempers to flare and growing workplace dissatisfaction.   This added pressure on employees to perform without knowing their succession plan or imminent future is not only testing their patience, but that of their leaders.

How To Bypass The 5 Worst Mistakes In Online Presentations

How To Bypass The 5 Worst Mistakes In Online Presentations: Getting ready to make an online presentation? Here's how to ensure yours are memorable, engaging and successful.

Successful Business Communication: It Starts at the Beginning

Successful Business Communication: It Starts at the Beginning: A while back I was able to attend a seminar by Dr. John Lund on communication where he gave some amazing advice on how to better communicate with others. His input was simple and easy to follow, yet powerful. The best quote of the entire event was this: “Don`t communicate to be understood; rather, communicate so as not to be misunderstood.” What a great way to put things in perspective regarding our efforts on how to improve our communication. Here are some of the notes I made from his presentation:

5 Things You Should Be Talking To Your Boss About

5 Things You Should Be Talking To Your Boss About: Going into your boss’s office can often be hot or cold: You could be getting a pat on the back for a job well done—or a tough dose of constructive criticism. Your boss may want to assign you an awesome new project—or ask you for the report that’s due today (wait, what report?).

6 Reasons Leaders Make Bad Decisions

6 Reasons Leaders Make Bad Decisions: Employees are growing noticeably more frustrated with their leaders.  Employees want their leaders to have their backs and listen to their concerns;  to provide clarity of purpose and performance expectations; and to chart a roadmap for the future.   They expect leadership from their leaders – but instead many employees are finding themselves being led by people that lack focus and vision, mismanage resources, and  get caught-up in corporate politics.    Leaders need to step up their game and begin to provide the required strategic support and direction to keep their employees motivated and their teams inspired.

How to Resolve Conflict Like a Pro

How to Resolve Conflict Like a Pro: Jody Greene is the CMO and co-owner of Chic CEO – a free resource for female entrepreneurs. You can follow her and Chic CEO on twitter at @ChicCEO.

The Most Overlooked Leadership Skill

The Most Overlooked Leadership Skill: Even before I released the disc, I knew it was a long shot. And, unfortunately, it was a clumsy one too.

Stand Up For Yourself When Someone Else Takes Credit For Your Work

Stand Up For Yourself When Someone Else Takes Credit For Your Work: Sometimes, one of the most important things you can do to protect your career and career advancement is stand up for yourself when someone takes credit for your ideas or your work. Here is one story I received from a reader about a credit-stealing boss and my response.

90 Days To Great Leadership

90 Days To Great Leadership: While I’ve achieved a lot of success as an entrepreneur and business owner, I was not born a great leader. Rather, I’ve learned leadership skills and every day, I put them to use.

10 Ways To Help Others That Will Lead You To Success

10 Ways To Help Others That Will Lead You To Success: Helping others should be a natural extension of every business leader?s responsibilities. Unfortunately, it doesn?t come as easy as you would think. As leaders, we often get too caught up in operations or our own problems to give people the help they need. However, in the last year, I?ve realized that most of my best clients, partners and relationships have come from me helping someone. Here are 10 thoughts that can remind you to help others.

How To See What Others Don't (In Order To Increase Your Chances of Success)

How To See What Others Don't (In Order To Increase Your Chances of Success): Seeing What Others Don't is not only the title of new book by Gary Klein, it is also a mantra that can make you successful.

The 7 Non-Negotiables Of Winning

The 7 Non-Negotiables Of Winning: Today, I would like to share the principles that have transformed me and our company and a growing number of people across the globe.  They are simple and powerful and I promise you that if you make the time to learn and apply them new avenues of promise and possibility will open for you.  I share my personal journey and I am honored to share the story of a small company that works together every day to achieve great things in my book, The 7 Non-Negotiables of Winning: Tying Soft Traits To Hard Results, due out from Wiley Publishing on July 29.

6 Essential Steps To Attracting Your "Right" Work

6 Essential Steps To Attracting Your "Right" Work: Can we really "attract" the right work for us, or is that just a foolish fancy?

How The Best Leaders Focus On Two Key Elements of Greatness

How The Best Leaders Focus On Two Key Elements of Greatness: I had the great good fortune of having breakfast this morning with Danny Meyer, longtime friend and client, at Maialino, one of his USHG (Union Square Hospitality Group) restaurants.  It was a wide-ranging conversation, but it kept coming back to two core things: beauty and utility.  We talked about business, relationships, food, training new employees, family and building teams - and in each realm we discussed how the best of these things are both beautiful and useful.

How To Say No At Work

How To Say No At Work: When Beth Cronin started out as an associate at the law firm Trenam Kemker, she never once told a partner that she was too busy to do a project. Instead, she learned the right way to say no. “First, I developed a reputation as being earnest and hardworking,” says Cronin. “Then I made sure to understand what the project entailed, when my manager needed it and whether I could realistically deliver high-quality work in the allotted amount of time. The way to handle a request is never just to say ‘I’m too busy.’” Today she’s co-chair of the commercial litigation practice group at the firm, which has offices in St. Petersburg and Tampa, Fla.

How To Multiply Efficiency And Free Up Hours Of Labor In An Instant

How To Multiply Efficiency And Free Up Hours Of Labor In An Instant: I am very fond of the strict “No Slide Presentations” policy in our office. Since its inception, presentations have become more animated, engaging, and effective. My colleague Ken Perlman tells the story of how one of our clients realized the wasted time and effort being poured into formal executive presentations and diverted that time to boosting productivity and trust simply by replacing slides with conversations.

7 Steps To Developing Career Capital -- And Achieving Success

7 Steps To Developing Career Capital -- And Achieving Success: In 2007, Steve Martin was on the Charlie Rose show to talk about his memoir Born Standing Up. He talked about his rise in comedy, and Rose asked him for his advice to aspiring performers.

How To Light A Fire Under Your Team When Things Are Going Well

How To Light A Fire Under Your Team When Things Are Going Well: It’s easy to create a sense of urgency among your team when business is tough. It’s harder when you come into a role after your predecessor had tripled business in seven years.

5 Things Highly Successful People Do To Stay Motivated

5 Things Highly Successful People Do To Stay Motivated: We've all been there.  Something we worked hard for, put a lot of thought and effort into, didn't go the way we'd hoped. A job, a promotion, a raise, assignment to a plum project.

6 Ways Effective Listening Can Make You A Better Leader

6 Ways Effective Listening Can Make You A Better Leader: When employees say they want their voices to be heard, they are really saying they want leaders who will not just hear them, but really listen to them.    As employees seek more attention, feedback and support, leaders must become more mindful of individual needs in order to more effectively inspire professional development and overall performance.   Leaders who listen are able to create trustworthy relationships that are transparent and breed loyalty.  You know the leaders who have their employees’ best interests at heart because they truly listen to them.

4 Steps To Find The Right Mentor

4 Steps To Find The Right Mentor: People often say that finding a mentor is essential as an entrepreneur, especially a young one at that. I am a sophomore at Duke University and the co-founder of Star Toilet Paper, so the experience I had prior to starting this company is my camp and caddying experience. So how do I even know what steps to take or how to develop a business?
While many people within the realm of entrepreneurship are willing to be helpful, there is a big difference between someone who answers a few questions for you and someone who is genuinely interested and invested (not monetarily) in both your company and in you. To me, the most important aspect of a mentor is the latter of the two; your mentor must have a vested interest in learning more about you and what you wish to do to change the world with your new company.
But how do you go about obtaining this type of mentor, and how do you know if they are the right person?
Where: In college, I have access to both people and resources. But you don't need to be a student to access the people and resources you need. In any major city, there will be a variety of incubators, accelerators and universities that are hotbeds for innovation and centers of knowledge. That does not mean that you need to find the entrepreneurship professor at the closest university. See what is around you and how you can make the most out of those resources. I have found that it is often the third or fourth degree of separation that leads to the best person for you.

3 Tips for Surviving as a First-Time Manager

3 Tips for Surviving as a First-Time Manager: Your first management job is a big win – a sign that you’ve done something right in your career. It’s also the first time that your success is completely tied to the performance of other people...

5 Ways To Unlock Authentic Leadership

5 Ways To Unlock Authentic Leadership: In today’s culture, where so much emphasis is placed on the superficial, people crave authenticity. Employees today are hungry for real what-you-see-is-what-you-get leadership. The most inspiring and influential leaders therefore don’t lead because of what they do (though they do plenty), but because of who they are. Too often leaders and those who aspire to be, forget that.

How To Be A Great Mentor

How To Be A Great Mentor:

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. - William Arthur Ward

Have you employed a mentor to help you navigate the professional world? Maybe you found her during your first job search; perhaps it was when you transitioned careers. Either way—your mentor most likely provided guidance and helped you overcome challenges. And if you’re really lucky, she inspired you along the way.

3 Tips To Navigate A Leadership Crossroads

3 Tips To Navigate A Leadership Crossroads: Judith E. Glaser (@CreatingWE) and Lori Polachek (@LPolachek1) offer advice to business leaders at a fork in the road.

The Art of Screwing Up

The Art of Screwing Up: I was enjoying breakfast with my good friend, Danny O’Brien, recently, when our conversation moved to the topic of screwing up, making mistakes and the steps we take thereafter.  Danny said, “The quality of our lives is not determined by whether or not we screw up—because we all will.”

Forming Better Professional and Office Relationships

Forming Better Professional and Office Relationships: Whether you are a CEO or entry-level employee, getting along with others is paramount to success and your career is no exception to this rule.  While tenacity, hard work, intelligence and making the right decisions are all significant factors in the equation to achievement, interpersonal relationships can either make an individual's career manageable and more lucrative or set up unnecessary barriers to getting what you desire.

People CAN Change Their Past -- Put Mistakes Behind You.

People CAN Change Their Past -- Put Mistakes Behind You.: People often think they can’t change their past, but I disagree. Perhaps we can’t change every mistake in our past, but we have to remember that the past is a moving target. Every day that goes by us becomes a part of our past history. Whatever we do today will become a part of our past tomorrow, which means we do have the power to change our past by doing the right things today. Today we have the ability to continue building on our past story, and that gives us the power to modify that story into one we can be proud of.  It’s important to remember that the whole of our past is far more powerful than any of its parts.

In A Daze? Easy Ways To Defeat 'Fuzzy Brain' At Work

In A Daze? Easy Ways To Defeat 'Fuzzy Brain' At Work: Unproductive days at work come in many forms. There are the days when you’re tired (I probably shouldn’t have gone to that midnight movie premier last night), days when you’re distracted (How can I focus on work when my relationship is on the rocks?), and days when you can’t get motivated (Can’t I do the monthly report next week?).

Don't Bring Problems To Your Manager -- Bring Solutions

Don't Bring Problems To Your Manager -- Bring Solutions: In today’s workplace, if you want to stand out as a valued employee, don’t bring problems to your manager -- bring solutions. Why? Because there are too many problems for managers to solve all by themselves; that’s why you were hired. So don’t be part of a problem. Become a solution-generating employee and you’ll increase your value to your manager and to the company.

Pump Up the Volume -- Establishing Your Leadership Presence

Pump Up the Volume -- Establishing Your Leadership Presence: As an executive or want-to-be executive, wouldn?t you love to have presence? Wouldn?t you love to have people drawn to you when you speak and pay attention to what you are saying? Presence is one of the most common characteristics shared by over 150 CEOs that have come to our CEO Insights class or Speaker Series here at McGill. Two in particularly lit up the room, Sir Richard Branson and Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus; very, very different personalities yet both had presence.

5 Habits Of Leaders Who Create Workspace Culture

5 Habits Of Leaders Who Create Workspace Culture: When I was a student (once upon a time I thought I was to be a clinical psychologist), and broke, and spending time in New York City (also about the time I decided I was not to be a performing artist, choreographer for my career after spending years here doing so), I used to make extra money volunteering for psychological studies at Columbia University. I arrived one day and was told to wait in a small room for the study to start. The room started to fill up with other people, also waiting, until it was jammed and people were sitting on the floor shoulder to shoulder. Things got testy, arguments broke out, there was jostling. After 45 minutes the researchers came in and announced that the study was over: they had been measuring how we reacted when we were crowded into a small space.

The Most Powerful Workplace Motivator

The Most Powerful Workplace Motivator: The most powerful workplace motivator is our natural tendency to measure our own performance against the performance of others, according to research by Harvard Business School professor Ian Larkin. He describes his findings in this article, which first appeared on the HBS Working Knowledge website.

Seven Steps to Negotiating Success

Seven Steps to Negotiating Success: Tried-and-true negotiation tactics from author and negotiation expert Selena Rezvani.

Cultivating 'Soft Skills' to Get Ahead

Cultivating 'Soft Skills' to Get Ahead: Personal aptitudes and attitudes like being a good listener and communicator strongly influence likability and workplace relationships.

Seven Customer Service Lessons I Learned in One Day With Richard Branson [Video]

Seven Customer Service Lessons I Learned in One Day With Richard Branson [Video]: It’s rare to find a leader who elevates the experience for employees and customers to such a degree that other brands benchmark against his or her company. I recently had a unique opportunity to spend a day with one such leader, an entrepreneur and billionaire who has built a brand considered the gold standard in customer service—Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson.

How Employees Can Succeed Faster

How Employees Can Succeed Faster: Google used to have a formula for finding the best employees: it screened for high SAT scores and grade point averages. Sounded like a good plan (especially since Google’s two founders demanded it).

Tips For Talking To Customers

Tips For Talking To Customers: In a recent post, I discussed the importance of communicating with customers and not making assumptions about them. Listening to feedback from your customers can be incredibly helpful.

Six Ways Introverts Can Be More Powerful

Six Ways Introverts Can Be More Powerful: I have a hard time thinking of Warren Buffett and Al Gore as introverts. But according to Susan Cain, author of last year’s popular book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, they join Charles Darwin, J. K. Rowling, Mahatma Gandhi, Google’s Larry Page and at least a third of the world’s population who prefer listening to speaking, reading to socializing, and working on their own to collaborating in teams. In other words, they are natural born introverts.

Innovation Leadership: The Revolution Starts With Words

Innovation Leadership: The Revolution Starts With Words: High sentiments always win in the end.  The leaders who offer blood, toil, tears and sweat always get more than those who offer safety and a good time.  When it comes to the pinch, human beings are heroic.

10 Things Inspire Teams to Optimally Perform

10 Things Inspire Teams to Optimally Perform: More and more people feel stuck at work and are looking for validation. Not only do they want to be heard, but more importantly they want to know that their contributions are being noticed and not taken for granted. Not for the sake of attention, but more so because they want to know that their skill sets are still relevant and useful and that they are making a difference to advance the organizations they serve. With professional development budget cut-backs in recent years, employees have had to start investing in themselves as concerns grow about where their capabilities best fit in their organizations and what their futures hold. Leaders must understand that in today?s new workplace, there does not exist a single recipe to encourage employees to perform better. Rather, it?s about how to maximize the ingredients in order to create hundreds of recipes that are customized and authentic; that provide long-term continuity and impact. To get you started, here are ten ways to inspire teams to optimally perform.

How To Remember Everything

How To Remember Everything: A husband-and-wife team of brain researchers has discovered a kind of brain cell that goes a long way to explaining how memory works and how you can remember things better.  May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser have been researching the brain since 1988, and in 2005 they announced the discovery of so-called grid cells.  These grid cells create a direct, intuitively simple map of everywhere you go, basically, sending the data to your hippocampus, the seat of memory and emotion in your brain.

5 Ways to Build A Future Leader

5 Ways to Build A Future Leader: Philly is a great town – it’s filled with interesting people and awesome food (oh yes, with a little history thrown in). I was there last week for the HR Conference for senior level executives. The energy at the conference was amazing – there are so many exciting developments in the new world of work. I left with my head spinning (in a good way).

Overcoming the Biggest Challenge in Business: Your Own Insecurity

Overcoming the Biggest Challenge in Business: Your Own Insecurity: I was struck this week by something Barbara Corcoran, real estate mogul and Shark Tank expert, recently said.

10 Ways To Inspire Your Team

10 Ways To Inspire Your Team: More and more people feel stuck at work and are looking for validation.   Not only do they want to be heard, but more importantly they want to know that their contributions are being noticed and not taken for granted.  Not for the sake of attention, but more so because they want to know that their skill sets are still relevant and useful and that they are making a difference to advance the organizations they serve.   With professional development budget cut-backs in recent years, employees have had to start investing in themselves as concerns grow about where their capabilities best fit in their organizations and what their futures hold.

Five Easy Steps To Giving The Best Speech Of Your Life

Five Easy Steps To Giving The Best Speech Of Your Life: Good talks are short, lively and engaging. Speaking is about being yourself while not getting in the way of the message you’ve been asked to deliver. In that sense, there’s nothing to fear.

The 'It' Factor: How To Have Executive Presence In A Meeting

The 'It' Factor: How To Have Executive Presence In A Meeting: Think back to a recent meeting, when someone there just seemed to attract and engage everyone around the table. Someone like Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg or Virgin’s Richard Branson—someone who has the ability to walk into a boardroom, command attention, and leave everyone wanting more. Someone who has that “it” factor.

The 7 Ways Successful People Approach Their Work

The 7 Ways Successful People Approach Their Work: When it comes to work, everyone has their own methods for getting tasks done.

5 Time-Tested Success Tips From Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos

5 Time-Tested Success Tips From Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos: Amazon's Founder, Jeff Bezos has had an incredible entrepreneurial career. He has gone from simply selling books online to offering consumers tens of thousands of products. Not satisfied with conquering the online retail world, Amazon then productized access to its infrastructure, ushering in the era of the public cloud. This innovation has eliminated billions of dollars of annual costs previously associated with creating and maintaining web-based businesses.

What The Most Successful Leaders Know About Creating An Inventive Culture: A Case Study

What The Most Successful Leaders Know About Creating An Inventive Culture: A Case Study: Iron Man is a fictional superhero.

8 Ways to Undermine Yourself as a Leader

8 Ways to Undermine Yourself as a Leader: As entrepreneurs, we spend a lot of time honing our leadership style and working tirelessly to ensure our teams are motivated to work with us. There are countless resources to improve on various attributes you utilize both in and out of the office, but there’s less information readily available on pitfalls to avoid. You might think you’re doing a good job, but here’s a list of how you might be undermining yourself.

Leading With Engagement Instead

Leading With Engagement Instead: We all know that influencing by authority—by command & control—is out. Influencing by engaging and enrolling is in. Yet too many leaders still rule with claws and teeth, rather than cropping grass alongside their herd and nudging them in the right direction.
What about you? Are you helping employees envision an exciting future—or are you sending their innovative brains scurrying for cover?

Are You a Visionary Business Leader?

Are You a Visionary Business Leader?: What does it mean to be a visionary business leader?

How To Approach The Boss When Conflict Arises At Work

How To Approach The Boss When Conflict Arises At Work: Sometimes the hardest part of your job isn't the work; it's the people.

Tips for Building Long-Term Client Relationships

Tips for Building Long-Term Client Relationships: A business is only as good as the clients it serves, and no business gets far after losing the clients it has. The key to success is building relationships that go beyond one-time projects and provide value to these clients on a consistent, ongoing basis.

Essential Tools of Talent Management

Essential Tools of Talent Management: There’s a problem that small-to-midsized but fast-growing private companies often don’t see coming until the damage is done. Namely – they don’t recognize until it’s too late just how much value is being lost owing to immature talent development, retention, evaluation and recruitment processes.

Five Ways Helpfulness Wins Hearts and Sales

Five Ways Helpfulness Wins Hearts and Sales: Taxi Mike, Geek Squad and Vanderbilt University Medical Center take the same successful approach to stand out from their competition, and you can too.

The Difference Between Asserting Yourself and Being a Jerk

The Difference Between Asserting Yourself and Being a Jerk: First it was Suzy Lee Weiss and her Wall Street Journal Op-Ed. Then last week we got the crazy but ?amazing? University of Maryland sorority girl who penned a letter to her ?sisters? telling them they were losers, ?faggots,? and ?retarded.? Now people are calling Reese Witherspoon and her DUI antics amazing. There has been such an outpouring of support for this trifecta of bitchiness that I?m surprised Ann Coulter hasn?t been crowned woman of the year yet.

The Easy Path to Persuasion

The Easy Path to Persuasion:

If you want to persuade a customer to do something - buy a product, request more information, or call your toll-free line, for example - do you think the odds are better if: It appears to be quick and easy? It appears to be difficult and time-consuming? Of course, "easy" is the obvious

5 Ways Leaders Can Reclaim Their Identity

5 Ways Leaders Can Reclaim Their Identity: The first job I had was with a large Wine & Spirits company.  It was a top-down, best-practice, zero-defect, career-path, fear-based culture.  Everyone was accountable to someone else, and had to follow a set of policies and procedures.   In this company, you were not encouraged to freely express your individuality.  In fact, in the classical ways of bureaucracies, the best sales people had been promoted into management – where they were floundering because they lacked the right types of skills to succeed in their new roles.  A great sales person is not necessarily a great manager.  But this company didn’t care about the consequences they created.  This was a linear-thinking, cookie-cutter, no-individuals-for-hire organization.

Who Are The Best Marketers?

Who Are The Best Marketers?: Who are the best marketers out there right now?  Who are the leaders shaping the way businesses interact with their customers and the marketplace?  Big questions, right?  What is more important than “who” is doing it, is “what” are they doing to meet the ever-changing needs of customers and to deliver results for their companies.

7 Common Excuses That Prevent an Employee From Being Great

7 Common Excuses That Prevent an Employee From Being Great: It’s usually easier to come up with an excuse than it is to actually get something done. I’ve learned that many employees have the potential to be great, but they let excuses get in the way of their true potential. As a leader, it’s important to address these excuses and challenge your employees to be better. Here are some excuses that send my “BS meter” off the charts.