No, we aren’t looking to congratulate you on your excellent backhand, organizational skills, or even your technical aptitude. Instead, we are looking at The Inspiring Leader by Zenger, Folkman and Edinger recently profiled in Harvard Business Review. They collected data over decades with tens of thousands of executives worldwide that showed developing your strengths is an entirely different endeavor than improving your weaknesses. We know that we can identify our weaknesses with an untold number of tools and opinions. We also know that we can chart an improvement plan that will include tangible efforts resulting in clear, linear improvements. But what happens when your weaknesses aren’t actually hindering your success? (more…)
Come and Get Your Free Toaster!
Posted by: Elizabeth on February 9, 2012
It used to be a big promotion – come on down to our bank and if you open an account with us you get a brand new toaster! This wasn’t a bad marketing strategy – in fact, it was in response to regulations against paying interest on a checking account. This was the only way a bank could reward and incentivize its customers.
Are you trying to give away toasters in your organization? That is to say – have you really examined your rewards and retention program for your high potential employees? (more…)
Control Over Conflict
Posted by: Elizabeth on February 7, 2012
We will take a break from our blog series today to talk about how to prevent conflict since this week is conflict prevention week – a reason to celebrate!!?? Maybe not, if you are one of the millions of people who dread conflict. Dealing with conflict is one of the most difficult challenges your organization may face. While some carefully managed conflict may lead to growth and a true sifting of ideas, it must be resolved in a healthy way, or even better, prevented to begin with.
Preventing conflict means proactively making better choices in your relationships that respect different personality types and foster powerful, productive interactions. (more…)
Employee Development 501
Posted by: Elizabeth on February 2, 2012
In a spotlight article in Harvard Business Review, Claudio Fernandez-Araoz, Boris Groysberg, and Nitin Nohria looked at how to develop and retain the high potential employees in your organization. This blog series will continue today with how to develop a program of learning for those employees.
The researchers found that the best companies in their studies look for a good balance of challenging and motivating their employees while involving senior leadership in key activities like mentoring. This development program must include self-directed learning, training, and on-the-job development opportunities. (more…)
Don’t Try and Hide It
Posted by: Elizabeth on February 1, 2012
This entire series is based upon a very touchy subject – identifying and retaining your high potential employees. We all know that this is a vital part of our personnel strategy, and makes the most financial sense. But actually identifying those high potentials and how to communicate their value can be disconcerting.
In our last blog we talked about how to identify your high potentials, but the question of who identifies those high potentials is very important. (more…)
Come on Down, You’re the Next Contestant
Posted by: Elizabeth on January 27, 2012
It’s not hard to watch American Idol and pick out the losers. Some of us may even be able to pick the top performers from the crowd in the early rounds. But that is because these candidates are laying out their talent for all the world to see. It isn’t very difficult to judge what is seen. At the same time, there are a number of those booted off the show in the first round who truly thought they could go all the way. Turns out, they couldn’t even sing in tune. They had no idea they had no talent and were truly shocked to be dismissed.
Choosing candidates for your high potential program can be very difficult, and if not done well, can undermine the whole program. (more…)
GE Doesn’t Always Bring Good Things to Life
Posted by: Elizabeth on January 26, 2012
If you have actually identified those employees at your organization who have potential (see last week’s blog) then you may have realized that managing and growing that potential can be challenging. We are looking at a study outlined by Harvard Business Review and conducted by Fernandez-Araoz, Groysberg, and Nohria to learn how to retain our high potential workforce. After you have defined who those high potentials are, you must create a plan for keeping them and maximizing their abilities. (more…)
Potential – What is it and How Do You Find It?
Posted by: Elizabeth on January 19, 2012
You’d be surprised to know how many companies craft a high-potential development program without ever having defined what potential means. In Fernandez-Araoz, Groysberg and Nohria’s look at how to retain your top talent, they define potential as a person’s ability to grow and handle responsibilities of greater scale and scope. “Greater scale” is a job in the same area but with increased budget or staff, while “greater scope” is a job that involves activities that demand more breadth and complexity. This definition of potential may or may not suit your organization – take some time to craft an accurate meaning of potential considering your culture and process. (more…)
By the Numbers
Posted by: Elizabeth on January 17, 2012
There is a war out there – a war for talent. In a global study conducted by Claudio Fernandez-Araoz, Boris Groysberg, and Nitin Nohria; only 15% of North American and Asian companies are confident they have enough qualified successors for key positions. Fewer than 30% of European companies believe their talent pipeline is sufficient. In a spotlight article in Harvard Business Review, Fernandez-Araoz, Groysberg and Nohria look at how to hang on to your high potential successors in the face of such shortages. (more…)
The Humility Stick
Posted by: Elizabeth on January 10, 2012
Charalambos Vlachoutsicos is an adjunct professor in the International MBA Program at Athens University of Economics and Business. He has had a long career in business as well, and is a frequent Harvard Business Review contributor. His pedigree is quite impressive, and he also includes coauthorship of Behind the Factory Walls: Decision Making in Soviet and U.S. Enterprises among his accomplishments. With all of that credibility – one of the most compelling stories he shares is one of humility. (more…)
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