Management - Leadership

Dear Madeleine, I work as a senior manager reporting to a new EVP who was brought in from outside the company. She has a lot less experience than I do. She constantly talks about how strategic she is, but all I see is a lack of discipline around execution—and she seems to have no memory. …

Today’s blog covers the promised Part Two from last week’s blog post. If you missed it and want to see the whole letter and the context, click here. Here’s the part of the letter, signed Paralyzed, that I am addressing today: “I asked my manager to tell me what she thought the most critical thing…

In 2021, traditional roles will be redefined by the need to be flexible and proficient in several skills. In a typical day an associate might be asked to work in multiple areas and beyond their “home” departments, and this will require a new approach to the staff selection process and how we train and prepare team members. 

Dear Madeleine, I am in a high potential program at a large global company and am being considered for fast track promotion. As part of the program, everyone did a battery of assessments. I have learned all kinds of things about myself, my strengths, my preferences, how others see me, etc. It has been enlightening…

As governments race to contain COVID-19, its impact on mental health and substance abuse needs to be mitigated. Here are the actions society can take.

We all intuitively understand we need feedback to grow. However, first, we have to train our brains into recognizing the potential in feedback

Even a simple comment by one person can erupt into a full-blown fight. Naturally, logic is often missing from these so-called conversations.

Dear Madeleine, I work on a team that provides specialized services to the sales and marketing groups in a global organization. A lot of our work is time sensitive. My teammates and I pull all-nighters and weekends on a regular basis. We are dedicated, passionate and skilled—but when we are involved in a big success,…

Dear Madeleine, I am a regional director of compliance for a global services company. Covid has been a trial for everyone. Most of my people had never worked from home before and were not set up to succeed working in what are, for many, cramped and noisy conditions. On top of this, Covid has resulted…

Almost 41 percent of Americans struggle with mental-health issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, but many companies remain ill equipped to address the problem.

It turns out when the feedback discussion goes off the rails, it's because empathy and clarity were nowhere to be found.

Conducting feedback discussions can be challenging. Here are seven actions you can take succeed with feedback:

A large part of the outcome from your daily encounters with team members depends upon your use of questioning. Are you an interrogator or an explorer?

Bureaucracies are the scaffolding needed to implement new ideas at scale. Just remember to dismantle them when the work is done.