Management - Leadership

Dear Madeleine, I am a director in a large retail organization. Recently everyone at my level received an online 360° feedback. My report shows that my whole team is very unhappy with my hands-on style. All 14 of my people—not just 1 or 2— see me as a micro-manager. In the open-ended comments were phrases…

Many are mediocre. Some are bad. And some are absolutely toxic. Here's how to tell.

Blanchard’s Situational Leadership® II model is based on the idea that an individual’s development is goal or task specific.  It also teaches that there are four predictable phases a person goes through as they develop.  In a nutshell when learning something new we often start out as an Enthusiastic Beginner.  Then from there, if we…

Recognize This! – Implicit norms about being yourself at work are a large part of the power of working human. Have you seen this post? It’s about a po

It is estimated that more than two million millennials step into their first leadership role each year—and that first year is critical. Research by Harvard business professor Linda A. Hill shows that the skills and habits people adopt in their first year of management can be a foundation for success—or an obstacle to it—for the…

Some leaders don't just build successful organizations; they also attract, train and cultivate the next generation of exceptional leaders. That's according

Another day, and yet another issue causing delays on WMATA’s DC Metro system. Between April 17th and April 24th – there were 120 alerts. Recently – Met

Dear Madeleine,  I am a senior director at a big pharma company. Our company has grown quickly through mergers and acquisitions—four in the last four years, in fact. I’ve noticed a big problem with what seems to be an “us and them” culture. Even some of my peers forget that we are all one company…

Millennials want to leave their jobs. A report from Deloitte found that a majority expect to have new jobs in the next five years. Why? Leadership development has a lot do with it, the survey suggests. Among employees who said they are likely to leave in the next two years, 71% say they

Editor's note: Millennials especially are looking for leadership development. Look for the details  about how to deliver it on TLNT tomorrow. “Just want to acknowledge and thank you so much for all you are accomplishing, always, but especially as of late. You are a rock for our office, always steady, calm, transparent, real

A few years ago, my husband gave me a gym membership. It’s something I needed and wanted, but it was still a bit of a surprise. Did he think I was fat? Did he not love and admire my beautiful self anymore? Or was it something else entirely? Turns out he saw how hard I…

A company’s business may not be in a danger zone, but leadership development efforts can’t wait until it is.

Dear Madeleine, I am a fairly experienced senior manager at an organization that was acquired about eighteen months ago. The larger organization makes a new acquisition about every eight months, with no end in sight. The changes are really hard to keep up with. There seem to be new processes and procedures every day. I…

People want to be better leaders—but they just don’t have the time. That’s the dilemma managers face, according to Blanchard senior consulting partner Ann Phillips. In the July issue of Ignite, Phillips explains that the lack of time kills many good intentions. “Once managers realize they’re supposed to maintain their own workload, coaching and support…

It’s one of the most popular questions in interviews, and also one of the most understandable. Why not hear why your future employee is right for the role straight from the horse’s mouth? Why the…

This Coaching Tuesday guest post is by Lynn McCreery. In a world that sometimes seems increasingly divisive, wary, and isolating, I often think about the role coaches and leaders play in creating the proper environment for the people we lead and influence. We are there to help them feel safe and confident in knowing our…

There's no greater disservice to employees than trying to sell them a piece of fiction about the nature of their relationship with their employer. Fact is, s

Organizational culture shapes both employee productivity and business results, but often it is ambiguous and hard to define. To help, think of culture as three layers with increasing levels of importance: Culture is seen through symbols, rituals, stories, and organizational events — the first things we experience when we join an organization. Culture is reflected […]