Video transcript: The great resignation isn’t over. More than 15 million US workers voluntarily quit their jobs in October ’22-January ’23. CNBC reported that a new LinkedIn study found that 70% of Gen Z and millennials plan to quit their jobs in 2023. These younger generations won’t tolerate old school, autocratic leaders or toxic work cultures. Business leaders today cannot sit on the sidelines. They must act to build — and sustain — a culture of respect in their workplace. Why? Our research and experience indicates that respectful work cultures enjoy these benefits: Increased pr ..read more

With Women’s History Month coming to a close, I decided to chat with two colleagues who have decades of experience studying the inclusion of women in the workplace. Our discussions were winding excursions into past and present barriers to women’s success at work, especially their ascension to leadership roles. With the intense focus on inclusion that we have observed in many companies, we pondered two important questions: What three actions can women take to positively influence their careers and daily work experience?  What one barrier to inclusion must leaders address to make progress ..read more

By his own admission, he does not play an instrument well, run a mixing board expertly, or likely sing or dance. He spends part of his working day, flat on a couch in a recording studio control room, listening. He is Rick Rubin, one of the most successful record producers in the business.  Baldoni His style is reminiscent of another successful individual — John D. Rockefeller, who like Rubin, was a perceptive listener. As Ron Chernow noted in Titan, his biography on the oil man, Rockefeller would often enter a room where his directors or senior executives were meeting and lie down on a co ..read more

Motivation is at the heart of everything people do (and don’t do). This truth begs a question: As a leader are you focused on honing your motivational leadership skills? Or, like so many managers, are you still held accountable for leadership competencies rooted in outdated command-and-control, leader-centric, and carrot-and-stick management theories at odds with what we know about human motivation?  Are you pushed to drive for results? Find people’s motivational hot buttons? Incentivize behavior with money, rewards, praising, tokens and badges?  A far more effective approach to work ..read more

Do you feel like the inner flame that motivates you in your personal and professional life has dimmed? Answering a few questions will provide insight into how you can rekindle your inner light. Before we pose the questions, though, let us share a story that illuminates why contemplating them is so valuable.  Doug Conant’s story: Being honored and honoring others Doug Conant Doug Conant is the leader who turned around Campbell Soup Company when he served as President and CEO from 2001-2011. We’ve previously written about how Conant held senior leaders accountable for improving employee eng ..read more

One of the most common reasons my clients have sought me out for coaching is that they’ve just made an unsuccessful attempt at getting a promotion at work. It can be a crushing experience, to hear that they still have work to do in convincing others they are ready for more responsibility. If you’ve ever had someone tell you they’d “love to promote you, but…” check out some of my behavior-changing strategies, below.  Garfinkle1. Knowledgeable but indecisive Progressing through our careers, we build up a huge body of knowledge in our field of expertise. When we start to hit that critical ma ..read more

Removing bias from the hiring process is something more and more companies are taking seriously as of late. One creative response to the problem has been blind hiring — the process of judging candidates on skills and capabilities only, and not on demographic indicators like name, gender, academic qualifications or experience. Lavi Blind hiring might seem to imply hiding personal attributes from a CV, but it’s much more than that. It’s about transforming the hiring process in favor of more objective measurements. If done right, it results in increased fairness and consistency and identifies the ..read more

As a kid growing up on a remote cattle ranch in Wyoming, I grew up scrappy. I had to be fast to outrun a charging bull and innovative enough to find a way to saddle a horse so tall that my stirrup came to rest at eye level. I never thought much about emotional wellbeing and considered the pursuit of happiness a symptom of weak minds and coddled lifestyles. Quy As a young FBI agent, I leaned into the type of Stoicism that was my birthright — I gritted my teeth and bowed my head to push through obstacles. I learned early to endure hardship without complaint, which worked for a while.  Until ..read more

The 2020 census documented that Latinos are the hardest working, most diverse, entrepreneurial and youngest people in the US. By sheer numbers alone, Latinos will shape the 21st century. They’re already making strides from the bottom to top of the corporate ladder, necessitating a better understanding by non-Latinos of the cultural hallmarks. Latinos’ leadership is inclusive, intergenerational and people centered. Latinos offer practices for all leaders that can help build an inclusive future and bring us home to our founding values. BordasNumero uno: Embody a WE orientation Latinos come from ..read more

You can engage and motivate the people you lead when you use the right leadership style for the situation. The right style of leadership gives team members what they need to get the job done. It also develops the skills and character traits that they need to be successful.  There are three styles you can use when assigning tasks, coaching, providing feedback, making decisions and conducting meetings. 1. The directing style You tell a person or group: What to do How to do it When to have it completed by  Using the directing style, you assign roles and responsibilities, set standards ..read more