Commentaries

A Plan for Handling Conflict at Work and Elsewhere

March 21, 2017

In the HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict, Amy Gallo and 37 “Guest Experts” explain how to ensure that disagreements do not become lose-lose arguments in the workplace…or anywhere else. Here is a plan to consider: “First, you need to…

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The Three Distinguishing Features of a Third and (Perhaps) Better Way to Innovate

March 21, 2017

In The Power of Little Ideas, written with Kent Lineback, David Robertson introduces a low-risk, high-reward approach to innovation he characterizes as the “Third Way.” In essence, this approach is “neither incremental improvement in current products nor revolutionary [radical] disruption…

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How to Cope with Passive-Aggressive People at Work and Elsewhere

March 20, 2017

In the HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict, Amy Gallo and 37 “Guest Experts” explain how to ensure that disagreements do not become lose-lose arguments in the workplace…or anywhere else. Here are a few of her observations and suggestions to…

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Radical Candid Criticism at Google and Apple

March 20, 2017

In Radical Candor, Kim Scott explains how almost any organization — whatever its size and nature may be — can “defy the gravitational pull of organizational mediocrity.” The ultimate goal of what she characterizes as Radical Candor “is to achieve…

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Questions to ask when obtaining feedback from an underperforming direct report

March 18, 2017

In Radical Candor, Kim Scott explains how almost any organization — whatever its size and nature may be — can “defy the gravitational pull of organizational mediocrity.” The ultimate goal of what she characterizes as Radical Candor “is to achieve…

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Setting New Leaders Up For Success

March 17, 2017

Here is a brief excerpt from an article by Nathaniel Plamondon for Halogen Software’s TalentSpace blog. To read the complete article, check out others, learn more about the firm, and sign up for email alerts, please click here. * *…

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How to Manage Habits

March 16, 2017

In The Leading Brain, Friederike Fabritius and Hans Hagemann explain several ”powerful science-based strategies for achieving peak performance.” In Chapter 4, Fabritius and Hagemann offer these key points: o Our brains prefer the path of least resistance. In order to…

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Jim Collins on “the extra dimension” of great leadership.

March 15, 2017

The last time I checked, Amazon US sells 9,369 volumes whose authors discuss great leadership. Four of the best were written or co-authored by Jim Collins. As Collins explains in Good to Great, Level 5 leaders are those “who lead…

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The Wisdom of Viktor Frankl

March 14, 2017

These are among my favorite Viktor Frankl observations: To the European, it is a characteristic of the American culture that, again and again, one is commanded and ordered to “be happy.” But happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue. One must have a reason to “be happy.’”…

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The Essentials of Key Value Drivers

March 13, 2017

In Beyond Performance Management, Jeremy Hope and Steve Player recommend key practices to achieve superior performance. For example, how to use key value drivers as the processes and practices by which to have the greatest impact on shareholder value. “Valuation…

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