Managers in different parts of the world are conditioned to give feedback in drastically different ways. A Chinese manager learns never to criticize a colleague openly or in front of others, while a Dutch manager learns always to be honest and to give the message straight. Americans are trained to wrap positive messages around negative
Read More“I get completely caught up in fire-fighting and can’t find the time to advance my longer-term priorities.”- It’s a common managerial wailing. We all have either used it ourselves or have heard people around us use it at work. The frustration one feels, when ‘the urgent’ crowds out ‘the important’ is something we all have
Read MoreThere is a lot of research – most of it from the West, on what keeps employee engagement high. While there is truth to all that research of understanding an employee’s intrinsic motivation – their values, personal vision aspirations etc., but let’s try to understand what is it that keeps people really happy, loyal, committed,
Read MoreWhen you exchange pleasantries with a co-worker in the elevator, the two of you are building trust. Face-to-face meetings, office parties, and opportunities to socialize together after work-hours can all contribute to the feeling that your fellow employees will be reliable in what they say and do, and that they will act for the good
Read MoreResearch shows that when employees are willing to go beyond their formal roles by helping out coworkers, volunteering to take on special assignments, introducing new ideas and work practices, attending non-mandatory meetings, putting in extra hours to complete important projects, and so forth, their companies are more efficient and effective. As a result, a critical
Read MoreThe irony for most, newly appointed managers, is that the skills and qualities that earned them the promotion are very different from those that will serve them well as a leader, and they’re often left to figure it out on their own, and may not always be successful. Harvard Business School professor Francis Frei, who was recently recruited
Read More“Not all smart people work for you.” – Bill Joy, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems was famous for saying it and companies are well aware of this truth. That’s why, many seek to tap the potential of “open innovation” by encouraging their employees to scout for new ideas among external partners, such as universities, research
Read MoreManagers are likely to get in situations where they allow teams to abdicate responsibility for solving their own problems; this is when they fail to understand their true role as a manager. The day you become a manager, the arithmetic changes and your success is no longer measured by how many problems you solve. Instead,
Read MoreThe toughest test of leaders is not how they deal with poor performance — it’s how they address mediocrity. Chronic mediocrity is a symptom of ineffective leadership, not of anaemic personnel. Mediocrity is not permanent. In fact, one can dramatically turn around such performance in a matter of months through four leadership practices that lead to performance excellence;
Read MoreIn recent times, with sluggish economy, executives in a desperate pursuit to grow are ignoring reason and setting growth targets that are overwhelming; the pressure to perform and grow is, put simply, too high. But as a manager, you have the responsibility to ensure that unreasonable targets don’t unleash detrimental behavior within the team. When
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