From the category archives:

Great Boss Traits

Organizational Flexibility

by Robert Whipple

Do not view the organization as a static monolith that is the end-all of efficiency for your situation. Bend the structure to meet current situations. If you have an environment of trust and a well-internalized plan, you can shift things around easily. That is a huge advantage over organizations that view structure as something fixed [...]

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13 Great Truths about Leadership

by Robert Whipple

Much has been written about the characteristics of great leaders. I have found 13 characteristics that hold true for the great leaders I have known. There are other ingredients to excellent leadership, but if you have all 13 of these characteristics, you are probably one of the elite leaders.
Great Leaders:

Operate from a set of values
Are [...]

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Six Great Myths about Leadership

by Robert Whipple

Leadership stereotypes are numerous in our society. You can see them every day on the cartoon pages of your local newspaper. People cut out their favorite “skewer the boss” strips and hang them on the wall at work. They send emails with jokes poking fun at inept leaders. If they are not poking fun, they [...]

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Ten Hallmarks of High Trust Organizations

by Robert Whipple

The advantages of working in a high trust environment are evident to everyone from the CEO to the shop floor, from suppliers to customers, and even the competition. Building and maintaining trust within any organization pays off with many benefits. Unfortunately, very few organizations have been able to create an environment of high trust. The [...]

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Internal Candidates Can Excel in Company High Potential Programs

by Lynn Dessert

The pivotal point in my career was over 20 years ago in 1987. I went to work for a new company and I made a change from operations management to human resources. The road in operations was very difficult – but that’s another story.
While in retail operations, my focus was to help run a store. [...]

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Innovation Lessons from Childhood

by Michael Dalton

Did you learn all you really need to know about innovation in kindergarten? Funny thing, but as we grow-up and get “smarter”, we tend to make things more complicated than they need to be, and innovation is no exception. Innovation is complex enough to begin with; so let’s look at a lesson we learned as [...]

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Giving Up Control Is How You Grow

by Lynn Dessert
Pierre Making Crepes

Tightly held secrets can be deal killers, or provide opportunities to grow competitively. Pierre Héroux was running a large financial group in a fortune 1000 company. He left the company to start his own restaurant business in 2003, Simply Crêpes. As one might expect from the restaurant name, the crêpe is the primary focus of [...]

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Pull Through Training: Maximizing Your Investment Dollars

by Lynn Dessert
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Tightening the belt on training may not be a company’s best option to reversing a sales slump. Changes in how the market reacts to your product and services can throw your employees off their game. It may be time to fine tune the employee’s skills, behaviors, confidence; or it may be on how you are [...]

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Being A Good Boss Sometimes Means Being Vulnerable

by Lynn Dessert

Vulnerability is a state most managers work hard to avoid. They believe it is a weakness. It can also be seen as a strength.
You’ve climbed your way to the top of the organization through hard work, building relationships and maybe a bit of luck. Your group or team looks to you for guidance, decision-making and [...]

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Tenacity – More Than A Leadership Quality

by Lynn Dessert

Tenacity, a leadership quality; probably least understood and underestimated. It is often abandoned when frustration or boredom sets in.
According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, a definition of tenacious is: persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired. It comes from the latin tenac – tenax tending to hold fast and from tenēre [...]

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Santa’s Leadership Secrets

by Lynn Dessert
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Being the boss can be overwhelming at times. The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus, is a timely reminder of great management practices, Here are some excerpts from The Walk and Talk Company.
The sign in Santa’s workshop says “So Many Toys, So Little Time”. Here are some of his strategies:

Make the most of time. Prioritize [...]

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Never Underestimate Your Relationships

by Lynn Dessert

Rising early this morning, I head off to an event sponsored by GenderCorp. The symposium consists of a speaker and panel discussion, relaying first hand stories of successful entrepreneurs at the University of Rochester. Our master of ceremonies, Dr. Susan Rogers, Executive Vice President & General Manager of WXXI, a public media organization, kicks off [...]

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