One of the great myths of corporate life is that incentive pay leads to better performance. Corporate leaders often speak with great moral conviction of creating pay for performance cultures that only reward people when they meet performance expectations. The logic suggests that if organizations provide a big enough carrot, people will work harder to … More The Truth About Paying for Performance
Nobody likes to fail. We think failure is the opposite of success. In organization life, failure is unacceptable. It demands action. It requires a response. It gets you fired. It is better to maintain the status quo and achieve mediocre results than to take a risk and fail. Unless you are an effective change leader. … More Failure: The Secret to Success
Orchestra conductors must exercise a unique style of leadership. They must listen intently, and without saying a word, draw out strong performances from their orchestras. This requires that they learn to be the ultimate collaborators, understand the unique capabilities of each musician and decide how best to blend them into a coherent whole. In this … More Lead Like a Great Conductor
How to love. How to live. How to fix anything. How to lose weight. How to stop worrying. How to find your passion. How to train your dog, bird, cat or dragon. How to make money. How to get into college. How to stay in college. How to interview. How to get a job. How … More Beyond How To’s
The economic crisis has called into question the pay practices of some of the nation’s largest financial services companies. In particular, the Federal Reserve and other regulatory organizations have found that many of the bonus and incentive programs led executives to make decisions that not only contributed to the worst financial crisis since the Great … More Motivation Is Not About the Money
Why don’t we get the best out of people? It’s simple, really. Most “modern” corporations kill human capability the way we strip-mine and deplete the earth of natural resources. Think about it. We hire bright, ambitious, enthusiastic young people fresh out of the hope and idealism of school. We stick them in cubicles under fluorescent … More Getting the Best Out of People
Viktor Frankl addressing the Toronto Youth Corps in May 1972 Business has become incredibly sophisticated. We have phenomenal technology and analytical tools as well as proven frameworks and methodology. Our ability to use science and reason has taken a significant amount of guesswork out of decision-making. In addition, the number of college graduates in the … More I Want to Take You Higher
“It’s all about talent,” declared the SVP of Human Resources as she announced the purchase of a new talent management technology that included selection, performance management and succession planning modules. “This integrated talent management solution ushers in a new era for our company that’s about improving how we think about and manage talent. These new … More You’re Not a Leader Until They Perform
“Thomas Alva Edison” by No machine readable author provided. Minivalley assumed (based on copyright claims). – No machine readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims).. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons After struggling to develop a viable electric light-bulb for months and months, Thomas Edison was interviewed by a young … More The Joy of Failure
A friend of mine called the other day to share a story from the executive suite that made him dream of selling hot dogs on the streets of New York. I told him that it was not the first time I had heard the tale, especially in these days of our sputtering economy. I imagine … More The Trouble With Layoffs
Erik Van Slyke 