Governance

To be successful and to position their employees for success as well, there are some basic principles leaders have to keep in mind. As we lead from day to day, it can be easy to slip into bad habits or old ways of doing things, both of which can be a detriment to the team. Don't lose sight of the...

Executives' leadership styles matter. Their attitudes, approaches and communication styles have everything to do with the size of the ripple they make throughout the organization. Outlined here are four tenets of leadership that each leader, from middle managers to those in the C-Suite ought to master in order to lead their teams most effectively.

Crises will come, and when they do, the time for planning will be long past. The best use of your time ahead of a crisis is in planning for it, not practicing how you'll "bleed" when the troubles arrive. Linda Henman offers guidance on how to prepare for your greatest risks, tips that will undoubtedly enable you and your company...

With a new year often comes new changes. All well and good, until you take into consideration that, like New Year's resolutions, many of these initiatives are left by the wayside in a matter of weeks, leaving employees exasperated and leadership disheartened. But your new programs don't have to go the way of the Dodo. With some concerted effort, they're...

Is your Board side-steppng the hard questions? Sure, some subjects are uncomfortable to talk about, but avoiding them isn't a great solution. In some instances, turning a blind eye to a taboo topic could be putting your organization's fiscal health at risk. Is that a gamble you're willing to make? Follow these tips to pinpoint, prioritize and start to address...

Nobody hires a snake intentionally. Executives with reptilian tendencies either develop them over time or reveal themselves little by little. Either way, once a snake-like leader shows his true nature, something's got to be done. Yes, he might be generating amazing results, but at what cost? Consider the long-term ramifications of keeping a snake on board: they're disssssastrous for business.

Change is a necessity at some point in every successful organization. Managing those changes can be challenging, particularly as they grow in size and scope, but having the right players in place certainly helps. HR ought to be involved from the beginning, from the planning stages to assessing the need for staffing changes and communicating plans and feedback along the...

Do you - or does your company - tend to make things harder than they need to be? Compliance is one of those areas that must be effective, but not overly complicated. Sometimes simpler is better. Take reporting employee concerns, for example. Some firms use multiple avenues for reporting staff concerns, but for most, with enough buy-in, one channel would...

If walking employees through the code of conduct involves sitting them down in front of a 50-page document, armed with a fresh pot of coffee, then you're doing it wrong. How much of that massive missive do you think they're likely to remember? Assuming retention is the aim here, may we suggest some alternate strategies? Make the experience engaging and...

Culture, ethics and compliance are inextricably linked. Where employees have faith in leadership to do the right thing, and where they see it being done from day to day, compliance is likely not to be an issue. Where there's a clear lack of communication and poor decision making at the top, morale plummets and reputation will undoubtedly suffer. Where does...

Taking to the skies or trying to land without first running through a flight checklist may mean you don't get where you're going at all, but instead wind up somewhere between your departure and arrival destinations, surrounded by plane wreckage. As with piloting an aircraft, leading a company is a complex business and one that requires a methodical, systematic approach.

Is your organization "talent poor," or just afraid to let its people take risks and spearhead change? Does the company lack in influence or in confidence? High self esteem carries individuals and businesses far, but a poverty mentality takes them nowhere good. Decisions made out of fear may keep operations afloat -- for a time -- but those that go...