By DAVID BROOKS from the NY Times
Should C.E.O.’s read novels?
The question seems to answer itself. After all, C.E.O.’s work with people all day. Novel-reading should give them greater psychological insight, a feel for human relationships, a greater sensitivity toward their own emotional chords.
Sadly, though, most of the recent research suggests that these are not the most important talents for a person who is trying to run a company. Steven Kaplan, Mark Klebanov and Morten Sorensen recently completed a study called “Which C.E.O. Characteristics and Abilities Matter?”
They relied on detailed personality assessments of 316 C.E.O.’s and measured their companies’ performances. They found that strong people skills correlate loosely or not at all with being a good C.E.O. Traits like being a good listener, a good team builder, an enthusiastic colleague, a great communicator do not seem to be very important when it comes to leading successful companies.
Read the Rest of This Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/opinion/19brooks.html?_r=2
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Soaring Eagle Now Supporting Southern Nevada Hispanic Employment Program
For a limited time, Soaring Eagle Enterprises will donate $50.00 to the Southern Nevada Hispanic Employment Program for every summer program registration. Hurry, programs begin on June 9, 2009.
Read more about the great things that SNEP does here: http://www.snhep.org/
Take a look at the terrific summer semester offerings here: http://www.soaringeagleent.com/schedule.htm
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Last Chance to Register is Approaching
Last chance to enroll in the CSN summer semester professional development programs is quickly approaching.
If you want a seat in the Supervisory Leadership, Human Resource Professional or Customer Service Professional series programs, register today at http://www.soaringeagleent.com/.
The Right People in the Key Seats
The specifics can vary, even within companies, but our research delivered six important traits that identify "the right people"
The right people fit the company's core values
Great companies build cultures in which those who don't share the institution's values are surrounded by anti-bodies and ejected like viruses. People ask: "How do we get people to share our core values?" The answer: Hire people already predisposed to them—and keep them.
The right people don't need to be tightly managed
When you feel the need to tightly manage someone, you may have made a hiring mistake. You need not spend a lot of time "motivating" or "managing" the right people. It's in their DNA to be productively neurotic, self-motivated, self-disciplined, and compulsively driven to excel.
The right people understand that they do not have "jobs"—they have responsibilities
They grasp the difference between their task list and their true responsibilities. The right people can complete the statement, "I am the one person ultimately responsible for…".
The right people fulfill their commitments
In a culture of discipline, people view commitments as sacred—they do what they say they'll do, without complaint. Equally, this means that they take great care in saying what they will do, careful never to overcommit or to promise what they cannot deliver.
The right people are passionate about the company and its work
Nothing great happens without passion. The right people display remarkable intensity.
The right people display window-and-mirror maturity
When things go well, the right people point out the window, giving credit to factors other than themselves; they shine a light on others who contributed. Yet when things go awry, they do not blame circumstances or other people; they look in the mirror and say: "I'm responsible."
Data: Jim Collins from Business Week
The right people fit the company's core values
Great companies build cultures in which those who don't share the institution's values are surrounded by anti-bodies and ejected like viruses. People ask: "How do we get people to share our core values?" The answer: Hire people already predisposed to them—and keep them.
The right people don't need to be tightly managed
When you feel the need to tightly manage someone, you may have made a hiring mistake. You need not spend a lot of time "motivating" or "managing" the right people. It's in their DNA to be productively neurotic, self-motivated, self-disciplined, and compulsively driven to excel.
The right people understand that they do not have "jobs"—they have responsibilities
They grasp the difference between their task list and their true responsibilities. The right people can complete the statement, "I am the one person ultimately responsible for…".
The right people fulfill their commitments
In a culture of discipline, people view commitments as sacred—they do what they say they'll do, without complaint. Equally, this means that they take great care in saying what they will do, careful never to overcommit or to promise what they cannot deliver.
The right people are passionate about the company and its work
Nothing great happens without passion. The right people display remarkable intensity.
The right people display window-and-mirror maturity
When things go well, the right people point out the window, giving credit to factors other than themselves; they shine a light on others who contributed. Yet when things go awry, they do not blame circumstances or other people; they look in the mirror and say: "I'm responsible."
Data: Jim Collins from Business Week
The Dynamics of Leadership-Team Behavior
How managers interact says a lot about the state of a company:
Teams on the way down: People shield those in power from unpleasant facts, fearful of penalties and criticism for shining light on the rough realities
Teams on the way down: People shield those in power from unpleasant facts, fearful of penalties and criticism for shining light on the rough realities
Teams on the way up: People bring forth grim facts—"Come here and look, man, this is ugly"—to be discussed; leaders never criticize those who bring forth harsh realities
Teams on the way down: People assert strong opinions without providing data, evidence, or a solid argument
Teams on the way up: People bring data, evidence, logic, and solid arguments to the discussion
Teams on the way down: The team leader has a very low questions-to-statements ratio, avoiding critical input and/or allowing sloppy reasoning and unsupported opinions
Teams on the way up: The team leader employs a Socratic style, using a high questions-to-statements ratio, challenging people, and pushing for penetrating insights
Teams on the way down: Team members acquiesce to a decision but don't unify to make the decision successful—or worse, undermine it after the fact
Teams on the way up: Team members unify behind a decision once made, then work to make the decision succeed, even if they vigorously disagreed with it
Teams on the way down: Team members seek as much credit as possible for themselves, yet do not enjoy the confidence and admiration of their peers
Teams on the way up: Each team member credits other people for success, yet enjoys the confidence and admiration of his or her peers
Teams on the way down: Team members argue to look smart or to further their own interests rather than argue to find the best answers to support the overall cause
Teams on the way up: Team members argue and debate, not to improve their personal position but to find the best answers to support the overall cause
Teams on the way down: The team conducts "autopsies with blame," seeking culprits rather than wisdom
Teams on the way up: The team conducts "autopsies without blame," mining wisdom from painful experiences
Teams on the way down: Team members often fail to deliver exceptional results and blame other people or outside factors for setbacks, mistakes, and failures
Teams on the way up: Each team member delivers exceptional results, yet in the event of a setback each accepts full responsibility and learns from mistakes
Data: Jim Collins from Business Week. See the entire article set here: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_21/b4132026793275.htm
How the Mighty Fall: A Primer on the Warning Signs
By Jim Collins from Business Week
The author of Good to Great on how to spot the subtle signs that your successful company is actually on course to sputter—and how to reverse the slide before it's too late.In Autumn 2004, I received a phone call from Frances Hesselbein, founding president of the Leader to Leader Institute.
"The Conference Board and the Leader to Leader Institute would like you to come to West Point to lead a discussion with some great students," she said.
"And who are the students?" I asked, envisioning perhaps a group of cadets.
"Twelve U.S. Army generals, 12 CEOs, and 12 social sector leaders," explained Hesselbein.
"They'll be sitting in groups of six, two from each sector—military, business, social—and they'll really want to dialogue about the topic."
"And what's the topic?"
"Oh, it's a good one. I think you'll really like it." She paused. "America."
Read the Rest of the Article at: http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/09_21/b4132026786379.htm
Friday, May 8, 2009
Pygmalion in the Classroom
Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson
Self-fulfilling prophecies are powerful particularly within social institutions. Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson demonstrated the power of self-fulfilling prophecies in a school setting.1
The two researchers had spent much of their careers in education and had become increasingly concerned that teachers' expectations of lower-class and minority children were contributing to the high rates of failure among these students.
Such ideas were not without support. In the early 1950s sociologist Howard Becker had found that teachers in slum schools used different teaching techniques and expected less from their students than did teachers in middle-class schools.2
Read the rest of this article: http://www.pineforge.com/newman4study/resources/rosenthal1.htm
Self-fulfilling prophecies are powerful particularly within social institutions. Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson demonstrated the power of self-fulfilling prophecies in a school setting.1
The two researchers had spent much of their careers in education and had become increasingly concerned that teachers' expectations of lower-class and minority children were contributing to the high rates of failure among these students.
Such ideas were not without support. In the early 1950s sociologist Howard Becker had found that teachers in slum schools used different teaching techniques and expected less from their students than did teachers in middle-class schools.2
Read the rest of this article: http://www.pineforge.com/newman4study/resources/rosenthal1.htm
Talent Management Defined
May 8, 2009 12:17 by ASTD Research
An organization’s ability to integrate and manage talent effectively has never been more essential than in today’s volatile business market. Unfortunately, for many organizations simply defining talent management is difficult. Previous research on talent management rarely underlies a common agreed-upon definition, leading ASTD/i4cp to conduct a study on Talent Management Practices and Opportunities.
While most leaders do not agree on one narrow definition of talent management, they do seem to share an idea about the basic parameters of the subject. After careful identification of the variables comprising talent management, ASTD/i4cp defined talent management in this way:
A holistic approach to optimizing human capital, which enables an organization to drive short- and long-term results by building culture, engagement, capability, and capacity through integrated talent acquisition, development, and deployment processes that are aligned to business goals.
Overall, organizational leaders who took part in the survey found the definition to be accurate. More than eight of 10 survey respondents reported that they agreed with the ASTD definition to a “high” or “very high” extent, and only 2 percent reported they either agreed to a small extent or didn’t agree with it at all. This confirms ASTD’s definition as exceptionally serviceable for a topic on which it is hard to find common agreement.
An organization’s ability to integrate and manage talent effectively has never been more essential than in today’s volatile business market. Unfortunately, for many organizations simply defining talent management is difficult. Previous research on talent management rarely underlies a common agreed-upon definition, leading ASTD/i4cp to conduct a study on Talent Management Practices and Opportunities.
While most leaders do not agree on one narrow definition of talent management, they do seem to share an idea about the basic parameters of the subject. After careful identification of the variables comprising talent management, ASTD/i4cp defined talent management in this way:
A holistic approach to optimizing human capital, which enables an organization to drive short- and long-term results by building culture, engagement, capability, and capacity through integrated talent acquisition, development, and deployment processes that are aligned to business goals.
Overall, organizational leaders who took part in the survey found the definition to be accurate. More than eight of 10 survey respondents reported that they agreed with the ASTD definition to a “high” or “very high” extent, and only 2 percent reported they either agreed to a small extent or didn’t agree with it at all. This confirms ASTD’s definition as exceptionally serviceable for a topic on which it is hard to find common agreement.
The Fixed Grin, Satisfaction and Distrust
By Martin Kornacki (ASTD)
The job market may be bleak, but those of us still in work are reporting an increase in job satisfaction. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) employee outlook survey of 3,000 workers found the proportion satisfied with their job almost doubled since 2006. But despite the positive mood among staff, around half said there had been an increase in office politics, stress and uncertainty as a result of the recession and just under a fifth said their employer had cut back on training.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Survey: Social Media links Youth and Young at Heart
May 7, 2009 12:55 by Juana Llorens
Lancaster, PA and Berlin, MD (PRWEB) May 6, 2009 -- Ira S Wolfe has a warning for leaders of multi-generational organizations: "if you're not using social media in your marketing, recruiting, and retention strategies, they may be working more like shotguns than lasers." Wolfe, President and founder of Success Performance Solutions, based his observations on a nationwide "Are you a Geek or a Geezer?" survey his firm completed May 1.
Success Performance Solutions, a leading provider of employee assessments and leadership solutions, released its first report today. This survey queried over 1900 participants on their use of technology habits and social media trends. The purpose of the survey was to determine how different generations use social media and how education levels and gender might affect usage.
Read the rest of the article: http://www1.astd.org/Blog/post/Survey-Social-Media-links-Youth-and-Young-at-Heart.aspx
Lancaster, PA and Berlin, MD (PRWEB) May 6, 2009 -- Ira S Wolfe has a warning for leaders of multi-generational organizations: "if you're not using social media in your marketing, recruiting, and retention strategies, they may be working more like shotguns than lasers." Wolfe, President and founder of Success Performance Solutions, based his observations on a nationwide "Are you a Geek or a Geezer?" survey his firm completed May 1.
Success Performance Solutions, a leading provider of employee assessments and leadership solutions, released its first report today. This survey queried over 1900 participants on their use of technology habits and social media trends. The purpose of the survey was to determine how different generations use social media and how education levels and gender might affect usage.
Read the rest of the article: http://www1.astd.org/Blog/post/Survey-Social-Media-links-Youth-and-Young-at-Heart.aspx
Everything DiSC Virtual Showcases
These Virtual Showcases give you first-hand experience with the new Everything DiSC® Application Library products. From the comfort of their office, you will participate in a webinar featuring the Everything DiSC program of their choice. First, you will take the profile as pre-work, and then you will experience the program benefits during the 90 minute webinar hosted by Inscape. You will participate in an activity from the program and watch all-new, application-specific video. It's a great way to get hooked on the new Everything DiSC Application Library programs.
VIRTUAL SHOWCASE DATES AND TIMES
Everything DiSC Management June 4, 11 am to 12:30 pm CT June 10, 11 am to 12:30 pm CT
Everything DiSC Workplace™ Coming in July! Look for dates and marketing materials in early June.
Everything DiSC Sales June 18, 11 am to 12:30 pm CT June 25, 11 am to 12:30 pm CT
Call or send us a note to register.
How to Build a Winning Organizational Culture
By Dr. Michael J. O’Connor
Founder, The Center For Managing By Values
In my work with organizations of all sizes, types, and industries I have discovered 11 Best Practices across organizations to date. This article identifies these practices and describes each based on one or more actual client cases. These practices are consistent with the model and process for building and sustaining Winning Cultures that are also further discussed in the book I co‐authored with Dr. Ken Blanchard entitled Managing By Values: Becoming A Fortunate 500 Organization and the services we continue to provide for organizations directly through certified external and internal consultants. This book has been printed in 23 different languages around the world and sold more than 250,000 copies to date as a best seller.
Read the rest of the article: http://www.trainingindustry.com/media/1935379/mbv%2011%20best%20practices%20stories%20-%20how%20to%20build%20a%20winning%20organization%20-%20final.pdf
Founder, The Center For Managing By Values
In my work with organizations of all sizes, types, and industries I have discovered 11 Best Practices across organizations to date. This article identifies these practices and describes each based on one or more actual client cases. These practices are consistent with the model and process for building and sustaining Winning Cultures that are also further discussed in the book I co‐authored with Dr. Ken Blanchard entitled Managing By Values: Becoming A Fortunate 500 Organization and the services we continue to provide for organizations directly through certified external and internal consultants. This book has been printed in 23 different languages around the world and sold more than 250,000 copies to date as a best seller.
Read the rest of the article: http://www.trainingindustry.com/media/1935379/mbv%2011%20best%20practices%20stories%20-%20how%20to%20build%20a%20winning%20organization%20-%20final.pdf
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