Category: Communication

5 reasons why the boss doesn’t develop new talent

I often grapple with clients who can’t seem to decide on whom to hire. I hear all sorts of reasons; the budget, the economy, quarterly earnings, changes in strategy, cultural fit, etc, ad nauseam. What it also means is that no decision is made. A search goes on that much longer, causing heartburn–if not burnout–for…
Read more

The boss can mentor, but can the boss really coach?

I often hear senior management (Pres, CEOs, MDs ) say they’re good coaches to their key people. And I see more books exhorting leaders to be Chief Coach. Hmmm.. Many bosses can mentor, (often be great mentors), but it’s not quite the same thing as coaching.. I personally don’t think bosses are good coaches. Occasionally,…
Read more

When the new job is a bad fit, who’s to blame?

My breakfast companion was talking about an organisation he’d recently joined. After the interviews and flights back to the US for final rounds, the job was his for the taking. He took it, but had done little due diligence or spoken much with the Asia team, mostly US HQ. He was given a big title,…
Read more

“You can’t take it back”

My [teenage] children were on school break last week. While making lunch for my son, he finished his call on his mobile and said he’d be out in 10 minutes to hang with one of his good friends. I replied “He seems a little bossy sometimes, telling you where to go and when,” hastily linking…
Read more

Interviewing protocol–Listen up, y’all

An interview is a two way street, more so with senior level hires. Most candidates who take the time to interview are otherwise engaged in a day job, but interested enough to pursue a new possibility. The company doing the interviewing often falls flat on their corporate face, misunderstanding the protocol of interviewing, from timing,…
Read more

We come bearing presence… 3 holiday tips

I recently had a lunch conversation which centred around C level people whom my lunch companion’s company thought needed help getting to that next (and near) top-level. Mostly Asian, with the company for a good stretch, all considered valuable and high potential. What is the help they need? Accordingly to him, better English. Come again?…
Read more

Ain’t what you do but the way you do it

The people I work with in my coaching practice average 20 years work experience, some more, some less. Most know their business reasonably well and are proficiently good or excellent in their jobs (let’s skip over those that hate what they do; that’s another blog..). What these people have in common is their functional, industry-specific…
Read more

The good coach

The actor David Duchovny wrote a widely read op-ed in the Wall St Journal the other week. Titled, “What A Good Coach Does”, he recalls his high school basketball days in New York. Long hair, cursing on the court, jumping up and down every time he scored. “I was concerned with how many points I…
Read more
All articles loaded
No more articles to load
Load more