Blog
Do you have any idea how rare it is for family businesses to successfully pass the baton from generation to generation? Just making the transition from one CEO to another in a corporate environment is hard enough. For most family and closely-held businesses, it’s nearly impossible! Read more ›
I attended a conference for healthcare professionals recently, and one of the speakers, the CEO of a prominent health system, left a real impression on me. The session focused on customer engagement and how best to enhance the patient experience. The speaker shared several real-life stories about what he and his staff had done over the past year to do exactly this. What it really came down to though was shifting everyone’s attention from simply asking the question “What’s the matter?” to defining and then solving for “what really matters”.
It’s very common in organizations for people to identify risks and performance issues. At its core, that isn’t even a bad thing! Without awareness for these issues, it’s highly unlikely that anyone will ever invest any energy into addressing the problems. Identifying these issues as issues though isn’t enough. It’s just the beginning! Read more ›
Why is it that so many leadership succession processes begin when that very business executive we need to replace announces he or she is going to retire? Isn’t that like having the horse in back riding alongside the driver rather than up front pulling the cart where it’s supposed to be?
By its very nature succession is a process that takes time – a long time – and cannot be completed overnight. While some organizations have established robust succession management processes over the past few years, many organizations unfortunately are still being very reactive rather than proactive with leadership succession. That leaves very little time to complete the process in a smooth and successful way. Instead, it sets up someone to simply grab the reins and hang on as best he or she can. Read more ›
Sometimes, it can be hard not to take someone’s comments personally. Let’s face it. It’s human nature to hear something, process that information quickly, and then make a snap judgment about what it really means. Unfortunately, not everything we hear about ourselves and our work is positive though. That means these less-than-objective in-the-moment responses can trigger some pretty raw emotions at times.
I’ve been in countless coaching situations where my clients’ direct supervisors use certain words that trigger downright hostile responses from my clients. That likely wasn’t their intentions. I’m confident they weren’t trying to be hurtful and probably just didn’t think through the other person’s listening for how he or she might react to what they were about to share. Read more ›
Among the many hats I wear at my firm, I am head of sales and Chief Rainmaker. That doesn’t mean that I enjoy sales though.
For many – myself included – that word “sales” has such a negative connotation to it. That’s one of the reasons I affectionately refer to myself as Chief Architect instead of Chief Rainmaker. What I’m passionate about is solving people’s problems by designing effective solutions. When I think about it that way, it doesn’t feel like sales at all. It simply feels like delivering value-added service. Read more ›
Have you ever noticed how we tend to do whatever we make important? There are probably lots of things on your mental To Do list that aren’t getting done. That may not be a bad thing. When it comes to recruiting top talent and taking your company to the next level though, those star performers you desperately want on your team are much less likely to find you if you aren’t actively going out there to find them.
Unemployment is generally down from where it has been the past few years, and at least in California where Plus Delta is based mass layoff events are generally down as well. This is great for the overall economy, and especially anyone who struggled to pay his/her everyday bills during the recession. This can, however, make it harder for employers to attract top talent away from their current roles. Read more ›
How often have you heard a business leader complain when HR announces it’s time to complete annual performance reviews? People often think of performance management as that thing they have to do for HR at the end of the year so that people can qualify for their bonuses. While that may be part of the process, performance management is not just a once-a-year HR task. It’s an always, ongoing activity!
On Tuesday, February 4th, Plus Delta’s CEO & Chief Architect Dr. Jeremy Lurey will lead an interactive webinar called “Best Practices for Designing Your Always, Ongoing Performance Management Process”. During this workshop, Dr. Lurey will help participants: Read more ›
Happy New Year! Was 2013 a great year for you? Maybe not so much. Either way, are you ready to make 2014 your best year ever?
As my good friend used to tell his four-year-old son, “It’s good to want.” Wanting doesn’t necessarily make something happen though, especially when that something involves ice cream before dinner! So here are three simple steps for not just wanting or hoping or even thinking that maybe this could be your best year ever. Instead, we’re actually going to declare it and then make it your best year ever. Read more ›
For the longest time, I have strived for perfection in all that I do. That’s nice in concept. It isn’t very practical though and rarely produces any breakthrough results. I often end up taking too long to do things with “perfection” as my goal, and I regularly miss out on other opportunities while doing so.
Over the last few years, I’ve come to realize that I won’t fail simply from trying something new or different as long as I’m willing and able to learn from those experiences the next time around. To be honest, I don’t even believe in making mistakes anymore as long as I look at those supposed mistakes for what they are – experiments that may or may not produce my intended results. Read more ›
So what is performance? Performance is the results we get (the what) plus the behaviors that give us those results (the how). And why do we care about managing performance in organizations? It’s the only reliable way to assure our people are working on the right things, give them the feedback – both positive and constructive – they need to succeed, and ultimately to get continuously better results. If you think “good enough” is good enough in your organization, you need not read further.
People often think of performance management as that thing you have to do at the end of every year for HR. While that may be part of the performance management process, I hope for your sake that isn’t all that performance management represents in your organization! Read more ›
