The phrase transformational leadership was coined by James MacGregor Burns in his book Leadership in 1978. The idea and ideal of this leadership style has been studied, talked about, and sometimes misunderstood ever since. At the core, transformational leadership is a style that focuses on inspiring and motivating people to achieve their highest potential while

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In a world of work that is more knowledge-based than ever, effective thinking skills are among the most valuable skills to possess and for an organization to covet. Yet many organizations, in unintentional ways, are keeping people from thinking, or are hindering their ability to think at their best. If you want better organizational results,

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Lately I have found myself distracted at work and spending too much time web surfing instead of concentrating on more productive work. In fact, it’s getting to the point that I know I have to cut back. But my computer is where I both work and play. How do I help myself focus? I have to

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In a world of uncertainties, there are two things I am confident about. Organizations will introduce changes, and many of those change efforts fail. Organizational change is complex, and so it isn’t surprising it’s hard. While risking oversimplification, I’m revealing one (big) reason change efforts fail. The reason is underappreciated – in other words if we

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Does your employer have the right to know what you’re doing when you’re not in the office? Most of us have a visceral negative reaction to that question. We might take umbrage that they don’t trust us, or shout about Big Brother.  Yet almost two-thirds of us say there’s at least one thing we do during

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Robin was excited when she started the job. She saw it as joining a company, not just taking a job. She liked the company’s products and what they stood for. And while her onboarding wasn’t perfect, she persisted, worked hard and tried to focus on being successful. As time went on, she became disillusioned. The

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At the heart of it, all organizations want the same thing – to reach their goals and mission. The goals might be profit or purpose-related (or both), but they want leaders who can get them more of whatever “that” is; that is, more results. To that end, enlightened organizations look for ways to develop their

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If you have been through it, you know that downsizing is hard – for everyone. Understandably most people think first about those who leave – they need to find a new job and face plenty of uncertainty. But it is no picnic for those who remain – including the leaders who must work through the

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Delegation is a crucial skill for any leader, yet it can be challenging to execute effectively. In this post, part of a three-part series on delegation, I’ll share three essential questions you should ask yourself before delegating any task. These questions will help ensure that your delegation efforts are not only effective but also beneficial

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It’s a good question: are your leaders relationship builders? While the question would have been valuable in 1984, it feels more relevant in 2024 – when the organizational and follower expectations of leaders have changed with the economic and societal times. Research shows that people want a boss they know, like and trust – which

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