In case you hadn’t heard, 2020 is an election year. And that means we’ll be inundated with political news from all sides (as if we hadn’t been already). But in this “post-truth” world of fake news and alternative facts, how can we ensure that what we’re reading, believing, and sharing leading up to the election…
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Where has the year gone? It seems like just yesterday we were gearing up for 2019, and now here we are, getting ready to ring in 2020 and a new decade. This past year, many of our discussions have been around planning for “the future of work” and how technology will transform the way businesses…
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In the last couple of decades, leadership development has undergone drastic transformation. From the physical universities like GE Crotonville and Accenture St. Charles to virtual, e-learning software platforms to bite-sized MOOCs from platforms like Lynda.com and even YouTube, L&D has been desperately seeking a structure that both fits into employees’ schedules and enables lasting improvement.
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Last month, I had the honor of speaking at the Professional Speechwriters Association’s 2019 World Conference in Washington, D.C. The theme of this year’s conference was “Leadership Communication: Next,” and the program promised to shake up attendees’ ideas of executive communication best practices and challenge us to think more deeply about time-tested techniques. And boy…
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These days, it seems like once a week, some public figure or another is making a controversial statement that’s met by many with demands for apologies and/or consequences. And general consensus would argue that, when a leader—corporate, political, or otherwise—realizes he or she has made an insensitive statement, a sincere apology is in order to…
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Why Emotional Intelligence is Important for Leaders and How to Build It When we talk about leadership capabilities, we often talk about book smarts, or IQ. “He’s a sharp guy.” “She’s got a mind for business.” But there’s another kind of intelligence that we don’t emphasize nearly as much, and in many ways, it’s even…
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Last week, Katie Kuehner-Hebert of Chief Executive published an article outlining what makes JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon the leader of the US financial pack. She gave an overview of Dimon’s career and leadership experience, but celebrated his candor as one of his chief assets, citing his top spot in Quantified’s 2017 CEO Authenticity Index as evidence.
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At the University of Virginia Darden School of Business Leadership Communication Council last month, the headline was this: “Social media, digital communication and technology-enabled connection have created an era of radical—sometimes painful—transparency for businesses,” and “…the best means to communicate successfully given the disruptive state of constant transparency is to align communication with action.”
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Do you remember a time, as a kid, when you wanted to ask your parents for something—a new toy, a raise in your allowance, a dog? How did you go about it? Did you just come right out and ask, or did you spend time preparing your arguments, collecting your reasoning, and maybe even making…
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We often talk about leaders as particularly great communicators, able to share information, persuade doubters, and inspire employees with ease and finesse. (Or if they’re not there yet, they’re at least working on it.) But what happens if your boss is a not-so-great communicator?
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