The definition of an effective leader is evolving.  In today’s fast-paced, ever-evolving business landscape, the traditional model of leadership is undergoing a seismic shift. The days of the "hero leader" — the individual who single-handedly drives success, makes all the decisions, and carries the weight of the team on their shoulders — are numbered. Instead, organizations are recognizing the power of collaborative, coach-like leadership that empowers teams to thrive independently. This shift isn’t just a trend; it’s a necessity for building resilient, innovative, and high-performing teams.

The Bruce Tuckman model for team development that includes forming, storming, norming and performing is familiar to most, but the model oversimplifies a dynamic and more complex process that teams go through. In this article we explore the complexities of navigating team dynamics

High potential employees thrive in a culture that unleashes their talents and they get frustrated and leave organizations that constrain them.

We tend to focus too much energy on figuring out the root cause of what went wrong and not enough time on what went right. Learning to dissect successes is a business practice that can accelerate an organization’s growth.

Crossboarding is the act of onboarding internal talent moves. Setting employees up for success whether they are new hires from the outside or transfers within an organization is critical.

If you want employees to return to the office are you framing the ask properly? CNBC has been calling Wall Street CEOs Office Monsters. What if they referred to them as Culture Crusaders instead and focused on the positives? Would that change the dialogue?

Churnover is a repetitive turnover issue with the same position. There is usually a root cause to the same position turning over multiple times.

With the great resignation challenging businesses, now is the ideal time to forwardfill open roles in your organization.

Is your company’s C-suite filled with top talent or is your organization held back by mediocre talent at the top? Why does this happen and how can companies break the cycle?

Sports teams create advantage through constant personnel moves. Business teams tend to play multiple seasons with the same team. Are there lessons to be learned from the sports model?

Understanding why people quit jobs is critical to building a positively charged talent magnet for your organization. Managers who invest in their people and understand the drivers of engagement attract rather than repel talent. How do your managers stack up? We offer some tactics to drive positive talent magnetism.

While helping to select mentors for The Sandbox non-profit, I learned a valuable lesson from a 14 year old mentor candidate. Serving others is the key to effective leadership and our youth understand it, but adults often forget the power of servant leadership.

Forget the corporate ladder and replace it with a career scaffold. Building stronger lateral foundations allow employees to progress further in their careers

Too many organizations focus on employee retention when the goal should be employee engagement.

If HR is responsible for managing under-performers in the organization, what happens when the head of HR is the under-performer?

Unlike in sports where the competitions are scheduled, in business the competition never stops, unless your team calls a TIMEOUT.  When was the last time your team called a timeout.

Companies and their needs evolve, they get acquired, they move their offices, they shift their business models and all too often their employees end up as casualties.  Career transition is nothing to be ashamed of.  It has become incredibly commonplace. 
 

Are you “always recruiting” for your company, and are you asking your team to do the same?  The best people can be found in the most unlikely places.

The decision to hire someone with a different work style and approach is the easy part. The harder part is flexing your style as a manager to allow someone with a different work style than yours to be themselves and excel. Too often we try to change people to fit in to an organizations culture. The best companies leverage diversity as a strength. They try to hire people with diverse work styles, and backgrounds and most importantly they create space within the organization for people to play to their personal strengths.