When over 3000 Google employees petitioned the company to ditch a contract with the Pentagon, the power structure of our organizations changed forever. In a tight labor market employees have choice about who and what causes they will work for. Organizations are under immense social pressure: Google: We will not...
How to Micromanage so Your Team Will Love You
When I worked for one of Canada's big banks, we had an executive that insisted on final signoff for all training. That was fine, but she regularly wordsmithed the work sending us back several stages in our development effort. The feedback was not considered 'value add' and instead indicated a...
Accelerating with a Backward Glance
"Our weakest area as a team? Taking time to reflect. We never look back." It's a typical sentiment that moving fast means always moving forward. Standing still makes you a target. Those of you who have been following the Skipper Report for years might have noticed things have been quiet...
What it means to be a Thoughtfully Ruthless® Leader
While preparing for an executive review at The Salvation Army, we took a brief pause and the CIO said, “Jeff, I thought you’d want to know that I heard one of my managers tell his team that he was going to exit a call because he wasn’t needed. They could...
How to Connect like Plini when you lack Charisma
Last night I stood third row from the stage to witness the guitar genius of Plini. His intricate, effortless playing is a wonder to behold, fingers moving effortlessly to create incredible jazz-rocksoundscapes. He launched right into his first number and continued through four songs before approaching the microphone. We had...
Star Power: How The Hulk Made Me Work Harder
Last week I surprised my daughter with a trip to ComicCon for her birthday. We had a blast taking in all the costumes, browsing the artistry and had our caricatures drawn (She-Ra and He-Man!). In a rare moment wandering through endless vendor booths and stage areas, the sea of people parted...
People Don’t Resist Change, They Resist YOU. How to Build a Change Trust
"People are just not engaging with this initiative!" Clients come to me for solutions to get people moving in line with their strategy. They've communicated the direction but the uptake is zero. Nothing has changed. Here's why: A. Lack of knowledge - The target is not clearly understood or why...
Don’t Compete. Differentiate.
I was dining with a friend enjoying a delicious plate of fish and chips at a popular restaurant in Toronto and he asked me how one diner could succeed over another? Great question when so many small businesses - particularly restaurants - fail every year. The most obvious tactic to...
Influence. You’ve got it. Now What?
Cheryl Bachelder is an extraordinary leader. While CEO at Popeyes, Cheryl led the franchise to new heights, growing market cap from less than $300 million to over $1.3 billion. As Ms. Bachelder drive higher performance and success, employees paid ever-closer attention to all she said and did. One of the...
The last thing your organization needs is a rest right now
"Well Jeff, we'd like to bring you in to help us develop our leaders further, but we just put completed a change in our reporting structure and want to give the company a rest before we consider something new." After a major change like restructuring, a new product launch, or...
