Entries by tagonline

The Decline of GE – What Can Leaders Learn?

Some years ago, I brought an internal corporate team I was leading to visit GE’s famous Crotonville Learning Center, where we spent a day with the legendary Steve Kerr, then GE’s Chief Learning Officer. I don’t think any of us will never forget the awesomeness of that experience; not only was Steve a gracious host, […]

Don’t Give In to Upheavals

Jared Diamond, a historian, anthropologist and self-described polymath, is one of my favorite writers. After I read his groundbreaking Guns, Germs and Steel, I was hooked. Although he writes about societies and nations, I found his latest book Upheaval of particular relevance to organizations, especially with the parallels between the themes in this book and […]

Naturally Disgruntled Team Members – What Can a Manager Do?

As most managers know by now, working from home (WFH) has presented some challenges for their team members. While some have embraced it, others are less than thrilled. A manager I was talking to recently said he found these new arrangements as definitely a mixed blessing for him and his team. He was thinking specifically […]

Pivot, Prepare and Care: Advice for Small Business Owners

We all know that small business owners have been hit hard by the current COVID-19 crisis. In a recent survey by the National Bureau of Economic Research, less than 40% of small business survey respondents expect their businesses to be opened by the end of 2020. Earlier surveys by FEMA have found that 40% of […]

The Not-So-Obvious Keys to Good Listening

When sharing the results of his 360-degree feedback with him, Henry seemed to show a great deal of interest – not surprising for someone who is considered a high-potential manager at a global services company. I had just started coaching Henry and found him to be bright, analytical and very ambitious. However, as I had […]

Jack of All Trades or Master of All?

Two out of the many emerging and related work trends I’ve been hearing and reading about lately are the growing interest by many organizations in developing generalists versus specialists, and the increased skepticism about expertise. Let’s take the first trend. A recent article in The Atlantic Monthly (2019) describes a new type of Navy ship, […]

Choosing Between Tight or Loose Organizations

I recently finished reading Michele Gelfand’s 2019 book, Rule Makers, Rule Breakers, which is based on research she has been doing over the past several years (I have referenced her work in my own book, Successful Global Leadership). Her book details a different way to look at cultures by examining the dimension of tightness-looseness – […]