Effective leadership is an influence process where leaders implement everyday, commonsense approaches that help people and organizations thrive. Yet somehow, many of these fundamental principles are still missing from most workplaces. In their new book, Simple Truths of Leadership: 52 Ways to Be a Servant Leader and Build Trust, legendary servant leadership expert Ken Blanchard,…
I recently announced the February 1 publication of my new book with longtime colleague and trust expert Randy Conley, Simple Truths of Leadership: 52 Ways to Be a Servant Leader and Build Trust. Now I’d like people to know what inspired the book and why I’m so excited about it. The beginning of my mission…
Dear Madeleine, I am a veteran employee of a large, very healthy organization. I like the company and my co-workers. I’ve had plenty of advancement opportunities and I think my comp package is fair. I have been managing people for a long time and feel that I am skilled. I am not just tooting my…
Reading about how tired we are is fatiguing. So let’s try something different. We’re built to want to be part of something that’s meaningful. We’re eager to learn. We love wrestling with a challenge. It’s in our nature and we can’t help it. So instead of focusing on how everyone is depleted, why not appeal…
Trust is the foundation of success, and the pandemic is putting enormous pressure on it. COVID has created a historic amount of stress and anxiety, which is testing the bonds of trust we have with each other. Making things more difficult is how seldom leaders and team members meet face to face these days, combined…
Dear Madeleine, I work for a company that required everyone to come back to the office the second week of November. I thought it was too early, and was proven right by Omicron. The company is a traditional, conservative kind of place, and the CEO lost patience with the whole remote thing. I was happy…
Dear Madeleine, I am senior project manager for a global construction firm. I am one of the very few women in the organization, and wouldn’t you know, my problem is with one of them. She is a peer to me, and we have very different but overlapping roles. The fundamental problem is that she changes…
“Relationships And Results.” Which of those three words is most important? I posed that question to over 100 participants in a series of workshops I recently conducted for a client. As you might suspect, about half the people thought relationships was the most important word. Their rationale essentially boiled down to people are the ones…
2021 will be remembered as a year of change and it was certainly reflected in the questions Madeleine received from her readers. Here is a list of the top five most-viewed columns. They tell a story of the year we’ve been through. Madeleine will be back next week with a new year of questions from…
A few weeks ago, my colleague Doug Glener wrote a blog regarding the results from our company’s recent survey that involved more than 800 L&D executives, managers, and specialists. We asked them about the biggest challenges they face in designing training for hybrid workers in 2022. We were able to break down their answers into…
Tis the season for lists, and we offer ours: The five must-read blogs of 2021. But our list is a little different. It shines a little light for L&D professionals trying to find their way in 2022. That’s valuable, considering that the past year has been filled with numerous challenges. Everyone is struggling to stay…
Dear Madeleine, I lead a team of seasoned, expert professionals in a fast-growing global company. My boss has told me in no uncertain terms that my biggest priority in the next year is to develop my team and groom a successor. My biggest obstacle is, although every one of my team members is very good…
Our world is in transition—and so is the L&D industry. That makes insight on designing effective learning experiences for a hybrid work environment invaluable. Our 2022 Trends Report, which was based on survey responses from more than eight hundred L&D professionals, backs up the statement. Some 53% of L&D professionals said their virtual/digital designs were…
As a part of The Ken Blanchard Companies’ 2022 HR / L&D Trends Survey, respondents were asked to rank the effectiveness of various training reinforcement strategies. Email Reminders/Newsletters, currently the most used practice for reinforcing training content, was rated in the bottom third when it came to perceived impact. That’s not a big surprise to…
Dear Madeleine, I am going to start a role in a new team soon. I’m hoping you can give me some advice on how to seem confident and establish credibility. I am on the younger side and I am not a very confident person to begin with. In my previous roles, I noticed that some…
