Tired of Being Taken for Granted? Ask Madeleine

Dear Madeleine, I work on a team that provides specialized services to the sales and marketing groups in a global organization. A lot of our work is time sensitive. My teammates and I pull all-nighters and weekends on a regular basis. We are dedicated, passionate and skilled—but when we are involved in a big success,…

4 Ways to Provide Individual Attention Like a Coach

For most, if not all organizations, their employees are their number one asset. This makes the wellbeing, the engagement of employees very important. Why?  Because engaged employees are passionate about their work.  They strive to provide superior customer service, solve problems, and find innovative approaches.  A great way to generate a significant positive affect on…

Want a Customer-Focused Company? Take Care of These 3 People

There are three groups of people you need to take care of if you are going to create a customer-focused organization—but most companies only focus on one. That’s a big mistake, say Kathy Cuff and Vicki Halsey, co-creators of The Ken Blanchard Companies’ new Legendary Service training program. “Every organization knows they need to focus…

Worried You Might Be Laid Off?  Ask Madeleine

Dear Madeleine, I am a fairly new manager for a giant tech company, with only one direct report.  Over the last year our upper management has been consolidating departments and flattening things out. I am pretty sure my direct report and I are going to be either folded into another group or let go altogether.…

What a Famous Pediatrician Taught Me about Leadership

Think about a leader you admire. Maybe it is the CEO of your company, the principal of your local high school, or the president of your alma mater. If I asked you about the specific qualities that made them successful, you’d probably tell me about their hard skills—teachable abilities such as vision and strategic thinking.…

Millennial Survey: 5 Ways Managers Can Be More Inspiring

New research published by The Ken Blanchard Companies cites a survey of 600 Millennial-aged workers asking them to list the leadership behaviors they believe most inspire better performance. An analysis of the responses identified five behaviors managers need to put into practice not to simply manage and deal with the next generation workforce, but to…