I’ve always appreciated this quote from famed author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.: “Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.” What good is building character only to have it erode due to a lack of maintenance? Coaching enables people to gain clarity about who they are,…
Dear Madeleine, I am a fairly new marketing manager for a large consumer goods firm. I have three great people who work for me—I inherited them, so I lucked out. We function like a well-oiled machine. The problem is my boss. She was promoted about two years ago and now oversees several managers of different…
Power. The word itself evokes a reaction. What thoughts or feelings do you have when you think of power? Perhaps you picture an organizational chart where the boxes at the top are imbued with more power than those below. Maybe you imagine an iron fist, representative of a person who rules over others with absolute authority.…
If you’re a leader, particularly in a large organization, the chances are your people don’t see you as a real person. They have a mental image of what they perceive you to be like, not who you actually are, says research by Nathan T. Washburn and Benjamin Galvin. This mental image is formed through random…
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.…
All over the world, leaders are using coaching to gain a competitive edge. But does coaching solve every problem one might encounter in the workplace? “No. It’s not a panacea,” says coaching expert Patricia Overland in an article for Chief Learning Officer. “Determining when coaching is a good investment can be challenging.” Overland shares a…
Dear Madeleine, I am an EVP of strategy and shareholder value for a billion dollar global conglomerate. I have been working with a coach for the last six months and she has made a huge difference in terms of helping me prioritize, focus, and develop more powerful relationships. Things have been going so well that…
Dear Madeleine, I lead a really excellent, large team at a not-for-profit company. My question is about one of my team members who was passed to me by a peer who didn’t know what to do with her. Since she came to my department, this person has been a below average performer and has not…
Do the people you work with know what you expect of them? Do they know what to expect of you? Pause, please, and really consider those two questions. If I walked into your workplace and asked your team these questions, would I get immediate answers? Would I get consistent answers? Would I get answers you…
Any organization can begin to improve employee engagement by implementing a simple and practical strategy. This one technique will immediately increase the frequency and quality of conversations taking place between managers and direct reports—a relationship that is critical to employee work passion. The best way to reduce turnover and increase engagement is to make sure…