Management Archives

Adaptive Leadership Skills: Do You Have What It Takes?

What is adaptive leadership? What does “leading adaptively” entail in practice? Adaptive leadership is an emerging leadership model which conceptualizes leadership as the ability to solve “adaptive challenges”—problems that have no known solutions. An adaptive leader has the ability to lead an organization through the difficult, uncomfortable, and sometimes dangerous process of adaptation, and make it thrive while doing so. According to leadership experts Alexander Grashow, Marty Linsky, and Ronald Heifetz, there are six characteristics to consider when it comes to assessing yourself and your adaptive leadership skills.

How to Recover From Failure: Build Failure Resilience

How did the penguins in Our Iceberg Is Melting recover from failure? What advice do John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber suggest for overcoming setbacks during change? In their fable about leadership and change, John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber discuss how to handle setbacks during the change process in an organization. They talk about the importance of having failure resilience and of empowering employees to boost their morale. Continue reading for advice on how to overcome setbacks during change.

A 7-Step Guide to Better Team Decision-Making

What is the best approach for better team decision-making? Why is the financial plausibility test system flawed? The best way to approach team decision-making is to ask what needs to be true for the company’s strategy to be successful. This encourages creative ideas and holistic decisions, as opposed to the model-centric systems that discourage out-of-the-box solutions. The financial plausibility test is a flawed model for team decisions because it is expensive, model-centric, and stifles creativity. Read on to discover the step-by-step guide to better team decision-making.

2 Techniques for Motivating and Inspiring Employees

Do you feel like your employees have lost the drive to perform at their best? What can you, as a leader, do to motivate and inspire your team? Inspiring employees to go above and beyond requires a leader who is willing to show their emotional side. Everyone inherently has the ability to inspire, though everyone will do it differently depending on their purposes, communication style, and the challenges at hand. To inspire, use the following two techniques.

How to Keep Your Business Afloat: Be Non-Complacent

In an ever-changing and fast moving world, how can you keep your organization alive? Is it bad for your company to always be changing? In their fable about leading change, John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber talk about the importance of being non-complacent. The authors stress that leading one successful change doesn’t mean that your organization is safe—you need to be sure that your changes stick and that you’re ready to change again if need be. Continue reading to learn what John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber had to say about being non-complacent in their fable Our Iceberg Is Melting.

P&G Case Study: Strategic Choice Cascade in Practice

What is this P&G case study about? Why was P&G so successful in implementing the strategic choice cascade model? This P&G case study showcases how the authors of Playing to Win implemented the five steps of the strategic choice cascade to transform the company’s Olay brand into a hugely profitable product. The implementation was successful because the management was the key driving force behind the strategy. Read on to discover how this P&G case study showcases the successful implementation of the strategic choice cascade model.

5 Qualities of an Adaptive Organization: Adapt or Die

How to Have an Effective Strategic Discussion

Is your organization well-equipped to adapt to changing circumstances outside of your control? What can you, as a leader, do to increase your organization’s adaptive capacity? Every time your organization successfully addresses an adaptive challenge, it increases its adaptive capacity and is more prepared and equipped to handle the next adaptive challenge. You can additionally increase your organization’s adaptive capacity by building an adaptable culture. In this article, we’ll take a look at the five qualities of an adaptive organization.

Advocacy and Inquiry: The Secret to Effective Meetings

What does the advocacy and inquiry decision-making process entail? What mindset is required to make the decision-making process effective? Advocacy and inquiry is a decision-making style where each party in a meeting presents their arguments and asks for comments and questions from other participants. The process creates an open environment where ideas are challenged and fine-tuned, which improves the critical reasoning skills of participants. Each participant must be confident and open to being challenged. Read on to learn more about the advocacy and inquiry decision-making process.

Self-Care for Leaders: 5 Techniques for Thriving

How does stress affect leadership? Has stress ever affected your ability to lead effectively? The stress that leaders are put under can easily result in a lack of focus and impulsive decisions. Therefore, it’s very important to take care of yourself as a leader—if you burn out, you’ll no longer be able to lead, and this could derail all progress towards your purpose. The following self-care techniques are taken from The Practice of Adaptive Leadership written by leadership experts Alexander Grashow, Marty Linsky, and Ronald Heifetz.

How to Have an Effective Strategic Discussion

What is a strategic discussion? How do you create the right environment for strategic discussions? A strategic discussion is an interchange of ideas with the goal of gaining insights that will help a company progress towards its objectives. The best environment for strategic discussions is one that is interactive and includes very few people in the room. Read on to learn more about how to conduct an effective strategic discussion.