Are you one of those managers who intends to assemble a team of “A” players that will produce extraordinary results? Dream on-it won’t happen-you’ll never assemble all “A” players. Examine your executive team, or any team for that matter. Sure you’ll find several talented, exceptional Class “A” executives. But, almost without exception, you’ll also find [...]

The new year is firmly launched and there’s optimism in the air. Economic reports tend toward the positive. Surveys indicate a bit more optimism. Organizations are selectively hiring and unemployment shows sign of decline. So begins the rebuilding of a more hopeful, confident society. To do our part, the TAI mission remains the same: Guiding [...]

Sometimes it’s challenging to write a newsletter that is seasonally appropriate, politically correct and pertinent to the message of values-based leadership. During this season we like taking time off from work, we enjoy seasonal parties, folks don’t seem particularly unsettled if we bring them gifts and the mention of “holiday” is appropriate. Holidays, parties and [...]

“What?!?” My friend exclaimed when I suggested what I thought was a seasonally appropriate topic for this newsletter… “Gratitude?!? Is your head in the sand?” My friend had a valid point. Let’s face it, markets are chaotic, natural disasters abound, unemployment is rampant, foreclosures are sky-high, there’s armed conflict on most continents, and all the [...]

A recent IBTimes.com article lamented, “Sometimes CEO’s Get Fired for Odd Reasons.” Highlighting a high profile CEO, the article says he was fired for “abrasive” personality and management style. Also documented in the article were other prominent CEO’s allegedly let go due to abrasive personalities and leadership styles that alienated others. What, I wonder, is [...]

A Saratoga Institute study found that 89% of managers believe that most employees are pulled away by better pay. Yet the data reveals that, in 88% of voluntary turnovers, something besides money is the root cause. Recently the Gallup Organization reported: “In average organizations, the ratio of engaged to actively disengaged employees is about 2:1.”This [...]

Issue 3 – August 2011 Nicole Stempak recently applauded the fact that “companies are looking to manage risk by promoting an ethical work culture. By switching from a controls-based to a values-based approach, ethical conduct can be ingrained into the way they do business-and that can have an impact on the bottom-line.” Within the past [...]

We all know who “they” are — we’ve all seen it happen. “They” are the folks who manage to deliver required results regardless of the damage they do along the way. Ever wonder why these difficult, unpleasant or offensive people sometimes manage to get big jobs in organizations? Typically they’re selfish, arrogant, insensitive, self-focused, greedy, [...]

For gifted, charismatic leaders, influence is a natural result of their being, and they are quite capable of shifting the world around them. Ponder for a moment the social shifts made by Adolf Hitler and Mahatma Gandhi. Certainly these two were transformational leaders. The ingredient that separates them is not the concept of transformative leadership, [...]

If we are only in the business of making money, we are in the wrong business. If money is the object goal, we will fail, not only at business, but also in life. Sure, our bank accounts might be padded but a void will exist, one marked by emptiness, loneliness, frustration and perhaps even despair. [...]