leader

Keeping Your B Players B Players

By Jim Grinnell, Ph.D. If you’re like most managers, your team is comprised of a bunch of B players, a smattering of A players and unfortunately a few C players. In a previous article, I argued that your coaching efforts should be skewed toward your A players because the benefits derived from marginal performance improvements [...]
February 4, 2012 0
accountability

Before Challenges Seem Insurmountable, Coaches Make Others Accountable

By Jim Grinnell, Ph.D. It is inevitable that at some point in the coaching relationship your employee/client is going to hit a roadblock. When it comes you’re going to find that the very same person that embraced coaching while progress was being made will now vociferously offer excuse after excuse for why progress is no [...]
January 29, 2012 2
Plane Splashdown Hearing

During the Golden Hour of Crisis Will You Be Captain Cool or Captain Coward?

By Jim Grinnell, Ph.D. Shortly after take-off from LaGuardia Airport, US Airways flight 1549 struck a large flock of geese and the aircraft’s two engines were disabled. With no engines left, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger had no choice but to ditch his aircraft in the Hudson River. After gliding the aircraft safely into the river [...]
January 22, 2012 3
Teacher

Teach First… Leadership Will Follow

By Jim Grinnell, Ph.D. “Teaching is the highest form of understanding.” –Aristotle During the past twenty years there has been considerable discussion about the need to create learning organizations. In large part this interest was spawned by the publication of Peter Senge’s seminal book The Fifth Discipline in 1990. Senge aptly extols the virtue of [...]
January 14, 2012 2
tao

The Tao of Leadership: The Emerging Servant Leadership Paradigm

By Jim Grinnell, Ph.D. With the greatest leader above them, people barely know one exists. The great leader speaks little. He never speaks carelessly. He works without self-interest and leaves no trace. When all is finished, the people say, “We did it ourselves.” – Tao Te Ching According to the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu’s [...]
January 7, 2012 9
Alignment

Navigating The Seven C’s Of Growth… The Seventh C: Champion Alignment

By Jim Grinnell, Ph.D. Part VIII of VIII We’ve reached the end of our voyage in this series of articles and it’s befitting that we end with the most daunting challenge facing a young growth firm. The preceding challenges were presented separately to facilitate clear explanation of each concept. The reality of organizational life is [...]
December 31, 2011 1
employee-appreciation

Navigating The Seven C’s Of Growth… The Sixth C: Challenge Employees to Grow and Develop

By Jim Grinnell, Ph.D. Part VII of VIII In her highly influential book Theory of the Growth of the Firm, Edith Penrose artfully discusses the role attracting and developing appropriate human resources plays in the continued growth of entrepreneurial firms. Penrose argues that one of the primary limits to growth is that the managerial infrastructure [...]
December 26, 2011 1
organizational culture

Navigating The Seven C’s Of Growth… The Fifth C: Consciously Evolve Culture

By Jim Grinnell, Ph.D. Part VI of VIII Quiz time. Which iconic company’s cultural values include to Dream, to Believe, to Dare and to Do? I’ll leave it to the reader to figure out the answer, but let me say a few things about Company X and its founder. Company X’s founder recognized the importance [...]
December 18, 2011 1
Execution

Navigating The Seven C’s Of Growth… The Fourth C: Consistently Execute

By Jim Grinnell, Ph.D. Part V of VIII While building an organization capable of effective execution is a challenge all businesses face, it is heightened for young growth firms. During the founding stage, the business is able to operate with minimal managerial, operational, and evaluation systems. What all growth firms quickly realize (as early as [...]
December 10, 2011 2
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