Most organizations give praise from the top down.  This puts employees in competition with each other to receive praise and rewards from their bosses.  It is almost akin to a feudal system where each employee begs for the attention of their king – er, I mean boss, in court – oops I mean workplace.  This type of competition brings about a great...

I had a recent conversation today with an old work colleague. We were discussing her recent adjustments to her new position at her new company. She has been very excited about the opportunities presented to her. Recently her company had launched a new product. While the first two quarters were good for her she was not in the top. Instead another person on...

A question was posted recently in one of the groups on LinkedIn asking users to define leadership. The definition of leadership always brings up an interesting question, “how does one truly define leadership?” This post will not pretend that it knows the complete total answer to the question, instead it proposes that you look deep inside yourself to find the...

An article in the recent edition of the Harvard Business Review talks about the need to bring conflict into the workplace.  Picking a fight about the future direction for a brand, product, or company can be key in bringing out innovation and a stronger plan. The article gives you the tools you might need to set the conditions and manage the fight within the...

In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal on September 21, 2009, discussed how larger companies like Starbucks and Avon are consolidating the power base into the CEO.  This is done by combining the CEO and COO positions and/or President positions under one person.  In essence the combination of those positions eliminates the #2 person in the organization....