Leadership Transitions Archives

Choices. (career and talent management)

Career development planning is about choices. It is about thinking about what we want to be doing in the future, and preparing ourselves to meet a goal for prepare ourselves for a different path. At the heart of talent management is preparing the individual to bring an awareness of self to this conversation and helping the leader listen, guide, direct, challenge, and ultimately partner. Talent management is about great conversations, and at the heart of those conversations is ultimately a choice.

A great question to end your week (or your meeting)

What are you most proud of. Talent management and leadership is about understanding people and engaging them in the process and problems of running an organization. Of getting work done. Here is a question to renew energy and share what matters to them.

Onboarding Equation . . and 4 Ways to Influence it

Talent management is a lot of things, but great conversations during transition is a big part of it. Chip Conley shares an equation in his book Emotional Equations that captures the essence of Selection AND Onboarding the right way. Whether it is an internal leadership transition or a new hire, use this formula to manage your talent to a successful start.

Are you a BUT or AND leader?

Small words that have a big impact – BUT / AND. A cornerstone of leadership development is communication, which is part what we say and part getting people to listen. Talent Management is about conversations that happen and are healthy exchanges. One of these words sets a healthy tone for an exchange, and the other too often shuts it down.

Who Wants to be CEO?

Succession management, development plans, performance evaluations all have a key ingredient. Asking people what they think. Getting your talent engaged in charting their own career course and owning their personal development is key.

How long do you listen?

Listening is not the lost skill of leadership, but it tends to take a back seat to getting work done when things are moving fast. A recent speech by a brain expert reminded me how little listening doctors do in the course of diagnosing certain medical conditions. Leadership and getting most out of the talent of a team (talent management) is, in part, about listening.

3 Habits To Help Great Leaders Be Good Managers

Leadership is important, but being able to be an effective manager is also important. Talent management (getting the most out of your people) does not happen without engaging people one on one, getting to know them, listening to what they need, and helping them. Here are 3 habits for any leader to help this to happen.

7 Key Numbers All Leaders Should Know

Learning takes energy. Here are the numbers any leader or follower should think about before they start asking for or embarking on personal change. Talent management is about all of these AND the conversation that follows. Your next talent management strategy or leadership development key note address should probably include all of these numbers.

Why Were You Promoted?

Why were you selected for a new leadership role? Simple question, and yet critical in aligning the right people with a situation and creating an effective transition plan. Based on David Baker’s book, Managing Right – For The First Time, this is a question all leaders should ask, when hiring or being hired. Talent Management is about great conversations, and this question is a cornerstone of a great talent management conversation.

Leadership Development Starts – BEFORE you lead

David Baker wrote a book to help new managers make their transition successful. As I read Managing Right For The First Time in preparation for writing a review, I will share things that make me go Hmmmm. Some thoughts are around leadership development, while some are just about self awareness or individual development. This is about starting your development before you lead.

Where Leaders Learn and 3 Ways To Make It Stick

Most learning is free. The challenge is slowing down long enough to recognize it or to be purposeful about finding a friend to help process it and make the new knowledge a habit. Here are some tips about talent management of ourselves as leaders. Included is a Talent Scorecard to help you see where your own habits as a leader need to be built.

Talent – What your CEO is reading today

There is a special section today around talent management in the Wall Street Journal. The great thing is that it is written for business leaders in their language and it opens the door for you, as an HR leader to help them process and apply some of it in your own company. A great read . . .