communication

Listen: If you hear any of these 3 things you/we have a problem

Talent management is about great conversations. If you hear any of these statements coming from your own mouth or someone else’s, then there is a problem. Listen for these, figure out where it is coming from, and fix it. It is natural to have these barriers as leaders seek to have greater conversations with their people, but if we get stuck on one of these then things will get messy.

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Greg Hartle – Wisdom from walking around

I had a chance to share a meal with Greg Hartle. Does his name sound familiar? It shouldn’t. Here is some wisdom I gained from a dinner with Greg, and the tips are relevant for anyone. They are especially relevant for people in transition because their work has gone away. Talent management starts with our perspective and willingness to shift.

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1 on 1’s – Do you ask this question?

Talent management is about great conversation. The most valuable conversation between a leader and a team member is the one on one. Within that conversation are three questions a leader can use to get some feedback on how they are doing. Here are the two I came up with and one that is shared from a leader in my network.

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Rule 3 – NEVER cancel without rescheduling

Trust is critical in a healthy relationship. For leaders, a way to establish it is to put great value on the one on one time and never cancel without rescheduling right away. This is the final rules for one on ones that must NEVER be broken. Talent management is about great conversations. Follow these three rules and you are on your way to having them.

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Rule 2 – Individual (not leader) owns the agenda

A key conversation and habit for any leader is the one on one. Here is the second rule for leaders doing one one ones – letting the owner be the individual, not the leader. Talent management is about great conversations, and this one will be more effective if the ownership is not with the leader.

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Rule 1 – Be in the same room together

Talent management is about great conversations. For leaders, it is about shutting out the other things and focusing on one person at a time. This is called a one one one, and here is a template on how to do it. Some data – parents and kids only spend about 3.5 minutes a day in meaningful conversation. So what would your habits at work say about the quality time you spend with your people?

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Everyone needs a Target. Everyone!

Talent management is about great conversations. It is a mistake to assume a six figure salary means that people can be totally independent and will create their own performance expectations. The one on one template I use defines that expectation and helps people see the goal that must be attained.

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Can the CEO Coach? 2 Myths that get in the way

Making a transition to a senior level leader is tough. The CEO can play a key role in success, and they can also choose to stay away until it is too late. Here are two myths that get in the way of a CEO being a coach/mentor for the success of their leaders. Talent management is about great conversations – get past these myths and you can go have one.

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Building a Leadership Development Program from Scratch

How do you build a leadership development program from scratch? It is a questions posed to me and it would not leave my brain until I wrote it down. Talent management is about great conversations, and leadership development is about structuring those conversations around experiences, self reflection, and networking. It can be done well and with a single currency – time from other leaders.

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5 Key Outcomes – Individual Development Plan Conversation

Talent management is about great conversations between a leader and a follower over time. I use the talent scorecard to help leaders assess their own habits and get some feedback on where they need to start. The lack of development plans are one item that has emerged as a major gap in the habits of leaders. To understand the benefits of investing time into this effort, here are 5 key outcomes that happen when we make development plans a habit.

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Development Tips: Communication that Creates Momentum

Communication is a critical skill at all levels of leadership/followership. The book Great on the Job offers some solid advice to help people manage themselves into a good spot as they start a new job. Here are four ideas of how a leader could use this content to help their whole team develop in some of these key areas using this book. Talent management is about great conversations, and Great on the Job provides some tools to help that happen in a variety of situations.

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