Insights

In today’s fast-paced and unpredictable world, organizations and leaders are facing an unprecedented level and complexity of challenges—shifting market dynamics, technological disruptions, economic uncertainties, and societal transformations. In such an environment, many individuals, leaders, and organizations find themselves in paralysis – uncertain and fearful to plan, act, and move forward. However, being hijacked into a state of in-action and focusing solely on immediate

By Colin McLetchie Almost without exception, when I ask leaders or leadership teams I’m working with, “What do you do to ensure you’re getting the feedback, ideas, and information you need,” they exclaim with great delight, “We have an Open Door Policy!”  Oh … goody.  So, then I ask this question: “When is the last time someone walked in your door to share an idea, offer you constructive input on your leadership, the organization’s direction, or, well, anything of real signi

Workplace culture is changing. We're moving away from strict rules and bosses overseeing everything. Now we're looking at ensuring that everyone feels safe and included at work. This idea is called psychological safety, and it is important for helping organizations come up with new ideas and grow.     What is Psychological Safety?  Psychological safety is when people at work feel that they can share their thoughts and ideas without getting in trouble. It means that if you hav

In our two decades plus of working intimately with organizations on internal development and growth , one key attribute that we have found which sets apart organizations that have sustained performance and positive employee engagement year in, and year out are those organizations, regardless of size, that invest in strong internal mentoring programs. This is because a strong mentoring program nurtures continuous learning beyond the confines of traditional employee developmen

The landscape of work has undergone a profound transformation, with the rise of remote and hybrid work models. In today's dynamic work environment, the concept of a hybrid team — where some members work from the office while others work remotely — has become rapidly prevalent. As organizations adapt to this paradigm shift, managers find themselves at the forefront of a new era, charged with the responsibility of leading teams that span physical and virtual spaces. Managing a

The past four years have not been kind to America’s urban centers. The pandemic's economic impacts and virtual work policies have resulted in mass migrations, empty offices, and declining tax revenues for many major cities creating what has been phrased as “ urban doom loop ”. This in turn has directly impacted the health of existing communities within these cities. We believe that similar to organizational health, community health is a reflection of its vitality, strength, a

Like it or not, we are living in the Age of AI. However, amongst all the cautionary tales about AI’s takeover of our work world, we came across some very interesting statistics recently. According to research by UIPath, 83% of people using AI believe that it can help reduce burnout and increase job satisfaction, and 80% think it will help them do their jobs better. Even more fascinating, 79% of people view employers more positively when they leverage AI. While there are legit

Frank Blake, the beloved former CEO of Home Depot, credits the company’s core value of “Entrepreneurial Spirit” as the secret behind its success year after year, even during tough economic times. According to Blake, Home Depot's founders wanted their team members to think and behave like their name was on the front of the building. When employees aren't afraid to take risks, they grow. Many successful organizations, from Home Depot to Amazon to Starbucks have fueled their gro

The metaphor of the dance floor and the balcony was made popular by Harvard professor Ronald Heifetz as part of his work on adaptive leadership. In this metaphor, the "balcony" represents the vantage point from which leaders can gain perspective, observe the bigger picture, and reflect on the overall dynamics of the situation. In an era of rapid and unpredictable change, leaders need to be able to both stay in the game as well as pull themselves to a level above from time to

When I ask this question, the response I get most frequently is, “Oh yes, our company offers all sorts of training and development opportunities. We are continuously investing in the professional development of our staff.” While these actions and intentions are great, this response in itself is a limited if not an inaccurate definition of what a learning organization is. Professor and author Peter Senge first introduced this concept in his book “ The Fifth Discipline ”. Accor

The phrase "culture eats strategy for breakfast" is often attributed to the management guru Peter Drucker, and it suggests that an organization's culture is more powerful than its strategy in determining its success or failure. However, the idea can also be applied to organizational structure. An organization's culture can have a greater influence on how the organization operates than its formal structure. This means that, even if an organization has a well-designed structure

A company’s culture is its soul. It is what gives the company its life and shapes the experiences people have within and with the organization. But can culture be architected? Can it be changed? To answer these questions, let us look at the example of a client of ours which is a multimillion-dollar global corporation. A few years back, they decided to expand their business into complementary markets. To support this decision, they acquired another large business. The CEO of

I was recently in conversation with a former client of mine who had left his previous employer after 15 years with the company. While there were a number of factors behind his decision to leave, one that stood out for me was when he shared that he had no longer felt appreciated at his last company. He had been burning the midnight oil for months on end to get a critical initiative completed for the company and did not even get a simple thank you from the senior management. I

The word “Conflict” can make many people uncomfortable (squirmish even). And that is understandable! In our society, the word conflict comes with a lot of negative connotations. It is what we have been conditioned to avoid versus embrace. However, conflict, and specifically productive conflict, is a very healthy part of team development. Teams who engage in productive conflict, far out-perform those that avoid all types of conflict, at all costs. This was especially highlight

From building trust to gaining alignment to influencing and navigating change , each one of these outcomes depends on the ability to communicate effectively. On the other hand, the cost of poor communications can be significant for the business. According to a study done by Salesforce, 86% of employees and executives cite the lack of effective communications as the main cause for workplace failures. The ability to communicate effectively and with impact is more critical than

The ugly secret, not so secret truth about designing organizational structures is that many organizational design/redesign efforts fail. Most do so because there is a lack of understanding of what the organization truly needs and what motivates people to do their best work. In other words, most organizational redesign efforts are embarked on with little effort to holistically understand the existing conditions, the vision for the organization and what truly is keeping the peo

Storytelling is an incredible asset that we have at our disposal! We all have the ability to tell stories; it’s part of our DNA, passed down to us through generations. In the organizational setting, stories provide an incredibly powerful means to connect with and influence the workforce , inspire change and support the alignment of organizational culture to the organization’s mission and vision. Stories promote engagement at a deeper level so that ordinary work becomes extrao