When it comes to seeking insights on the best leadership practices, the natural inclination is to look towards successful organizations like Southwest Airlines and Zappos for inspiration and guidance.

Not surprisingly, in most countries, one area we often disregard for leadership guidance is the political arena, as most politicians tend to represent examples of what not to do than what leaders should be doing to engage and enable those they serve.

This sad reality becomes especially apparent during election campaigns, where political candidates expect voters to believe in their capability to lead and their vision of creating a better, more inclusive future, even though their tactics to win include character attacks and sowing division within the populace.

And yet, if we distance ourselves from the headaches and negativity that regrettably have become par for the course of political elections, there are some tangible, practical insights that we can learn from. Insights that help us to understand what we need to do to get our employees to embrace the change initiatives we’re putting forth to ensure success in our collective efforts.

It’s from this perspective that I’d like to share with you three lessons from the recent provincial election campaign held this past month in Quebec, Canada, that help to illustrate what measures leaders need to employ to encourage their employees to embrace the change initiatives they have in mind for their organization.

1. Don’t just tell, but show why this change initiative matters Click here to continue reading »

The following is a guest piece by Karin Hurt.

You’re got a brilliant idea to transform the business. Or maybe you’re just trying to stop the stupid train from rolling over the great work your team has done over the last year. You make your case to your boss, but she’s not convinced. What next?

There’s the camp that would say back down, after all that’s why she get’s paid the “big bucks.” Be a bobble head and nod in agreement– after all, push-back could hurt your career.

The kissing-up sort would take it a step further and remind the boss how brilliant she is for setting you straight. Sadly, I’ve seen such fear-based agreement happen at all levels of the business.

Real leaders take a step back and get serious about the persuading.

Why It’s Tricky
It’s possible your idea is brilliant and your boss needs some real persuading. In that case if you “let it go” your customers, employees or shareholders would truly suffer.

On the other hand, your boss may really know best.

In either case, it’s likely she… Click here to continue reading »

The following is a guest piece from Thinkers50 creators Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove.

Business best practice never stands still. State of the art management and leadership techniques are continually evolving. Think about it: how organizations are run in 2014 is radically different from how they were run just ten years ago. Technology has clearly paid a huge part in this, but the biggest driver of change in how organizations are run is the ceaseless quest for improvement; to manage more efficiently and effectively to better achieve business results.

Improvements come from bright ideas. There is nothing quite so practical as a great idea. The ideas which inspire and influence business practitioners often have their origins in the ideas and work of the thinkers celebrated in the Thinkers50, the biennial ranking of business thinkers.

From blue ocean strategy to Michael Porter’s five forces, Vijay Govindarajan’s reverse innovation to Richard D’Aveni’s hypercompetition, great thinkers and their ideas directly effect how companies are run and how business people think about and practice business.

Think of Peter Drucker who topped the first Thinkers50 ranking in 2001. Drucker was writing about knowledge workers in Click here to continue reading »

These days, we talk a lot about the benefits of embracing diversity in the workplace. Of how intermingling people of different cultures, beliefs and nationalities can allow us to tap into the diversity of thoughts, ideas, and perspectives that go with these unique demographic elements.

Of course, sometimes it can be difficult to appreciate just how these differences can help us to discover new insights, particularly if we live in a fairly homogeneous population. As such, I’d like to share the following four words from languages found in different parts of the world to not only show how these diverse viewpoints can benefit your organization, but also how they remind us of the underlying commonalities that we all share.

1. Meraki – Creating work that ignites our creativity and soul
In the Greek language, there is a word they use called “Meraki” which means ‘doing something with soul, creativity, or love’; that you’re able to put “something of yourself” into what you’re doing. In most cases, meraki is used to refer to how one prepares a meal, arranges a room, or sets an elegant table.

Although meraki is typically used to describe moments in our home lives, there is an important message here for us to take note of in terms of the kind of work environment we create for our employees. Click here to continue reading »