Take every internal discrimination complaint seriously—and take quick action, too. Why? If the employee doesn’t think your response was adequate, an EEOC complaint will probably follow. And that can spell big trouble if the EEOC decides to expand its investigation beyond the specifics of the original complaint.
Best-Practices Leadership
A leader in an organization can’t do everyone’s job. Instead of micromanaging, strong leaders use organizational leadership to coordinate, communicate, motivate and delegate among employees and team members. For comprehensive organizational effectiveness, each individual needs to be seen as a contributor, with the leader at the helm.
Most importantly, best-practices leadership involves keeping employees motivated throughout the process, adapting your scope or strategy as necessary, and developing an effective communication strategy.
Some people never make it to the other side because they’re more successful at being doers. This is a crucial point in determining if you’re going to move up the ranks.
Browse our articles, tools and advice on best-practices leadership.
Help a team inch closer to perfect solutions by starting a failure contest. Why? It lets your people know that it’s better to unleash their creativity, even if the result isn’t ideal. Ask them to come up with the most outrageous idea, instead of the safest. Those risky “failures” may push them toward a breathtaking innovation—separating your company from the also-rans.
James Laychak’s brother Dave died at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. Every day afterward, Laychak would wait for information and share his grief with others at the Pentagon’s family assistance center. Later, when he was named president of the Pentagon Memorial Fund, which needed $30 million, Laychak brought all his skills to the task.
Build a name for your company by delivering Zappos-style customer service ... Keep agreements with partner companies going strong—and avert contract breaches—by keeping lines of communication open ... Make your e-mail messages easy to read and respond to by limiting them to one topic per message ... Fill your innovation pipeline by eavesdropping on your customers.
Some days, you have to look long and hard to find examples of inspirational leadership in the news. That’s not the case if you’ve read how the 33 Chilean miners trapped in a collapsed copper mine since early August have organized themselves to survive. Here’s what we can learn from them:
A recession has a way of changing the way businesses do business. HR is no exception. Here are three back-to-basics strategies for HR pros to consider as organizations permanently adopt the cost- and time-effective strategies they have embraced out of necessity over the past couple of years.
A recession has a way of changing the way businesses do business. HR is no exception. Here are three effective strategies for HR pros to consider as the economy recovers and their organizations permanently adopt the cost- and time-effective strategies they have embraced out of necessity over the past couple of years:
Who’s your No. 2? In a small business, having a person to oversee day-to-day operations can help fend off burnout for a business owner. In any business, though, a chief needs a second-in-command. This is an ideal time to hire one, says Daniel M. Murphy, co-founder of The Growth Coach. What to look for?
Leaders are not immune to resentment, but it’s been said that holding onto a grudge is like taking poison and hoping the other person will die. Instead of focusing on what you would change in somebody else, turn your attention to what needs to change in you. First steps:
Having written best-sellers about the origin of the universe and the meaning of time, astrophysicist Stephen Hawking is arguably one of the world’s most famous scientists. Yet, he’s never won a Nobel Prize. Why?
