Are You An Authentic Leader?
I recently found myself in a situation that made me uncomfortable. The source of the discomfort, upon later reflection, came from feeling like I was not completely authentic to who I am and what I want to stand for. It was not an ethical indiscretion that occurred, but rather a poor judgment call on how to handle some difficult personalities in a business meeting that I decided to go along with. Instead of objecting upfront and remaining true to who I am, I bowed to pressure in order to meet someone's expectations. Regardless of the severity of the compromise that occurred or the reason I allowed it to happen in the first place, that situation got me thinking about authenticity. To be more specific, it got me thinking about the trait of authenticity in organizational leaders. In a corporate world full of executives spewing buzzwords, jargon and superficial messaging that is intended to inspire and motivate, the truly authentic leaders shine through every time amid the sea of imitators. Authenticity, as an attribute in a leader, distinguishes that person as demonstrating veracity in all aspects of their lives, with an uncompromising fidelity to their core values.
Is Accountability Missing in Your Strategic Planning and Management Plan?
Common wisdom tells us that achieving strategic planning and management goals requires an actionable plan that considers the people required to bring the plan to fruition. Sounds simple enough – yet, in practice both components (plan and people) have intricacies and uncertainties that must be carefully managed. People, in particular, must have accountability to accomplish the individual tasks that are required to achieve the overarching organizational goals.
Let’s look at five important concepts related to accountability:
The CEO Conundrum – Balancing Strategic and Tactical Responsibilities
We call it the CEO conundrum. Corporate executive officers strike a delicate balance between business visionary, big-deal closer and operations manager. The challenges now facing CEOs is certainly changing and becoming far more difficult to pull-off successfully. The New Year has ushered the global business community into a new decade full of promise and teeming with opportunity, yet still fraught with perilous economic challenges and ever increasing regulatory complexities. It is no longer enough to have a sound strategy. CEOs must shape their companies to be highly agile, run lean, and have highly empowered employees at all levels of the organization. This article defines the CEO conundrum, explores the opportunity it provides us and offers three pieces of advice that CEO’s will want to read.
