Author: Eric Douglas Blog

What’s Your Preferred Decision-Making Style?

Everyone has a preferred decision-making style. Knowing your style can give you more insight into why you make the decisions you do and help you to improve your decisions.

Why Communication Competency Is More Important Than Ever

Several trends are making communication competency more important today than ever before.

CNIP Leadership

Recently I came up with a new acronym – CNIP – to describe a process that leaders can use to think about what’s important.

How do you help someone become a skilled, competent communicator?

Consultants are usually hired to help organizations revolutionize their way of doing business. Sometimes the solutions are readily apparent:

7 Tips for Senior Managers

Here are seven things I wish I had known when I was put in a senior management role:

Contextual Leadership

My most recent book, The Leadership Equation, described ten universal competencies that I believe all leaders must use to build high-performing organizations. But I want to emphasize that I also think that all leadership is contextual. By that I mean, leaders need to figure out the position that they – and their organizations – are …

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Organizing for Innovation

This tool provides a valuable checklist of specific ideas to make sure your company is organized for innovation. It lists specific strategies for creating an environment in which innovation flourishes. Among other things, it details the pros and cons of technological “push” versus market “pull.” It also describes the role of corporate headquarters in fostering …

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How to Succeed at Core Process Improvement

This tool distills the concepts behind core process improvement and provides a useful framework for leaders who want to understand the factors behind successful process improvement. This tool is very useful for managers at all levels. Hint: This tool is best used in conjunction with “8 Step Process Improvement Plan.” When should you focus on process …

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Governance and Strategy: A Key Nexus for High-Performing Companies

Much of the value we provide clients stems from the fact that we have deep expertise in two areas, strategic planning and governance. That expertise provides an important nexus upon which to build stronger, better performing organizations. Governance is all about who makes what decisions. It looks at the role of the board of directors, …

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Emotional Intelligence: An Essential Leadership Trait

When we think of successful leaders and leadership styles, we often consider their business intelligence – the ability to think and execute in the short-term and plan for the future – as the most important factor of success. Equally important for a leader is emotional intelligence. What is emotional intelligence? Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand …

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