One of the axioms of being a good consultant is this: Always tell the truth to your clients! Now this may seem like a no-brainer, but every one of us has experienced moments where we’ve wanted to refrain from telling the truth out of fear that we’ll offend. For a professional management consultant, telling the …
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In my new book, The Leadership Equation I describe in detail the 10 practices needed to build high performing companies in a time of accelerating change. The sixth practice is “Stimulate Creative Flow.” I was reminded yesterday why this is so important as I facilitated a discussion about helping new supervisors and managers be successful. Why …
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I’m working with a Board of Directors that is proving most challenging! This particular Board is a chamber of commerce composed of business owners. Every meeting is a marvel of micro-management. Should our web site have a blue banner or green? Which vendor should we use to host our annual meeting? Tactical decisions like these, …
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The president of the Board of Directors of a non-profit in Washington D.C. called me today and said: “We have a limited budget for strategic planning. We have two days to develop our plan. What do you think we should be asking for from a consultant – particularly on a tight budget?” I responded: “What …
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Watching executives from British Petroleum, Transocean and Halliburton testify before Congress about the Gulf oil spill on Tuesday reminded me of the cardinal rules of leading through a crisis. Unfortunately, it looks like the BP-TO-HB trio never got the memo. There are two rules to follow in a crisis. Rule number one is this: Protect …
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What an interesting report this week from The Conference Board! The report says that Americans of all ages are increasingly discontent at work. Only 45 percent of those surveyed say they are satisfied with their jobs, down from 61 percent in 1987, the first year in which the survey was conducted. The report said that …
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Here’s the text of an email I sent today to the president of the Board of Directors of a non-profit. I think it speaks to how to do streamlined strategic planning for a non-profit. “Hi, Meg – The best way to make this process go expeditiously is to prepare a draft plan for the Board …
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To paraphrase Kenny Rogers, as a change manager, you have to know when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em. Our firm worked with a large coalition in California, helping it develop a strategic plan and a new governance structure.
My approach to strategic change management that says the quality of the first five percent determines what happens in the rest of the process.
When people ask me to describe our change management model at LRI, I tell them it boils down to three principles.
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