Businesses are just now beginning to wrestle with harmonizing between generations of workers and managers that may be as different as any combinations that have preceded them: the post WWII Boomers and Millennials. Can they get along and how do you create a culture of strategic execution with them?

There continue to be many Boomers still in the work force, partly due to their need to delay retirement in hopes of rebuilding wealth lost during the recent downturn. Millennials, generally viewed as having been born between about 1980 and 2001, are beginning to establish themselves professionally in the throes (more…)

In business, there are four key elements: equipment and technology, processes and systems, information, and people…but people are the active ingredient and coaching and development are critical to success.

The most important work an effective leader can do is to get the most out of his/her people, helping them perform at highest levels today and grow to contribute more tomorrow. The leader who can coax “growth spurts” out of the people in the organization adds the most lasting value to the business, a value that multiplies as others take up the mantle of effective coaching and development.

Yet, giving feedback to employees, particularly formal “review” feedback, is often one of the least-liked tasks for many managers. It can be uncomfortable, particularly if there are disagreements about areas for improvement. But, good coaching should be somewhat uncomfortable, at least for the person being coached. You don’t learn when you are comfortable, but when you are uncomfortable…and coaching is all about (more…)