The Linkage Blog is just one way to stay up-to-date on the latest developments in leadership. In fact, we post a ton of useful info on our various social media channels every day as well. Check us out on: Talk to us on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook. Link up with us on LinkedIn. Watch our latest YouTube videos. LinkedIn Facebook Twitter email.

“After an amazing Super Bowl, Pete Carroll is looking like a lot of CEOs these days,” writes Rob Pait in his insightful article titled Requiem For a Gambler: Why Pete Carroll Wasn’t Wrong. He made the wrong call. Or did he? “As most of America knows, Pete Carroll is the coach of the Seattle Seahawks. In Sunday’s Super Bowl game against the New England Patriots, his team had a golden opportunity to win the game in the last minute. The Patriots intercepted the pass, ran out the clock, and won the game and the title. The play was a gamble. Carroll admitted as much after the game.

We here at Linkage think about inclusive leadership A LOT! And as you can see from our recent blog posts, our consultants have lots of ideas on how to help organization be more inclusive. Lonney Gregory writes in his post: What is the inclusion solution? Inclusion means different things to different people, but for me inclusive leadership always boils down to mission and performance. Inclusion by definition means “involve as a factor” and “being part of the whole.” And that’s why I say “It’s about time!” to Intel’s commitment to diversity. If not, Linkage can help. Learn more here.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015 1:00 PM EST. Employee Resource Groups are the cornerstone of many diversity and inclusion strategies. As a result, many organizations are focused on effectively aligning ERGs with organizational business imperatives. In this webinar, we will share best practices for launching, relaunching, and/or managing your ERGs for maximum impact. Robin Pedrelli has over 15 years of experience in diversity and inclusion, curriculum development, product development, training, and strategic development. LinkedIn Facebook Twitter email. Free Webinars Upcoming Webinars

Tracking the most popular posts of the year helps us continue to improve—and sparks some friendly competition between our bloggers too! Linkage Executive Vice President Susan Brady’s posts on Coaching your Inner Critic (and publishing a book on the subject too!) made big news on the blog in 2014. But all of the following posts made an impact. Take a minute to peruse our most popular posts below and tell us what you want to learn more about in 2015 in the comments box. 1. Coaching your Inner Critic. Leadership lessons from Star Trek. How to give feedback like a Zen Master.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015 1:00 PM EST. Employee Resource Groups are the cornerstone of many diversity and inclusion strategies. As a result, many organizations are focused on effectively aligning ERGs with organizational business imperatives. In this webinar, we will share best practices for launching, relaunching, and/or managing your ERGs for maximum impact. Robin Pedrelli has over 15 years of experience in diversity and inclusion, curriculum development, product development, training, and strategic development. LinkedIn Facebook Twitter email. Free Webinars Upcoming Webinars

All of us have been involved with large-scale change initiatives where the ROI isn’t as expected. The reasons those change initiatives fail can be summed up in three simple statements: Lack of proper planning. Ineffective program management or execution. Lack of employee understanding and buy-in. believe that the last one—lack of employee understanding and buy-in—is the most important to focus on. William Bridges gave a name to what leaders need to do in addressing the people side of change. He referred to it as transition management. Change is an event; it is situational. Change can be hard.

Tracking the most popular posts of the year helps us continue to improve—and sparks some friendly competition between our bloggers too! Please take a minute to check out some of our most popular posts and tell us what you want to learn more about in future posts in the comments box below. Presence Matters. We’ve all met people (often leaders) who just seem to have that special something that distinguishes them from the crowd. And oftentimes that special something is simply…leadership presence. They look and act, and even feel confident, competent, powerful, and self-assured. IQ gets you hired.

The most-viewed blog post in March explores subjects that we all can relate to—stress, work, being too busy, and getting stuff done, etc. And the cool thing is our new “Blogger of the Month” Marty Jordan provides real insight on how calming down, being mindful, and taking time to think can make you a better leader. But the truth is all of the top 5 posts of the month can help you be a better leader. 1. Be still and be a better leader By Marty Jordan. Pico’s book reinforces the fact that our brains need quiet time and space to create.” ” Continue reading. 2.

Studies show that more women than men work in healthcare and academic medicine, yet men hold the majority of senior leadership roles. “I can tell you from firsthand experience that this is a very real problem,” says Margaret Gyetko, M.D., Senior Associate Dean at the University of Michigan Medical School. “As a physician, and as a dean, I’ve been the only woman in the meeting or at my level for most of my career. wish I had an opportunity early on to look up and see other women leading the way, to ask questions and learn from them”. Over 400 women are expected to attend. Learn more here.

Seth Godin writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership, and most of all, changing everything. His books (that have been translated into over 35 languages including Linchpin , Tribes , The Dip and Purple Cow  to name only a few) are wildly popular, and he’s a pretty influential guy. So, seeing  longtime GILD faculty Bill Strickland’s autobiography mentioned on Seth Godin’s end-of-the-year book and audio roundup makes us proud. Bill Strickland is a mover and a shaker who’s making a real and lasting impact in the world.

Our team here gets pretty fired up when we have the opportunity to partner with organization’s committed to leveraging their talent to create lasting impact in their business, their community, and in the world around us. So, over the course of next several months, we are going to share a select number of stories with you—stories highlighting organizations committed to creating a brighter future by investing in their leaders. Our hope is that these tales of discovery and growth will help you think differently about what’s possible for you and your team this year. LinkedIn Facebook Twitter email.

Wednesday, January 28th at 1:00 PM EST. In order to stay ahead of the competition, individuals and teams must be creative and innovative. The key to success is engaging in ways of thinking that inspire breakthroughs. Science and technology rely on skills and talent to create possibilities, and through science we have discovered proven tools that inspire teams and individuals to develop innovative behaviors. This session will explore ways to uncover hidden talents on your team leading to developing an innovation mindset. In this session, learn: 1.  Leadership skills that encourage innovation. 2.

“Can you teach our Boomers how to use social media and the iPad?”. How can we encourage our Millennials to stop texting and develop better verbal communication skills?”. When the Boomers finally retire, will Gen Xers be ready to lead the organization?”. These are the questions that typically surface when dealing with the issue of generations in the workforce. Of course, underlying these superficial inquiries is the issue of culture, but it’s surprising how much time and energy is spent by organizations at the “tip of the iceberg” when attempting to solve the “generations dilemma.”.

Early in my career I got to be the chauffeur and tour guide during the company president’s annual visit to our branch office. As we got to know each other during the course of his visit, he asked me what I was best at. didn’t really have a great answer. So he volunteered that he was great at conceptual thinking and handling really difficult concepts. He thought that I was pretty good at that as well. But he was even better, he said, at organizing people. He then asked whether I had ever had the chance to manage a large number of people. I had. He asked how I organized them. We can help.

As a young conductor Roger Nierenberg was always amazed to witness how a great maestro could so quickly have such a transforming effect on an orchestra. Within minutes the music would come to life with a new vibrancy and spirit. It was like magic. He He could find no other explanation than the conductor’s charismatic personality and inexplicable mastery. He He desperately wanted to understand–and to discover–whether such compelling leadership could ever be learned. He concluded that great conducting can’t be taught. But he There are no silver bullets–no quick fixes to upgrade your leadership. But

The traditional approaches to innovation don’t have a lasting effect. They create a lot of wasted energy and yield a low return on investment. What if there were a way to improve your innovation ROI tenfold so that you could out-innovate the competition? There is. The answer is challenge-centered innovation. Instead of focusing on ideas, opinions, or suggestions, you focus on finding solutions to important business challenges. Learn how to: Reframe challenges in a way that leads to better solutions. Find previously undiscovered solutions to your most pressing challenges.

Diversity = money. It’s a pretty simple equation according to a fascinating story by Austin Siegemund-Broka on diversity in the entertainment industry in The Hollywood Reporter. Hollywood’s racial and gender diversity is increasing,” writes Siegemund-Broka. “’But it’s not increasing quickly enough,’ says Darnell Hunt, lead author of the second annual Hollywood Diversity Report by UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies. The U.S. Audiences, regardless of their race, are clamoring for more diverse content,’ says co-author Ana-Christina Ramon.”.

In order to stay ahead of the competition, individuals and teams must be creative and innovative. The key to success is engaging in ways of thinking that inspire breakthroughs. Science and technology rely on skills and talent to create possibilities, and through science we have discovered proven tools that inspire teams and individuals to develop innovative behaviors. This session will explore ways to uncover hidden talents on your team leading to developing an innovative mindset. In this session, learn: 1.  Leadership skills that encourage innovation. 2. Follow him on Twitter.

In his www.hbr.org piece titled Get the Most Out of Executive Coaching , Steven Berglas writes, “…Whether it’s a smoking cessation program or working with a coach to improve management skills, people claim they want to change or drop dysfunctional behaviors from their lives, but then fight like Ninja warriors to defend them. What, then, should you do if you think you want to change, and, like so many of your peers, put your faith (and a huge financial commitment) in a coach? Is it possible to develop an authentic commitment to executive coaching through sheer willpower alone?

What do you think of when you hear the word feedback? Do you think of ongoing opportunities for learning and growth or  the (often dreaded and now antiquated) annual performance review process? According to professor, researcher, and McKinsey award-winning author Tammy Erickson, it depends on your generation. Regardless of whether you think it’s good or bad, you can’t avoid it. Giving feedback is actually pivotal to leading effectively and is becoming more critical in today’s multigenerational workforce. In this short clip, Tammy sat down with us to explain why. LinkedIn Facebook Twitter email.

I loved reading How to Build a Meaningful Career by Amy Gallo on the Harvard Business Review website recently. And I agree when she writes: “Everyone aspires to have purpose or meaning in their career but how do you actually do that? What practical steps can you take today or this month to make sure you’re not just toiling away at your desk but you’re doing something you genuinely care about? What the experts say. Unfortunately, most of us don’t know how to make the job decisions that lead to satisfaction. But rarely are those the things that translate to satisfaction. Am I being challenged?

Over the last 12 months, I’ve spoken in front of thousands of people at dozens of companies about coaching the Inner Critic. Many of these gatherings have been hosted by corporate affiliate groups designed to bring together women managers and leaders. While not all women have appetites to think or talk about their Inner Critic, (I’ve even had women tell me they don’t have one) we now have evidence that most women WANT to work on this aspect of themselves – and they especially need to do so at work. The conclusion? We women have work to do. So what does your Inner Critic say to you?

Her colleagues have described her as the Queen of Culture—and as a leader, sponsor, mentor, role model, trailblazer, and staunch advocate for women. She’s famous for settling a heated negotiation early in her career with a bushel of tomatoes (more on that later). Meet Jeannine Rivet , Executive Vice President at UnitedHealth Group (UHG) and this year’s Executive Impact Award winner. Humble Beginnings: “Some is luck, some is the right place at the right time, and some is just plain risk”. But her start—more than 40 years ago at Rhode Island Hospital—was far from glamorous.

This is the final installment of our three-part series on improving employee engagement. Click here to start from the beginning.—Ed. We’ve talked about encouraging employee growth, development, and engagement by conducting “ stay interviews ” and providing feedback , but it’s also critical to involve your employees in their development as well. To do that you should: Involve Your Team! Meet with your team and go over the latest customer satisfaction scores. Ask them to suggest things they can do individually and collectively to create a better customer service experience.

Let’s play word association. When When I say the word “failure,” what words come to mind? Are Are any of them positive? Doubtful. Yet “failure,” or better yet, the ability to learn from “failure” is a huge factor in an organization’s ability to innovate. And And as Jon Gertner’s Fast Company article “The Truth About Google X: An Exclusive Look Behind The Secretive Lab’s Closed Doors” explains, being free to fail is absolutely critical to any organization’s ability to succeed. Astro Teller is sharing a story about something bad. Or maybe it’s something good. Not a trivial amount.’

In her work as the Executive Director of the Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology and Chief of the Division of Women’s Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Dr. Paula Johnson’s groundbreaking work and interdisciplinary research and education has made a significant impact in women’s health, academic medicine, and leadership. As you can see in the following video, she’s a pioneer in the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease and developed one of the first facilities in the country to focus on heart disease in women.

Tuesday, December 16th at 1:00 PM EST. Recruiters and hiring managers around the United States are wondering how the new Section 503 Regulations of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) will affect their talent search and current processes. Join us on Tuesday, December 16th, at 1:00 PM EST to learn key issues, opportunities, and best practices for recruiting and hiring individuals with disabilities following the introduction of this legislation. During this one-hour session, you will gain an understanding of: These new regulations. LinkedIn Facebook Twitter email.

Linkage consultants Charley Morrow and Abri Holden are dedicated to helping organizations be more inclusive. And they’ll be sharing some concrete techniques they’ve developed to help organizations Build and Measure a Culture of Inclusion at the Forum on Workplace Inclusion in Minneapolis, Minnesota, next week. You’ll have to be in Minneapolis to learn firsthand all they know about this very important topic. Inclusive leadership can be a complicated topic. But it’s also one of the most important leadership challenges of our time that’s too important to ignore anymore.

Monday, April 20, 2015 1:00 PM EDT. In an earlier Linkage webinar delivered by Lonney Gregory , we explored behaviors critical to develop an innovative mindset and stimulate creativity. In order to stay ahead of the competition, individuals and teams must be creative and innovative. But, these behaviors alone won’t guarantee success. But what if you could hedge your bets on innovation and increase the likelihood of success; would you do it? Of course. Learn how to: Identify market opportunities using one of the most profound approaches for understanding what consumers and non-consumers want.

In my last post , I shared that if we women don’t stop the madness of feeling like we are not good enough, or believing that those around us at work and at home aren’t doing it right (leaving us with no choice but to step in to control it all, step back and critique, or BOTH) then we will see little progress in our efforts to advance both professionally and personally. This is why learning how to coach your Inner Critic is so important and why I wrote  The 30-Second Guide to Coaching Your Inner Critic. The fuel is contempt and the noise sounds a lot like criticism. The result?

When it comes to building and running a business, the only real constant is change, and the speed of change is only increasing. But as Linkage’s resident change expert Mitchell Nash explains in this short video, learning how to manage the practical elements of change is only part of the solution. Successful leaders must also manage the emotional elements of how people react for the desired change to have a sustained and positive impact. Push play to learn more. How are you and your organization coping with constant change? We can help. LinkedIn Facebook Twitter email.

Recent research shows that one reason women are under-represented at the senior leadership level is that they are “just not seen as leaders” or “lack executive presence.” Join Kate Nugent, Director of Product & Training at The Ariel Group, as she explores the foundational skills and behaviors of executive presence and shares practical strategies women can use to show up and communicate with more power and impact. In this webinar you will learn: A four-part behavioral model of presence. Common presence pitfalls women face on the path to leadership. LinkedIn Facebook Twitter email.

We are thrilled to announce that Carla Harris will be joining us as co-chair of this year’s Women in Leadership Institute ™. Carla is a 29-year Wall Street veteran, author, and singer who is currently Vice Chairman, Wealth Management, Managing Director and Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley. She took the stage for the first time at our event last year to share her “Pearls of Wisdom” with the 700+ leaders in the room. Her undeniable energy brought enthusiasm and excitement to all who joined. She even encouraged us to fail—so that we can ultimately be better.

There are no “magic bullets” or “secret formulas” to successful, results-oriented leadership. However, we’ve identified 5 core disciplines that successful leaders share. And each of the following disciplines can be learned and improved upon. It simply takes commitment and practice. 1. Have a clear picture. Successful leaders have a clear and exact understanding of their organization and its context. This may sound obvious but it’s just too important to gloss over. Successful leaders know what’s going on in their organization. They They know what’s happening in the competitive marketplace. They

Ronald Heifetz, the father of adaptive leadership, made the observation that organizations and their leaders “feel pressure to solve problems quickly, to move to action.” We live and work in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world that demands our quick response. Additionally, Additionally, our culture is driven by winning and achieving financial success. It is easy to see how we often find ourselves perpetually rushed and in a hurry to get to the next thing—there’s always something demanding our attention just around the corner. Let me explain…. Unclear on Strategy.

How will you think about and plan for what’s next for you this year? The adage: leadership is a journey, not a destination has proven true time and time again. That’s probably why topics like self-awareness and emotional intelligence seem to stay top of mind for you, our readers. We each have the opportunity to create a remarkable, lasting impact on the world around us—and to transform how we show up every day—as spouses, partners, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, and friends. IQ gets you hired. Emotional intelligence gets you promoted. The toxic effects of communication triangulation.

Truth be told, there is a shortage of leaders who inspire employees to be their best at work. Even though our intentions are good, we all make mistakes that disengage others. And we know that employees who feel that they belong and are valued for their uniqueness are more engaged. In this short video (the first in our three-part series), Linkage’s Charley Morrow shares a common barrier that impacts our ability to fully engage our teams—unconscious bias. How do you successfully engage your team? What advice do you have for a new manager just starting out with a team?  .

The key element of every organization’s culture is simple communication. And nothing is more critical to internal communication than an organization’s management information system, i.e. how management communicates with the organization. But many individuals who grow into leadership positions often assume that management information systems can’t be changed or altered.  Even worse, some assume that people don’t need to know key things about how the organization works or doesn’t work and they begin to limit information disseminated to their employees. They are deliberately being ambiguous.

When it comes to the value of inclusive leadership in the workplace the research is pretty clear: “ High turnover costs associated with diverse work groups can be significantly reduced when leaders develop a high overall level of inclusiveness in their relationships with group members.” ” –Cornell University Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies. “ Higher levels of inclusion were related to increased job satisfaction and a higher sense of well-being.” ” –Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute. Sounds like a recipe for business success, right?

As a consultant, I sometimes work with clients to help them create their Leadership Timeline that essentially paints a picture of their life as a leader. Linkage encourages the leaders we work with to look at the highs and lows of their life, diagram them, and look for themes and insights to emerge. The objective is to strengthen their leadership by understanding what makes them a leader (and the person) they are. This exercise helps the leaders we work with understand themselves and, by revisiting and editing key moments, it also helps them understand and adapt in the face of adversity.

Margaret Gyetko, M.D., Professor, Senior Associate Dean at the University of Michigan Medical School knows what it’s like to be the only woman in the meeting or at her level for most of her career in healthcare. As As you’ll see in the video clip below, she knows how difficult it can be for a woman leader in healthcare, and how valuable it is to meet, network, and learn from other women navigating their leadership journey in healthcare and academic medicine. It takes place on March 30, 2015, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Over 400 women are expected to attend. L imited space is still available.

We’re fortunate to work with leaders every day who ignite lasting and impactful change on their teams, organizations, and communities. Each year, excitement grows here at our Boston headquarters as stories of inspiration, renewal, and change start pouring in for consideration in our Executive Impact Award. We take pride in carefully selecting and recognizing an executive who has demonstrated a deep commitment to advancing women leaders in her/his organization—and goes above and beyond her or his role to make a difference. Share his or her passion and drive for change by nominating them today.

Wednesday, January 28th at 1:00 PM EST. In order to stay ahead of the competition, individuals and teams must be creative and innovative. The key to success is engaging in ways of thinking that inspire breakthroughs. Science and technology rely on skills and talent to create possibilities, and through science we have discovered proven tools that inspire teams and individuals to develop innovative behaviors. This session will explore ways to uncover hidden talents on your team leading to developing an innovation mindset. In this session, learn: 1.  Leadership skills that encourage innovation. 2.

Tuesday, December 16th at 1:00 PM EST. Recruiters and hiring managers around the United States are wondering how the new Section 503 Regulations of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) will affect their talent search and current processes. Join us on Tuesday, December 16th, at 1:00 PM EST to learn key issues, opportunities, and best practices for recruiting and hiring individuals with disabilities following the introduction of this legislation. During this one-hour session, you will gain an understanding of: These new regulations. LinkedIn Facebook Twitter email.

[This is part 1 of a 4-part series on developing and improving your inclusive leadership skills.—Ed.]. By Charley Morrow. The NFL has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately. But, after a conversation I had with a colleague recently, I’ve also come to realize that a successful football team is a perfect illustration of the positive impact a diverse workforce and an inclusive leader can have on an organization. Let me explain: First of all, it’s important to remember that diversity and inclusion are usually mentioned together, but they are in fact very different things. Everything.

This is part two of our three-part series on improving employee engagement. Click here to start from the beginning.—Ed. You don’t need a training budget or a formal training program to help employees gain new knowledge and learn new skills. The best learning often happens on the job, and studies show that some of the most engaged and successful employees are those who are encouraged to grow and are involved in key decisions. As I wrote about in part 1 , a great way to encourage employee growth and development is to conduct “stay interviews” with each employee so you can help them grow.

The hustle and bustle of the holiday season has subsided. Chances are good that you’re back at your desk, fully immersed in everything that the start of the New Year brings. If you’re like us, you’ve got plans for the year outlined in a PowerPoint deck and have dutifully shared them with a myriad of stakeholders. You’re off to the races, right? Yes, and in order to lead your team to a successful 2016, now is the time to commit to regular coaching conversations. This encourages candid dialogue, creates a space for feedback, and ensures alignment around the direction of the business.