Coaching is becoming one of the most effective and important activities for developing leaders in organizations. In fact, a recent poll conducted by ASTD found that 47 percent of all respondents ranked coaching and feedback as most critical to their organization’s success in the next three years. Many organizations recognize the need and value of providing coaching to leaders as part of a leadership development process. Research shows that people that have used a coach indicate that it is the single most valuable leadership development activity they have experienced. Who gets coaching? . MORE >>

With more organizations becoming aware of the importance of engagement , the media coverage of the topic has become widespread and more scholarly. This, This, however, can be a double-edged sword. In a September 3, 2011, opinion piece in the New York Times titled “Do Happy People Work Harder?” Harvard Harvard professor Teresa Amabile and researcher Steven Kramer shared some of the results from a project in which they collected more than twelve thousand diary entries from 238 employees at seven companies. Amabile and Kramer write: Managers can help ensure that people are happily engaged at work. Doing MORE >>

5 Criteria You Must Meet Before Running Your Own Employee Engagement Survey. Most leaders understand that employee engagement surveys are an important tool in helping to attract, retain, and motivate an organization’s workforce. For those that are new to the process, the threshold question is whether to go it alone and use a software platform to conduct the survey or might a managed-service scenario be a better alternative. There are pros and cons to both options. Like many, I enjoyed watching the recently completed NCAA Football playoffs – but not just the games – the ads as well. MORE >>

You know you have a problem when you start seeing leadership issues in everyday things, such as the new Star Wars Movie, Episode VII, The Force Awakens. guess that’s our lot in life. Our current research efforts here at DecisionWise are focused on the best way to define expectations in the workplace. We call it “The Contract,” which is the explicit and implicit contract (the psychological contract) that exists between an organization and its workforce. So, what does this have to do with the new Star Wars movie? At first the film received near universal praise and acclaim. Of course not. MORE >>

I teach an introductory political science class at a local university. This class utilizes an interdisciplinary approach by exploring basic economic theory, American history, and a bit of political philosophy. When introducing the section on economics, I try to reinforce the premise that economics is really the study of scarcity – what do you do when there is not enough to go around. Stated differently, economics is the social science that examines how we use limited resources to satisfy unlimited human wants. Everyone is clamoring for more. There may be a need for more talent. Of course not! MORE >>