My grandma has an amazing social network, all of it in the real world, not electronic. This month is Grandma’s month; she turned 91.

She still lives in her own home. She is alert, peppy and the most pragmatic woman I have ever met in my life. I have tremendous respect for Grandma. She has taught me many life lessons. One of them is that a little bit of risk is really worth taking. At 88 she fulfilled a dream of getting a ride on a 4 wheeler. ”I just always thought it would be fun” she told me. She had a blast. read more »

Hopefully, every manager is a leader. Certainly not every leader is a manager. I have mentioned The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner previously in this blog. Their #7 of the Ten Commitments of Leadership is, “Set the example by behaving in ways that are consistent with shared values.” I strongly believe that the “Attitude Starts at the Top.” If leaders set a good example with the decisions they make and the way they communicate those decisions, then the behavioral tone is set for the whole organization. If you need great leadership, then you must cultivate leadership all the time! read more »

Many companies take their succession planning and talent management more seriously these days. One challenge I often hear from our customers is that the bench for leaders may not be deep enough for the future. This should send a strong message to the recruiting department and hiring managers throughout the organization. I encourage our people to hire for the job they have today and the leaders they want to have in the future, even when not hiring a manager. read more »

In one of my previous blogs, I wrote about the skills gaps in our workforce and raised the issue of the stripped out middle management level of our organization charts where development toward senior leadership often occurs. I received a lot of feedback. One of my friends, who must be kept anonymous because he does consulting for management in India and doesn’t want to offend anyone, described some real nightmares of flat org charts. read more »

While attending the SHRM Strategy Conference in Palm Springs last week I saw a couple of recurring themes. One theme was the huge skills gap that employees have to close before they become leaders, especially senior leaders. The other was the fact that the latest financial crises is moving out the target retirement date for many people as their investment portfolios are ripped up on Wall Street. read more »