This column is written in honor of Richard R. Gibbs, who was the first Board Chair I worked for and who passed away during this past week. Richard was an exceptional leader and was a very supportive Board Chair of a very young Executive Director who didn’t really know what he was doing. I learned a lot from Richard and am very thankful for him in many ways. Here are some … [Read more...] about The Ideal Board Chair
Engaged & Exhausted
Employee engagement is the current Holy Grail for organizations. Many employers – including my own, the University of Maryland – are spending millions of dollars to assess employee engagement and implement programs to increase engagement. Given the research on the payoff of having an engaged workforce, these investments make sense (e.g., see extensive research by Gallup). … [Read more...] about Engaged & Exhausted
Five Questions for Better Decisions
We all face challenging decisions on the job from time to time. A recent article from Harvard Business Review* suggests answering five questions that can help clarify a decision: 1. What are the net, net consequences of all my options? 2. What are my core obligations? 3. What will work in the world as it is? 4. Who are we? 5. What can I live with? Net-Net … [Read more...] about Five Questions for Better Decisions
Ambitious Goals and Wells Fargo
In recent years, some researchers* have suggested that setting goals – especially ambitious goals – can increase the possibility of individuals taking unethical actions to accomplish those goals. The recent revelations about practices at Wells Fargo quickly come to mind. For those not following closely, here are the highlights – or lowlights. *Regulators found that the … [Read more...] about Ambitious Goals and Wells Fargo
New Year’s Reverse Bucket List
Whether you have already given up on your New Year’s Resolutions or not, here is an even more fun activity I learned about in an article by Shine – write a Reverse Bucket List. Instead of writing a list of amazing things that you “hope” to do for the rest of your life, make a list of all the amazing things you have ALREADY done – either significant accomplishments or … [Read more...] about New Year’s Reverse Bucket List