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Latest "Organizational Transformation" Posts

7 Leadership Pitfalls That Sabotage Company Growth

What’s sabotaging your growth?

Driving profitable growth is at the top of every leader’s priority list. Yet, according to Bain and Company, only 10% succeed in achieving sustainable profitable growth.

stalled growthWhile growth is the life-blood of every business, at some point, your company will experience the double edge sword of growth.

Either your company will grow faster than your internal capacity to handle it. Chaos, breakdowns and burnout are the result.

OR

Your company hits a wall and growth flattens. As a result, panic often sets in and leaders make rash decisions – either prolonging the stall or causing the company to spiral downward.

Posted by Denise Corcoran on March 23, 2016 in Company Culture, Fast Growth, Hiring Practices, Leadership Development, Leadership Performance, Organizational Performance, Organizational Transformation, Profitability.

How Great Strategic Thinking Leaders Think.

The Finale Says It All.

As a leader, how often do you find yourself …

  • Rodin
    Thinking Behind Strategic Thinking

    Overwhelmed by an overload of demands, not knowing what to respond to first?

  • Continually fighting for certainty, paralyzed by fear of the unknown?
  • Blind sighted by unforseen events that jeopardize your company’s stability and bottomline?

I’m guessing what you really want is to stop your perpetual busyness.  You want to focus on the critical few.   You want to navigate your company, amidst constant change, to its ultimate destination.

In my decades of working with leaders, I have found that the above are symptoms that a leader lacks the capacity to think strategically.

Posted by Denise Corcoran on March 4, 2014 in Change Management, Fast Growth, Goal Achievement, Leadership Performance, Mindset, Motivation, Organizational Performance, Organizational Transformation, Strategic Thinking.

When Great Company Cultures Go to the Dark Side

7 Signs Your Organization Is Headed in the Wrong Direction

Has the obsession to create a happy, engaged workforce gone toxic in your company?

shadow sideIs over-emphasizing positive thinking in your company’s culture, actually creating negativity without you even knowing it?

Is having 0% employee turnover actually a good thing to sing high praises about, or is it overshadowing another truth?

These are just a few examples of how companies, even with great cultures, can go to the dark side.

The REAL Truth About Your Company Culture & Its Hidden Shadow Side

Most great cultures are driven by handful of sacred values. 

Posted by Denise Corcoran on January 2, 2014 in Alignment, Assessments, Change Management, Company Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership Development, Leadership Performance, Organizational Performance, Organizational Transformation.

Creating a Vision That Pulls Your Company Forward

Re-Imagining New Leadership Possibilities in 2014

possibilitiesIt’s that time of the year!  Most business leaders are preparing for an executive off-site to define their company’s future direction for the new year.

Yet, in my 30 years experience of working with leadership teams and companies, the terms “vision,” “mission” and “values” are THE most overused, misunderstood and abused words in the business community today.

Vision statements, mission statements and strategic plans in many companies reduce to mere academic exercises with no real value in driving an organization forward.  Why?  Let’s take a look.

Why Most Company Visions Get an “F”:  The Big 3

  1. Your company’s vision lacks the necessary specificity and inspiration to pull your company forward.

Posted by Denise Corcoran on December 3, 2013 in Alignment, Employee Engagement, Goal Achievement, Leadership Development, Leadership Performance, Mindset, Motivation, Organizational Performance, Organizational Transformation, Vision.

My 12 “Must Read” Best Leadership Books for 2014

With the new year coming, I asked myself … what wisdom could I provide to help leaders change their game in 2014?

Most leaders’ looming questions during this time are …

•    Where do we go from here?
•    What can we do to get to the next level?
•    What are we not being that we need to be?
•    What are we not doing that we need to do?

While there are many classic leadership books that are still relevant today – like Good to Great and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – and a flooded market of other business books, I wanted to share ….

Posted by Denise Corcoran on November 30, 2013 in Fast Growth, Goal Achievement, Leadership Development, Leadership Performance, Mindset, Motivation, Organizational Transformation.

Recommended Business Book: “It’s My Company Too!”

When was the last time you heard employees taking “ownership” and responsibility for the success and sustainability of the company?

The likelihood is, maybe, 1 in a million.

While I have always been a strong proponent of the concept of employee engagement, few authors rarely go into any specific nuts and bolts about how to achieve it.  Not only do I love the fact that this book is based on actual case studies of companies who have achieved a high level of employee engagement.

The authors take engagement to a whole new level — calling it employee entanglement — with a philosophy and system for cultivating employee responsibility, accountability and a leadership mindset that drives exceptional company performance.

Posted by Denise Corcoran on October 1, 2013 in Company Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership Performance, Organizational Performance, Organizational Transformation.

The Accountable Leader: Developing the Right Practices That Ignite Performance (Part 3)

Photo Credit: David Niblack

This final part of our accountable leader series addresses my top 10 leadership and culture practices for a strong accountability organization.

Keep in mind that the 6 internal drivers, addressed in parts 1 and parts 2, account for as much as 90% of your performance and results, including accountability.  Practices by themselves, can’t drive accountability.  They can only reinforce and support a healthy accountability mindset.

From Accountability to High Performance: Top 10 Leadership and Culture Practices To Make That Giant Leap

To build a high performance organization, a strong accountability mindset and practices must be embedded into your company’s DNA.  

Posted by Denise Corcoran on in Accountability, Alignment, Company Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership Development, Leadership Performance, Organizational Performance, Organizational Transformation.

Catalyzing Company Performance With Purpose

This past week I have been preparing for a business trip in which I will be working with their leadership team on 4 core areas to drive their compelling future:  purpose, vision, identity and culture.

Purpose — different than a company’s mission — is the single most important factor driving intrinsic motivation in companies.  When your employees understand and align with THE reason why your business exists … your rallying cause … your contribution to the world that — above all else including salary, bonuses and perks — will catalyze top performance.

One of the best exercises I have seen for uncovering purpose, comes from Daniel Pink’s book, “Drive:  The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us,”  called “What’s Your One Sentence?”  Watch this 2 minute video from Daniel Pink himself, offering sample “one sentence” purpose statements from grammar school kids to adults.  

Posted by Denise Corcoran on September 4, 2013 in Alignment, Company Culture, Daniel Pink, Employee Engagement, Mindset, Motivation, Organizational Performance, Organizational Transformation, Vision.

The Accountable Leader: Developing the Right Mindset That Ignite Performance (Part 2)

In this second part of a 3 part article series, you will learn the last 3 critical internal factors that either strengthen or prevent you, as a leader, in developing a strong accountability mindset.  Namely, your identity, motivation and attitudinal patterns and emotional state.

 

Leadership accountabilityLet’s first summarize what you learned in Part 1Part 1 addressed:

  • The top 3 reasons why your leaders are struggling with accountability and under-performing teams
  • Why and how your “mindset” drives as much as 90% of your thoughts, feelings, behaviors, communications and, ultimately, results… in all areas of your leadership role, including accountability.

Posted by Denise Corcoran on August 23, 2013 in Accountability, Company Culture, Emotional Mastery, Employee Engagement, Leadership Development, Leadership Performance, Mindset, Organizational Performance, Organizational Transformation.