Tag: leadership

My holiday wish for you

by Dan Oswald As 2014 winds to an end, it’s good to reflect on all you have accomplished this past year. Think back across the last 12 months and consider all you have done both personally and professionally. Consider the goals you set for yourself that you have crossed off the list. Examine the work […]

Train Leaders to Practice ‘Defensive Management’ Best Practices

  To recap, attorneys representing aggrieved employees in discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wage and hour, and other types of employment claims love allegations of supervisor wrongdoing because that’s the “smoking gun” they need to paint that supervisor as a villain—whose statements, acts, decisions, and omissions should result in liability for the employer. Also, such acts may […]

Are You Training Your Leaders on ‘Defensive Management’ Best Practices?

  At some point, every workplace is faced with allegations that a supervisor behaved badly. Perhaps it was a stray remark about a disability, age, or race. Or maybe they treated someone in a way that wouldn’t pass the smell test under the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Americans with Disabilities […]

Learning a lesson in fostering great workers from Google

by Dan Oswald I often talk about the characteristics of the people with whom I want to work. In their book How Google Works, Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg talk about the type of people they had at Google. And the two of them should know—Schmidt is the executive chairman and ex-CEO, and Rosenberg is […]

Give thanks for those who help bring success to your business

by Dan Oswald Fall is my favorite time of year. The weather cools, the leaves turn a beautiful array of colors, and the holiday season is here. This week we celebrate Thanksgiving, gathering with friends and family to give thanks for all the blessings in our lives. It’s more than just turkey and football or […]

Train Managers and Supervisors to Watch Their Words

  To repeat from yesterday: Isolated remarks related to an employee’s national origin may not be enough to support a claim of discrimination, but they can lead to costly lawsuits. During training, be sure that managers and supervisors understand the negative consequences of making “politically incorrect” comments. What the court said The appeals court affirmed, […]

Don’t let fear keep you from achieving your goals

by Dan Oswald “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” I came across that question in a book the other day, and it really got me thinking. I firmly believe there are many things we don’t try because we’re convinced we won’t succeed. The thinking goes, “Why even go […]

Do You Train Managers to Watch Their Words?

  Isolated remarks related to an employee’s national origin may not be enough to support a claim of discrimination, but they can lead to costly lawsuits. During training, be sure that managers and supervisors understand the negative consequences of making “politically incorrect” comments. What Happened “Akila,” an Egyptian dentist, enrolled in a 2-year dentistry program […]

Consider Community Colleges to Help You Continuously Improve Your Workforce

  Best-selling business book author Patrick Lencioni says in his latest book, The Advantage that, “The single greatest advantage any company can achieve is organizational health.” He goes on to explain that organizational health encompasses both being smart (clarity about direction, strategy, marketing, finance, and technology) and being healthy. He describes “healthy” as creating a […]

Have You Considered How Community Colleges Can Assist Your Training Program?

  Back in 2006, we started working with a highly successful company that was doing very well with sales of almost $2 billion and net income of $139 million. For the sake of this article, we’ll call it “Healthy Products.” It appeared to be doing well. Its products were viewed very positively in the marketplace. […]