The End of “High Potential” Employees: What Does It Mean for You?

My doctor Michael Sdao practices what he terms “evidence-based” medicine: he puts his faith primarily in approaches and procedures that have been validated by substantiated research. While it’s not necessarily the most daring of approaches,  in the main the outcomes (knock on wood) have been pretty good.

Organizations, on the other hand, are pretty hit and miss as it pertains to using human capital systems and processes that have been validated by evidence based research.Read the rest

[Coaching Tips] The Secret to Your Success

While the exact formula for what makes someone successful in work over a period of time is still cloudy, the outlines through research are taking shape. Those outlines can begin to inform who you hire, who you work with, and – if you’re prone to introspection – what your own personal profile looks like.

These trends and factors didn’t just pop-up today: in some cases, as in the importance of emotional intelligence, they’ve been building for decades as the old control and command models of management gave way to greater teamwork and collaboration norms.Read the rest

How to Think about Building Out A Start-Up

There is a quote someplace about “don’t sweat the details.”

When it comes to company building, though, sweating the details is what separates those that thrive – and survive– from start-up road kill. It’s exactly doing those (thoughtful) details that break or make a new company, not only the big picture stuff that might have sparked the launch.

That point was driven home working with a client this past week: successful over their first few years of existence the firm is at a point where they’re past start-up “survival mode” and focused on the things that will sustain them for years to come.Read the rest

[The Lure of “Can’t Miss” Talent] How Do You Measure Heart & Chutzpah?

Like the song of the Sirens , for some people the “right” backgrounds or the “right” personality test scores suggest “can’t miss” – the certainty that someone who comes from certain schools, certain environments, certain zip codes, or certain Meyers-Briggs personality profiles will be predictably successful.

You’d be wrong: predicting success in business or life does just doesn’t work that way.Read the rest

Naismith’s Pride: Teamwork Spells Success

Eight United States teams – four men’s and four women’s – of sweaty, baggy-shorted collegiate basketball players will be running up and down a wooden court that is 94 feet long and 50 feet wide trying to claim the winner’s trophy in what’s known as basketball’s Final Four over the next few days.

Basketball, more than any other sport, is the ultimate team experience: nothing else comes close in the way five players must play well together and the lessons for business are endless.Read the rest