Power Plays: How to Use Your Power Wisely
Power is one of the unspoken realities of the workplace - who has power, who doesn't, and why? CCL's Vidula Bal and Michael Campbell share insights from a new study of power and leadership. (more...)
Do the Right Thing
10 Rules for Leading Ethically
It's been all too easy to criticize the unethical behaviors of business and political leaders these days. But if your company isn't among those generating scandal and scorn, consider yourself warned. (more...)
Betrayed? 7 Steps for Healing
A co-worker breaks a confidence. A teammate takes credit for your work. Another reorganization - and another round of layoffs - is in the works. It's easy to see how business as usual can feel like betrayal as usual. (more...)
MUSINGS: What About Openness?
We say we value openness among our colleagues. But as team leaders, are we ready to hear what we do not want to hear? (more...)
 Exclusively for myCCL Premium Subscribers:
Leadership Lessons: A CCL Development Series
Tough Road Ahead? It Might Be Good For You
Challenges come our way -- some are sought; others are hurled at us.
At CCL, we've interviewed hundreds of leaders about their challenges and how they learned from experience. We've surveyed many more to better understand the learning opportunities in their current jobs. This research, along with our work with leaders in organizations around the globe, shows that you can use tough times to your benefit.
The key is to look closely at your current and potential challenges and turn them into what CCL calls "developmental assignments." These are roles and activities that provide you opportunities for learning new skills, trying new behaviors and improving on weaknesses. They usually involve an element of challenge or risk. (more...)
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Did you know ...
Top Execs Have a Rosier View of Strategy
Senior-level leaders think more highly of their company's strategic direction than lower-level managers. This may not be surprising, but it is significant, says CCL's Kate Beatty.
"Research has consistently shown that people in the most senior positions of an organization have a rosier view of the organization than do lower-level managers," says Beatty. "This gap also holds true when people are asked about strategy."
"Strategy is the core message that sets direction for decisions and actions. The difference in opinion is significant because it suggests that people are not on the same page," says Beatty. "The difference could simply be due to a lack of effective communication about the strategy. But it may also be due to the fact that those closest to the customer and operations see problems with the strategy or gaps in how it is being implemented."
"One of the most important aspects of a strategic leader's job is to uncover these differing perceptions and use them to shape the strategy and how it is communicated going forward," Beatty adds.
Beatty is co-author of Becoming A Strategic Leader and a creator of CCL's Developing The Strategic Leader program. In March 2005, CCL surveyed nearly 250 people about the relationship between strategy and daily work in their organizations. One of the most interesting and important findings involved a significant difference between how senior executives versus middle and lower-level managers responded to the poll questions.
For example, in responding to the statement "In our organization, people regularly and realistically assess our organizational strengths and weaknesses," 64 percent of top managers and executive managers agreed or strongly agreed, whereas only 41 percent of first-level and middle managers agreed with the statement, and 46% disagreed. A similar division was also evident in questions relating to the vision, strategic priorities and culture and leadership behaviors of organizations.
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