Webinar Achieving Initiative Success October 19, 2011 - 1:00 p.m. EST Register
Workshop Chief Learning Officer Breakfast Club October 20, 2011 - Boston
Letter from the editor
Welcome to the fall issue of Performance Matters.
If you are familiar with our publication, you've probably noticed the new look! Earlier this year, RWD Technologies was acquired by General Physics Corporation (GP) and now operates as the RWD Group business unit within GP.
As we
work together to provide you with best practices, industry trends, and thought leadership, like this publication, you will see the new brand emerge with a continued commitment to superior service and lasting customer satisfaction.
In addition to the new brand elements in this issue, you will see some new functionality that allows you to connect the articles to your social media channels and navigate within the publication.
An acquisition like this requires strong
leadership to ensure the organization is well aligned to execute a carefully developed plan to manage the change and integrate brands in a way that is seamless to the market.
Which is the perfect segue for the topic of this issue, leadership development.
Our authors have shared some of their experiences and suggestions for developing a "new" leader who can face the challenges of a diverse workforce and global economy.
I've also included an article that suggests we can learn something about leadership from geese and their habits - a must read!
I am excited that through this acquisition we are able to offer an expanded portfolio of solutions that will help you and your
organization succeed.
Please tell us what you think of the new look and functionality and what topics you'd like to us to cover in future issues atinfo@rwd.comor contact me directly atsmartin@gpworldwide.com.
Sue Martin Editor
Developing Future Leaders - A Universal Challenge by Andrew Freedman
You're not alone if your orgnaization is challenged with developing future leaders.
Making commitments to your subordinates and then living up to those commitments demonstrates your dedication to your team and its success. Since teams take their cues on how to behave from their leaders, demonstrating your commitment to your team will inspire the same from them.
Do you think geese could teach us something about being good leaders? You might be surprised by some of these facts about geese and the lessons we could learn from them.
Collaboration: Make It More Than Wishful Thinking by Dave Roitman
While there is a lot of talk about collaboration across organizational boundaries, the barriers are still formidable. Structural impediments include performance reviews that emphasize functional objectives and management incentives emphasizing business-unit, rather than enterprise, results. Organizational designs, like matrix management, that support cross-boundary collaboration have a bad reputation, partly because they are difficult to execute. And many organizational cultures perpetuate spin and information hoarding rather than the straight talk and information sharing required by cross-boundary collaboration.
On their way to the top of the management ladder, 80 per cent of CEOs ascribe the receipt of a large part of the learning and support they acquired to having a mentor — someone to help them understand what is needed in behaviour, experience or track record to move up a rung or two; to be a sounding board when there are difficult choices to make; and occasionally to goad them into tackling issues they might otherwise have avoided. Read this article from Clutterbuck Associates about how managers at the top have had to rethink their own attitudes to learning.
What makes a great leader? What do they do that is so different? What traits do they have that helps them excel at this high level? There are specific traits that great leaders have in common. These traits can be learned and developed.
