Every manager worries about whether their top performers are happy with their jobs. It’s an understandable concern when reports find that about 71 percent of US employees are actively looking for their next opportunity. The first solution that occurs to many managers … Read More
Author Archives: Joel Trammell
The 4 Levels of Employee Motivation
What motivates the employees at your organization to do their best work? Are they working just for a paycheck, or do they feel that they are making a positive impact in the organization—and on its customers? Over the past few … Read More
It’s Okay to Say No at Work
Imagine you have a new marketer at your company. Up and running for a few weeks now, Sarah has impressed her peers and senior employees with her insight and work ethic. This morning, she’s got several requests in her inbox: from … Read More
Why “Feedforward” Works Better Than Feedback
Imagine you have an employee—a high-level manager—who just delivered a presentation to the board. Unfortunately, his presentation went terribly wrong. It hit all the wrong notes, and you know it didn’t make a good impression on anyone in the room. … Read More
Don’t Confine Strategic Planning to the C-Suite
This post originally appeared as a Quora answer. The CEO will always retain final responsibility for leading the strategic planning process. But increasingly, knowledge workers throughout the organization must be aware of their company’s strategic plan if you expect them to … Read More
Two Types of Company Goals to Set Each Quarter
It’s usually easy for leaders to identify new initiatives for a given quarter. Whether it’s launching a product or meeting an aggressive sales goal, these are the objectives that get all the attention in the organization. They’re fresh and urgent, and people … Read More
A Goal Setting Framework for CEOs
If I’m sitting with a new CEO and I ask about the goals he’s going to set for his company next year, the response is usually something about revenue or profit. “Is that it?” I usually ask. “What about non-financial … Read More
How to Align Goals Throughout Your Organization
If you’ve been in the business world for any length of time, you understand the concept of cascading goals. First, the CEO sets goals for the company. Then the executive team uses those goals as the basis for creating their … Read More
How to Overcome Organizational Friction
In his classic text On War, first published in 1832, the Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz explores the complexities of large-scale military engagements. The book spends a whole chapter on the concept of “friction”—the accumulated difficulties of the battlefield that, as Clausewitz … Read More
How Two-Way Transparency Keeps Your Team on the Same Page
The best leaders understand that “transparency” isn’t just a buzzword. As corporate structures evolve and the world speeds up, internal information-sharing and visibility isn’t nice to have. It’s required. However, the common understanding of organizational transparency—that the CEO and top leadership team will hand down relevant information … Read More