Recent Articles From EvanCarmichael.com http://www.evancarmichael.com/ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-The-Practice-of-Adaptive-Leadership-By-Ronald-Heifetz-Et-Al-Harvard-Business-2009.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-The-Practice-of-Adaptive-Leadership-By-Ronald-Heifetz-Et-Al-Harvard-Business-2009.html Dealing with change and problem solving–these tasks are at the core of what leader/managers do. But there are two distinctly different types of challenges that precipitate change and bring on problems for managers. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-Leadership-from-the-Inside-Out-Becoming-a-Leader-for-Life-by-Kevin-Cashman-BerrettKoehler-2008-ISBN-9781576755990.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-Leadership-from-the-Inside-Out-Becoming-a-Leader-for-Life-by-Kevin-Cashman-BerrettKoehler-2008-ISBN-9781576755990.html The bottom line of recent research–and of this book–is that to achieve a significant degree of mastery as a leader we must attend to mastering ourselves. This book provides a lot for all of us to consider…and then take action upon! http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/How-to-Build-Accountability-in-Your-People.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/How-to-Build-Accountability-in-Your-People.html Every manager wants his or her employees to take on personal accountability for their work performance. Here are seven concrete actions you can take to foster that sense of responsibility in your staff. The benefits of this include greater productivity, confident, engaged employees who more rapidly reach their full performance potential, and less stress on you because you know you can count on them. The big bonus benefit is that you will have more time to focus on tasks that are strategically critical to the success and growth of the enterprise. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-Joy-at-Work-A-Revolutionary-Approach-to-Fun-on-the-Job-By-Dennis-W-Bakke-PVG-2005-ISBN-0976268604.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-Joy-at-Work-A-Revolutionary-Approach-to-Fun-on-the-Job-By-Dennis-W-Bakke-PVG-2005-ISBN-0976268604.html An engaging saga about one corporate leader who decided to operate genuinely according to some universal beliefs about people and about what he felt was important in a corporation. So many of us talk this stuff. He lived it! As a result, the company experienced great business achievement and he encountered stiff push back from his Board…when economic times got tough. If nothing else, this book will challenge your thinking: what does your organization say it values? Does the enterprise really believe it? Do you? http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-Abolishing-Performance-Appraisals-Why-They-Backfire-And-What-To-Do-Instead-By-Tom-Coens--Mary-Jenkins-BerrettKoehler-2000-ISBN-1576750760.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-Abolishing-Performance-Appraisals-Why-They-Backfire-And-What-To-Do-Instead-By-Tom-Coens--Mary-Jenkins-BerrettKoehler-2000-ISBN-1576750760.html Abolishing Performance Appraisals boldly presents the skepticism shared by a growing number of managers, human resource professionals, consultants and researchers: appraisals don’t do what they are purported to do and they cause a lot of other damage in the meantime. As the authors make a strong case for getting rid of formal appraisals altogether, they also address obvious concerns around rewards, compensation, and documentation to support legal action. This is a provocative and convincing read. Prepare to have your paradigms poked. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-Primal-Leadership-Realizing-the-Power-of-Emotional-Intelligence-By-Daniel-Goleman-Richard-Boyatzis--Annie-McKee-Harvard-Business--School-Press-2002--ISBN-157851486X.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-Primal-Leadership-Realizing-the-Power-of-Emotional-Intelligence-By-Daniel-Goleman-Richard-Boyatzis--Annie-McKee-Harvard-Business--School-Press-2002--ISBN-157851486X.html While a leader's technical and cognitive skills can be developed in a fairly straight forward manner, the critical competencies based in emotional intelligence (EQ) take longer and require more persistence and, frequently, courage. This book offers steps to enhance your own EQ so that you create greater resonance—vs. dissonance—in your dealings with your staff and others in your organization. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-Finding-Our-Way-Leadership-For-an-Uncertain-Time-By-Margaret-J-Wheatley-BerrettKoehler-2005-ISBN-9781576753170.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-Finding-Our-Way-Leadership-For-an-Uncertain-Time-By-Margaret-J-Wheatley-BerrettKoehler-2005-ISBN-9781576753170.html Finding Our Way challenges us to see the enterprises we lead in new light. It presents our organizations as living, substantially self-organizing systems of interacting human beings, not elaborate machines. Tools such as performance standards, metrics, missions, goals, project plans and job descriptions can certainly guide and influence employee behavior but they cannot force it or control it. This reality can frustrate the control-oriented manager. Wheatley offers several strategies to lead effectively in such systems. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-Why-Pride-Matters-More-Than-Money-The-Power-of-the-Worlds-Greatest-Motivational-Force-By-Jon-R-Katzenbach-Crown-Business-2003--ISBN-0609610651.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-Why-Pride-Matters-More-Than-Money-The-Power-of-the-Worlds-Greatest-Motivational-Force-By-Jon-R-Katzenbach-Crown-Business-2003--ISBN-0609610651.html The book's thesis, in a nutshell: an intrinsic feeling of pride based on the relentless pursuit of worthwhile endeavors is a lasting and powerful motivating force. Reveals the powerful connection between employee pride and the effort they expend, even more the case the farther down you go in the hierarchy. Some good business examples and stories are included. Offers a valuable perspective for managers who are wondering how to motivate individual performance in their unit or enterprise. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-The-SetUpToFail-Syndrome-How-Good-Managers-Cause-Great-People-to-Fail-By-JeanFrancois-Manzoni--JeanLouis-Barsoux-Harvard-Business-School-Press-2002-ISSBN-0875849490.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-The-SetUpToFail-Syndrome-How-Good-Managers-Cause-Great-People-to-Fail-By-JeanFrancois-Manzoni--JeanLouis-Barsoux-Harvard-Business-School-Press-2002-ISSBN-0875849490.html Totally unaware, managers can become complicit in the failure of an employee. Describes the negative self-fulfilling cycle where an employee's mistake or lapse begins to shape his/her manager's overall negative view of him/her. In turn, the manager starts treating the employee as if they fit that image of a poor performer. The employee lives up (down?) to those expectation and and the relationship spirals down and down. The book offers some suggestions for managers who see the situation in action and want to "crack the syndrome." http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-The-Extraordinary-Leader-Turning-Good-Managers-into-Great-Leaders-By-John-H-Zenger--Joseph-Folkman-McGraw-Hill-2002-ISBN-0071387471.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/4354/BOOK-REVIEW-The-Extraordinary-Leader-Turning-Good-Managers-into-Great-Leaders-By-John-H-Zenger--Joseph-Folkman-McGraw-Hill-2002-ISBN-0071387471.html This is an important contribution to the field of leadership development. It presents pivotal research that shows how investing in just a few current strengths (note, not the so called "weaknesses") of your average managers can rapidly move them toward becoming extraordinary leaders. In addition, the authors make a strong case for how this shift pays off handsomely in terms of business and organizational performance results.