Inward Blog

Viewing entries tagged with 'ali'

What Is The Most Important Role In An Effective Organization?

Let me cut to the chase and then explain. Every role within an organization is equally important. To be clear, I’m not talking about which role carries the most responsibility, which one has the most exposure, or which one establishes vision and strategy. I’m talking about which role is most important to the success of an organization. For an organization to reach its vision and goals, EVERYONE has to do their job. Senior leaders can develop the most compelling strategy and vision in their industry, but successful execution of that strategy depends on everyone in the organization buying into that vision. Creating a culture of high employee engagement requires everyone to do their job and do it well. It does no good to develop and manufacture a great product if the sales people don’t sell it, the logistics team doesn’t deliver it, and the accountant doesn’t bill and collect payment for it. 

Posted by Rick DeMarco at 11:00am

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Have the Courage to be Uncomfortable So You Can Make Others Comfortable!

We get used to doing things a certain way and there is great comfort in that routine and stability.  The Myers Briggs Personality Type is a great assessment tool that helps leaders understand their natural behavioral tendencies.  There are sixteen different categories, that are based on determining if someone is an extravert or an introvert, whether they perceive and understand based on sensing or on intuition, whether they form judgments and make choices based on thinking or on feeling, and whether their actions are more based on planning or taking things as they come.   But understanding our natural tendencies is only the first step in exhibiting strong leadership that drives a culture of employee engagement and inspiration.

Posted by Rick DeMarco at 11:00am

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Do you want to improve internal buy-in for major change initiatives? Start socializing your ideas internally.

I often get asked the question, "What is the biggest obstacle for gaining acceptance for internal change?” The answer is simple. Socialize your ideas and let your colleagues contribute to the outcome.

Posted by Allan Steinmetz at 11:00am

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Leadership Has Nothing to do with a Title

When I deliver workshops or keynotes on the behavior of effective leaders, I often look across the room and watch people nodding their heads in agreement and then commenting about how much better things would be if their boss would just shape up.  Although it’s great to see the agreement with these principles of effective leadership that drive team alignment, here’s the problem.  Leadership has nothing to do with title or position and everything to do with behavior.  Remember, this blog is about effective leadership and employee engagement, not about organizational structure, which is clearly defined by title and position. 

Posted by Rick DeMarco at 11:00am

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Basketball great John Wooden on leadership

John Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood," as head coach at UCLA he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period, including an unprecedented seven in a row. An old colleague/friend of mine Ralph Cutcher sent me an email reminiscing about the March Madness season. It got him thinking about John Wooden, who was a favorite leader of his when he was one of the most winningest coaches for UCLA. Wooden was famous for his quotes. Ralph’s favorite,  "Things turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out", says it all. It's a great “attitude adjuster”. Ralph went on to list a series of quotes that are attributed to John wooden which I found to be quite fascinating. I asked if it would be okay for me to share them on our blog for inspiration and contemplation and he agreed. So here they are:

Posted by Allan Steinmetz at 11:00am

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Leaders Can’t Simply Demand a Culture of Employee Engagement

There are more books written about leadership and culture than anyone could possibly read in a lifetime.  Hollywood often depicts leadership in a manner that evokes images of a strong, powerful figure issuing orders and directives that lead the team to victory.  But the reality is that as we think about the most powerful leaders in our history, we’ll note that they all had one thing in common; they were able to inspire others to share in their vision and purpose and influence them to join the movement.  Leaders like Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, William Wallace (depicted in the movie Braveheart), Nelson Mandela, and Mahatma Gandhi had no direct control over those who joined in their movement, but they had tremendous influence over them by enrolling them in their vision and delivering compelling and persuasive communications.

Posted by Rick DeMarco at 11:00am

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Happy 2015 - The Year of the Employee!

Over the last six months Inward has continued to conduct research to understand the importance of employee brand advocacy as a singular characteristic to improve customer engagement, strengthen brand loyalty and drive revenue growth. Our research has found numerous cases where companies have improved performance by investing in their employee engagement and communications.

Posted by Allan Steinmetz at 10:00am

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Join me at the Advanced Learning Institute's 2014 Strategic Internal Communications Conference

Dear Inward Colleague, 

I wanted to personally invite you to the upcoming ALI Strategic Communications Conference in Boston. It's a valuable learning experience where you'll gain access to great case histories and unique networking opportunities. Plus, I will be facilitating a conference workshop titled, Implementing New Internal Branding Processes For Improved Employee Engagement & New Employee Behavior That Supports Your Company's Goals, from 1:15pm-3:15pm on Tuesday, July 15.

If you are able to join me in July, please do so. I encourage you to take advantage of the discount below, and I hope to see you in Boston! 

-Allan Steinmetz

Posted by Allan Steinmetz at 10:00am

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Employee Loyalty and the Emotional Gap

As a leader, it can be difficult to understand what your employees really want from their jobs. Trying to deliver “happiness” is too vague and intangible, especially when each person’s definition of happiness is different. Marketing Metrix published some interesting research on employee satisfaction in the hospitality industry. The results are quite staggering.

Posted by Allan Steinmetz at 9:49am

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