Human Capital Insights | Leadership (2)

5 Steps in a Leader’s Journey through Operational Excellence Transformation

Every leader today faces business situations where they need to apply a variety of frameworks, tools, and systems for the sustainable improvement of key performance metrics. The situations might range across multiple disciplines, such as manufacturing, sales & marketing, research & development, etc., but the need for leadership aptitude and discipline stays the same. It begins with a company’s vision, which transforms into a strategy and ultimately breaks down into programs and projects. The industry-specific issues, scale, and technicalities will differ based on the ecosystem that a leader is operating, such as a start-up, a large corporation, or local government, but the underlying principles and the business acumen required for the successful execution of operational excellence projects stays the same, for the most part. Learn more about the typical journey of a corporate leader through an operational excellence transformation.

Topics: Leadership, Organizational Alignment & Effectiveness

The Importance of Strategic Human Capital Planning

Posted by Joanne Flynn

It’s never too early to start managing people, your most important asset. Increase the ROI of your people investment. Focus on improving financial results by unlocking human capital potential.

We recently held a Lunch & Learn in partnership with the Arizona Technology Council on September 25, 2014.

Start-up and high-growth companies, by their very nature, are fast-paced and change continually. Every person in every role will make a critical, strategic difference. There is no room for error and no place to hide. During the Lunch & Learn with the Arizona Technology Council, attendees learned how to take a disciplined approach to strategic human capital planning focusing on business agility and unlocking the strength of your people.

Topics: Phoenix Strategic Performance, Leadership, Soft Skills

4 Employee Transition Phases During the Change Management Process

Posted by Joanne Flynn

Leadership Landscape: Identifying & Understanding the Subtleties of Transition Leadership

Today, we are experiencing unprecedented change in ways we could not have imagined. One day, life was normal, and the next day we were dealing with a ‘new normal’ for which there was no blueprint. This is discontinuous change at its finest. During this time, change leadership skills are more important than ever before. Managing people whom you will need to bring with you on the change journey and critical thinking through your business operations that need to adapt to our new VUCA reality are the ‘new normal.’ This is the new reality. Our old reality is gone.

The Internal People Side of Change Management: Transition Leadership and the Change Trajectory

Transition Leadership: Dealing with how employees transition through the phases of change.

Transition Leadership focuses on the people side of change management. Transition Leadership requires the leader to go far beyond the processes used in change management to the gray area dealing with employees’ emotional reactions and responses to change. Here the leader must fully understand the psychology of how change impacts the organization at the individual level.

Topics: Change Management, Leadership

3 Types of Leaders Managing the Change Process

Posted by Joanne Flynn

Leadership Landscape: Beware of the External Horizon

Of the many facets of Change Management, this focuses on the leader, the environment, change, and the process responses required for success.

Some leaders make things happen - The Proactives
Some leaders watch what happens - The Passives
Some leaders wonder what happened? – The Reactives

Our first focus will be on the knowledge and skill sets required to manage the elements of change coming from outside the organization. Think of it this way - no one else in the organization can do this but you, the leader.

Here’s what we mean by Change Management: Change Management deals with change that comes at an organization from the external environment. That external environment can be external to a division while still internal to the organization. From completely outside the organization, other changes can come from industry, competition, regulation, government, etc.

Topics: Change Management, Leadership

5 Trending Leadership Competencies on the Horizon

Posted by Joanne Flynn

You can’t escape all the literature, conversation, and often just ‘noise’ around the topic of leadership. We hear what leadership is, what it isn’t, what it was, and what it will be.

In the current operating environment, there is no substitute for quality leadership. Leadership is required on both a process and people level. Let's take some time to focus on the five emerging skills and competencies around future-focused leadership.

Organizational Agility for Business Readiness and Responsiveness
‘Altrocentric’ Leadership - Soft Skills: Renewed, Refreshed and Revisited
Managing the External Side of Change Management: The Organizational Journey
Managing the Internal Side of Transition Management: The Individual Journey
Leader as Corporate Steward - Risk Management

Why is the topic of leadership getting so much attention today? Our world and our organizations are living in a new reality, and there is no more escaping this point. Old organizational paradigms that have served us for the past 50 years are quickly approaching their ‘sell by’ date. Our new reality results from the aggregate effect of change converging at multiple levels? Too many people, it seems so sudden. It’s not so sudden!

Topics: Leadership