CategoryEmployee Engagement

Developing Talent

By Sean P. Murray
June 2, 2009
2 Min read
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The following is the third in a series of five questions and corresponding answers on leadership. (See questions #1 How to Motivate and Inspire Others? &  #2 What is the biggest Challenge for Leaders?). 3. What steps or strategies do you use to develop others? The first step is to understand what people want for themselves.  I always ask my direct reports, where do you want to be in 5 years?  It’s surprising how many leaders simply assume they know where people want to go.   I want to know...

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What is the Biggest Challenge for Leaders?

By Sean P. Murray
May 15, 2009
2 Min read
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 The following is the second in a series of five questions and corresponding answers on leadership.  (See question #1: How to Motivate and Inspire Others? ) 2. What is the biggest challenge in leading an organization? Communication is the most important and most challenging task when leading an organization.    Leaders must communicate organizational goals and strategies, especially during difficult times,  but there is also the need to communicate at a personal level with everyone in the...

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Inspiring and Motivating Others

By Sean P. Murray
May 11, 2009
3 Min read
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I was recently involved in a research project asking me to submit my views on leadership development.   The following is the first in a series of five questions and corresponding answers.  I found the exercise to be extremely useful and encourage you to come up with your own answers to these questions.  It will help you clarify your personal approach to leadership. 1. How do you inspire and motivate others when you lead? In a nutshell: communicate the mission and vision of the organization and...

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Management Challenges for the 21st Century

By Sean P. Murray
March 12, 2009
2 Min read
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In February 2008, the National Academy of Engineering proposed 14 grand engineering challenges that represent the biggest opportunity for human improvement in the next 100 years. Well, if the engineers can do it, why can’t we in management and leadership determine the greatest opportunities for human advancement through the profession of management? In May of 2008, a group of business leaders and academics met in Half Moon Bay, CA to do just that — identify the biggest challenges facing the...

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Zappos: Bribing Employees to Quit

By Sean P. Murray
March 5, 2009
3 Min read
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One of the more interesting companies to debut on the 100 Best Companies to Work For list in 2009 is Zappos, coming in at 23.  That makes Zappos the highest ranked new comer to the list this year.  What makes Zappos, an e-commerce retailer, so unique, especially among start-ups, is an early commitment to defining a culture, and then designing systems and processes that support that culture.  Take one of their Core Values, “Deliver Wow through Service.”  This is an extremely customer-focused...

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Global Quest for Talent

By Sean P. Murray
February 4, 2009
3 Min read
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I was following John Byrne’s (Editor-in-Chief of Businessweek) twitter acount and he mentioned that the most popular article on Businessweek.com today is “Microsoft: Layoffs for Some, Visas for Others:” As recently as Jan. 5, the company posted a policy proposal on President Obama’s transition Web site requesting that the government “remove caps that bar entry into the U.S. by high-skilled immigrants.” Several weeks later, on a Jan. 22 earnings conference call, the company announced plans to...

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Business Trust Report Card: D-

By Sean P. Murray
February 2, 2009
3 Min read
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Trust in business is falling like dominoes all over the economy.  Just think back over the past year.  Last year, Bear Stearns collapsed and was purchased by JPMorgan Chase for a pittance, leaving its stockholders and creditors facing steep loses.  Dock a few points from the trust barometer.   After all, Bear Stearns wasn’t some fly-by-night operation (or was it?).  It was one of the major Wall Street investment banks.  Around this time, business leaders started asking themselves, ‘if Bear...

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Managing Human Capital During An Economic Crisis

By Sean P. Murray
January 29, 2009
2 Min read
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Revenue is down, costs are increasing and your operating income is being squeezed.  When you look at your Profit & Loss Statement, one of the largest line-items (maybe THE largest line-item) is labor.  What do you do? In the past, the conventional wisdom, especially in the United States, has always been to reduce the workforce.  In fact, the U.S. economy has been widely praised for its flexible labor markets.  U.S. companies are thought to have a competitive advantage over European and...

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Blogging and Leadership

By Sean P. Murray
January 6, 2009
3 Min read
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By 2006, one could find a few early-adopter (and very brave) CEOs using blogs to communicate with their employees, customers and shareholders.  Although these were high-profile and often successful examples of leaders using this new media to communicate, it left many rank-and-file employees scratching their heads, thinking to themselves “well, that is interesting for a CEO, but I don’t ever see myself blogging at work.”  Think again. As it turns out, blogging is a very effective management tool...

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Generation X-treme

By Sean P. Murray
November 20, 2008
3 Min read
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I was recently invited to speak to a group of mid-level managers about leadership and the speaker I followed was Dr. Izzy Justice, CEO of EQMentor who spoke to the same audience about managing the different generations in the workforce.   Izzy talked about the Top 10 Reasons Gen Xers are Unhappy at Work.  Given that I fall squarely in the Generation X fold, I was interested in this research (originally published by Tammy Erickson in her Across the Ages blog).    The list is interesting and...

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