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As a leader working towards complex goals, you likely find yourself giving directions, explaining, checking for understanding, setting expectations, and the like.  You think you’re doing everything right and thus find it incomprehensible when things don’t quite go according to plan. Deadlines are slipping, quality is poor, and you wonder what happened. Your mind naturally...

Talentism ran an analysis a few years ago of 90 failed strategic initiatives and missed plans at growth companies. More than 80% of CEOs at those companies blamed bad hiring: employees with a lack of capabilities or character, or both. In a pre-pandemic study, it appeared that laziness was endemic in the workforce. 75% of...

The human species didn’t plan to use fire. Fire happened. It was probably scary. And then someone or some group decided to see what they could do with it. The wheel didn’t happen because a genius set out to make one. Someone made a mistake and got confused. Instead of dropping the whole business and...

The current talent market is full of contradictions. Candidates getting multiple offers while companies conduct sweeping layoffs. People “quiet quitting” in droves while there’s more opportunity than ever for flexibility. Yet one thing hasn’t changed: the mistaken belief that hiring “A-players” will solve everything. Steve Jobs famously insisted on hiring A-players. This philosophy had enormous...

Do you find yourself experiencing any of the following? Team members or vendors coming to you with deliverables that are meaningfully different from what you asked for Employees missing the “big picture,” and spending too much time on trivial things you’d mentioned in passing Employees misinterpreting your curiosities or suggestions as directives Being surprised by...

Transcript below, for those of you who prefer reading over listening! Angie Jeff, one of the things that we’re hearing a lot from our clients is they see themselves in this moment as wartime CEOs, wartime generals… or they’re hearing investors say that they’re now in a wartime situation versus a peacetime situation. What do...

Seeking clarity is an ongoing process of reorientation amidst change. How do we take action in ways that keep our businesses afloat and teams functioning, protecting against downside while setting ourselves up for success? Many of the world’s greatest companies were born in major downturns, and others adapted and found new ways to drive business...