Is change coming at you from the outside in, or the inside out? My experience in working with top leaders from business, government and education on five different continents is that the majority of change comes to us from the outside in. For example, when a new law is passed, we have to make...

No matter who you talk to or what you read, at the heart of every major issue lies the same problem. As the prison warden in Cool Hand Luke said so well, " What we've got here is ... failure to communicate."

Suppose your boss pulls you aside and tells you: "You don't have the right skills for the project."

Many leaders in large organizations manage global teams. The group may include contract workers, or team members from a merger. Face-to-face interactions aren’t always possible. Getting a group in sync with the project’s goals can be a job in and of itself. As a result of these and other obstacles,...

There is such a thing as personal power, but most people haven't encountered it even remotely. That's because their notion of personal power aims at the wrong goal. They define a powerful person as someone with money and status who can exert his will over others. Such a person is imagined to be...

The modern marketplace demands that people possess a wide range of skills. But what core qualities are truly essential to career advancement, regardless of industry or job?

Nothing worthwhile in life comes easy. You will never see success without hard work, determination and the ability to make tough decisions. Sometimes you have to be ruthless for the sake of the company, your employees and, of course, yourself.

Rarely are managers, in any field, well prepared to deal with employees who need corrective input. In fact, we’ve heard all too often how the whole idea of being critical strikes a note of "being mean," "acting arrogant," or "hurting someone’s feelings."

It’s high on the wish list of leaders: They want their employees to focus intensely on their specific roles, but also have a good grasp of the overall strategy. That way, they can see the big picture and appreciate how their work contributes to the broader goals, making them more likely to...

It's simple, influence matters. It matters in your job and your private life. In fact, influence is part of every human interaction. Just think of parents influencing their children, political or religious leaders influencing their followers, CEOs influencing employees, sales people influencing...