As your company grows too big for you to do everything–the way you do now–you’re going to give over some of the leadership. (Relax. This is a good thing!) For reasons of staff morale, economy, and your own precious peace of mind, it’s better to find your new generation of leaders inside the company. But there’s a rub. Not every longtime loyal employee is really suited to be a leader.
Read the rest of “The 5 Traits of High-Potential Employees” at Inc.
Naturally, as the leader of your company, you support a culture of trust, caring and openness, because you know this generates deep-seated employee commitment and facilitates exceptional performance.
And, uh…how do you apply this philosophy when it comes to paying people? Odds are, you’ve concluded that compensation is just one of those things that’s best kept secret. That’s a problem.
Read the rest of “Why You Should Say What You Pay Employees” on Inc.
Executive M.B.A. programs have been growing in popularity in the United States since its inception at the University of Chicago in 1943. Traditionally, they have been used by companies to advance promising internal employees whom they want to develop into their future leaders.
Over the past several decades, it was quite popular for a company to identify pools of “rising talent” and sponsor them as candidates for Executive M.B.A. degrees at various higher level educational institutions. If candidates were admitted to the program, a tripartite relationship would be established between the sponsoring employer, the prospective student, and the university.
For a while, the benefits of an executive M.B.A. have seemed quite clear. Employees can continue working in their present organizations while obtaining a degree similar to an M.B.A. at a fraction of the normal cost and time. Additionally, the practical skills they attain from the program can be applied to their positions immediately as well as after program completion.
Subsequent to completing the degree, employees aim to rise faster within their organizations and increase their salaries. Likewise, many companies are content sponsoring employees who return to the company with increased loyalty, thereby helping the company with long-term succession planning. The degree has thus served as a promising strategy for leadership development and retention.
However, a recent article from the Wall Street Journal highlights changes in sponsorship trends for executive M.B.A. programs. With tighter budgets companies have been cutting back their investments in educational sponsorship. This results in more students taking it upon themselves to finance their executive M.B.A. educations, leading to more mixed outcomes upon program completion.
According to a survey of about 290 member schools by the Executive M.B.A. Council, only 27% of executive M.B.A. students received full financial sponsorship from their employers last year, down from 34% in 2007. In response to fewer sponsorships, more and more students are using career services offered by their schools in order to open alternate doors for them, rather than simply returning to their previous or current companies.
In response to increasing demand, many schools are offering greater career-coaching services to assist their executive M.B.A. students find new job opportunities. The article sites The Anderson School of Management at UCLA and the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University as prime examples of schools that have invested in personalized coaching services.
But does the decrease in executive M.B.A. sponsorships and the emergence of more career-coaching programs indicate a trend we should be concerned with?
While such trends could seem indicative of companies being less interested in investing in their own human capital, the answer to this question really depends on what glasses you are wearing. From the vantage point of companies, it could just be that they have not found executive M.B.A. degrees quite as useful in practice as they seemed in theory. From the perspective of schools, it could be that they are simply responding to students who have been urging for them to provide more options of post-graduate work. Or students may now be more are willing to finance their own degrees knowing that they will be less obligated to return to a previous employer. The best we can do for now is to keep a keen eye on the trajectories of our most recent executive M.B.A students to see what paths they follow.
Recent leadership literature (exhibit’s a & b) tells us that “telling a good story” is something all the best leaders do.
According to the Harvard Business Review a good yarn “informs, involves, and inspires” employees.
Good stories also attract customers and build brand identity. We need only look at Steve Jobs’ eagerly anticipated and meticulously studied presentations.
But where’s the proof? We can’t really measure the value of stories, can we?
Would Apple be less popular if Steve Jobs’ stories were a bit dryer? Would Apple eclipse Microsoft if Steve Jobs’ had even better stories tucked under this turtle neck?
Further, what is a good story? Some people might think the founding story of your small business is inspirational. Others might tune out after you pause for your first breath.
We don’t have a universal measuring stick that determines a story’s value.
But, we do have Aristotle’s Rhetoric. Written in the 4th century B.C.E Rhetoric had one simple aim: teach orators and statesman how to persuade people to do or to believe in something. After defining rhetoric, its worth, and its power Aristotle considered rhetorical style and admitted it was an illusive quality. You can’t teach style, nor can you lay out the principals of style without stepping on the toes of your argument.
However, Aristotle believed there were five rules all public speakers and story tellers had to follow in order to hold an audience captive.
They are as follows:
1. “[Employ] the proper use of connecting words and the arrangement of them in the natural sequence which some of them require”
Translation: Avoid run-on sentences and parenthetic remarks.
Long sentences and weird word order will muddy your story and weigh it down.
2. “[Call] things by their own special names and not by vague general ones.”
Translation: Don’t use vague words–use specific words. Your story will thank you.
This is obvious sounding, but leaders and storytellers forget it all the time. Consider Delaware GOP Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell line: “I’m not a witch…I’m you.”
3. “Avoid ambiguities; unless indeed, you definitely intend to be ambiguous, as those do who have nothing to say but are pretending to mean something.”
Translation: Ambiguity is bad for speeches. Unless of course you want to fog the debate.
Here we get a glimpse of the pragmatic Aristotle. He knew that rhetoric could be manipulated and that’s why it was something worth learning. Still, his primary point about avoiding ambiguity is crucial for leaders who want to tell stories. Keep it simple.
4. “Observe Protagoras’ classification of nouns into male, female, and inanimate; for these distinctions also must be clearly given.”
Translation: Use acceptable grammar.
I’m not sure leaders would do well to use Protagoras’ noun classifications today, but Aristotle’s larger point is apt. Don’t be lazy–use good grammar so everyone can keep on the same page.
5. “Express plurality, fewness, and unity by the correct word ordering.”
Translation: You and your argument will look stupid if your grammar isn’t consistent.
Again, Aristotle is stressing correct, simple, orderly grammar. Storytellers need to be clear–they don’t have to use big words and long paragraphs.
Three of Aristotle’s five style rules deal with grammar. It shows that even Aristotle didn’t have a clear idea of how to make an argument or a story truly stylish, enthralling, and interesting. Aristotle didn’t mention dress, mannerisms, strength of voice, physic, and charm. What mattered for Aristotle was the clear presentation of facts.
Leaders who want to begin telling stories can take heart from Aristotle’s rules. You don’t need the flare of Steve Jobs’ in order to tell a good story. You just need ordered thoughts, a healthy understanding of grammar, and a clear presentation. Other considerations like charisma and personality may help a story teller–but they certainly aren’t prerequisite skills leaders, orators, storytellers, and statesmen need.
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