Your Boss Is A Psychopath

Derrick MoeNo Comments

Maybe, according to this article in Entrepreneur. Check out this statistic: …experts say there’s almost one psychopath for every 100 people, with rates shooting up in the workplace, especially in leadership, thanks to psychopaths’ ease with manipulation. Research finds that nearly 4 percent of corporate CEOs are psychopaths, and this rate is nearly doubled among middle managers. (Shockingly, the share of psychopaths among middle managers is nearly as high as the share of psychopaths in medium security prisons.) I have worked for many bosses with whom I would question their psychopathic tendencies.  I suppose that term deserves definition from within the article. A psychopath stands out, Woodward says, thanks to… Read More

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Leadership Jargon

Derrick MoeNo Comments

Oh does this Sales & Marketing Management article hit me where I live.  The gist of the article is the corporate speak many leaders use in hopes of sounding…smarter?  I really don’t know why they do it.  I have encountered this approach when working with leaders and their teams.  Assessing teams provides insight into how the team interacts and how the leader interacts with the team.  There are many leaders out there who seem preoccupied with the latest buzzwords and corporate speak. A waste of time in my opinion.  Apparently the author shares this view: “My leadership philosophy is to optimally leverage the passions of my people such that at… Read More

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Of Authenticity

Derrick MoeNo Comments

I have encountered this issue of authenticity recently in a handful of situations and it has captured my attention.  Here’s why – Gen Y is all about authenticity.  As a Gen Xer, I would argue that it is high on our list also.  Yet, some Baby Boomers have a different approach to authenticity and it stems from one key approach – they believe they have to have the answer to every question. Now I’m not talking about aerospace-grade questions, but questions regarding their field of expertise.  Recently I witnessed 3 different situations where different Baby Boomer-aged experts encountered a difficult question.  The question was clearly beyond what they knew yet… Read More

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Disappearing Telecommuters

Derrick MoeNo Comments

Saleshq.com offers up tricks for telecommuters in this article.  There are some solid points like this: 5. Communication It’s very easy to forget the outside world when you work from home. While you do get to avoid the intricacies of corporate politics, it also means that you have to be your own advocate. Make sure there are multiple ways for your boss and colleagues to contact you. Check your email frequently, and respond as immediately as you can. Keep your phone at hand, and make sure you call if there’s an office meeting. An instant messaging service works well for open communication if something changes last minute. For more long… Read More

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The Open Door Ruse

Derrick MoeNo Comments

Sometimes the best advice is simply stated which is true of this Inc.com post titled The Fallacy of an Open-Door Policy.  This topic catches my attention in that some of the worst managers I worked for claimed profusely that they had an open-door policy.  They stated it, but we sales reps all knew it was a ruse. I think the author strikes a perfect chord with this: You need to create an environment where people can speak up in any venue. I’ve had some of my most important communications with employees driving in the car, standing in the lunchroom, or walking through the shop floor. How true…and difficult to put… Read More

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Why Communication Matters

Derrick MoeNo Comments

I’m presently working on some leadership projects with our customers so these topics are probably on my mind more than usual.  ManageSmarter.com presents an article Communication for Managers 101 that provides 5 steps for better communication between managers and employees. Some of the suggestions are rudimentary, but we encounter many managers who simply do not follow these basic tenets.  The reason why good communication is important, in case you had to ask (emphasis mine): Harvard Business Publications recently confirmed what many have always known: effective communication is the number one skill for executives to develop. … A Gallup poll of more than 1 million U.S. workers concluded that the No.… Read More

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