Building a Leadership Pipeline: How to Overcome the Key Challenges

5 Minute Read

Building a leadership pipeline can feel like staring down an impossible mountain. You have ambitious, talented employees who are hungry for growth, but translating that potential into a steady, reliable pipeline of future leaders? That’s where things get challenging. You’re not just filling gaps in skills—you’re setting the stage for your organization’s future. It’s the difference between a team that’s ready for whatever comes next and one that stumbles when things shift.

Imagine this: your high-potentials are energized, applying new skills every day, and they can see a clear path ahead. They’re not just here for today’s tasks—they’re invested in tomorrow’s possibilities, actively shaping what’s next. But reaching that vision means navigating some very real challenges. From securing the budget to keeping employees engaged, to making training stick, building a pipeline is about overcoming roadblocks and transforming them into stepping stones toward a resilient, future-ready organization.

Building Trust in Business Teams: 4 Key Ways to Strengthen Your Foundation

5 Minute Read

Trust. It's one of those words we throw around, especially in business, but do we really stop to think about what it means? We tend to talk about trust as something you have to "earn" or "build" over time. But if you think about it, we give trust to people all day, every day, without even realizing it. You step into a crosswalk trusting that the car coming at you is going to stop. You board a plane trusting that the pilot knows exactly what they’re doing. You trust the doctor prepping for your surgery has everything under control. And yet, when it comes to our teams, we treat trust like it’s some monumental task—like it’s fragile and needs constant attention. But is it really that complicated?

High Performers vs. High Potentials: Who Should You Promote?

7 Minute Read

Ever faced this dilemma? You have a rock star team member who always nails their targets, delivers top-notch results, and is your go-to person for tough problems. Naturally, you think, “They’d be an amazing manager!” But then, there’s another team member who might not always be in the spotlight but shows incredible promise, vision, and leadership potential. So, who do you promote? It’s a tricky decision, right?

Promoting team members to management roles is one of the most critical decisions you can make as a leader. The success of your organization depends not only on having strong individual contributors but also on nurturing effective leaders who can inspire and guide their teams. But it’s not always clear-cut. High performers are reliable and consistent, while high potentials bring fresh perspectives and a growth mindset. Both have their unique strengths and considerations. So, how do you ensure you’re making the right choice? How can you proactively prepare your team members for the challenges of management?

Ask, Don't Tell - Coaching through Facilitation

2 Minute Read

How many times has somebody come to you with a problem at work, and you just tell them the answer? Win-Win! Right? ... Until they come back tomorrow. And the next day. Again and again until all you do is solve their problems.

History has taught us that one of the main responsibilities of a manager is to answer employees' questions. Of course, this seems like a noble gesture. And it could be necessary when employees don’t have the needed information. But in reality, true empowerment comes from helping employees learn where to find or figure out what they need. And that comes from facilitation. When you provide a quick answer, you solve one problem. When you facilitate a discovery process, you create problem solvers!

Leading With Fairness, Respect & Support

4 Minute Read

We’ve all been there. And some are still there. Maybe this will remind you of the people on your team. In a spot where what was once a career is now just a job – a means to an end. All purpose is gone and people don’t feel valued. Negative behaviors have become the norm. It feels like some have given up. People start to feel stuck or are keeping their eyes peeled for a new job…far, far away from here. What happened?

The short answer: YOU could be the problem.In fact, an HBR survey revealed that 58% of people say they would trust a complete stranger over their own boss. That’s over half of your workforce. Do we have your attention yet?

It’s All a Matter of Perspective

3 Minute Read

Perspective is a funny thing. Consider this all-too-familiar scenario: You’re driving to work behind an SUV that abruptly stops before an intersection. No turn signal, no warning. Just stops in the middle of the street. How inconsiderate! You could have wrecked! So you lay on the horn, angry and flustered, yelling a few choice words. We know what it feels like. Your morning was off to a bad enough start already. You probably feel frustrated, like nothing else is going to go right.

But what you couldn’t see was that there was a smaller car ahead of the SUV. That car was the one actually turning. And it DID have the turn signal on. The SUV was simply waiting for the car to turn. Now, how do you feel? Glad you honked and yelled for no reason? Or embarrassed that you acted without having all of the information?

Leadership Challenges: What We Can Learn from 9/11

4 Minute Read

For some, it may just be a terrible memory; but for one four-star general, the events of 9/11 (along with other military experiences) brought about leadership challenges that he never expected.

In his thought-provoking TedTalk, Stanley McChrystal details experiences in the military that taught him some very tough lessons. He reflects on the team he worked with and their combat stories. He openly shares their successes and the stories of their failures. McChrystal had to abandon his traditional sense of leadership and start listening, be willing to learn, and address the possibility of failure. One of the greatest leadership challenges out there is to build consensus between people and a sense of shared purpose. Even between remote teams, those with different values, and those of differing skill sets.

Change, LeadershipSeptember 8, 2020Inspirational Leadership, leadership, leadership challengesComment

When the Answers are Uncertain…

5 Minute Read.

We get it. Change is tough even in normal times. And change in the midst of chaos can push us over the edge. Leaving us feeling overwhelmed and stuck, unable to move forward. Do you ever wish you had a crystal ball so you could look into the future and know that everything will be okay? Sometimes what causes us the greatest stress is that the answers are uncertain; the unknown.

As a young child, I was completely oblivious to the fact that I needed glasses until I took a mandatory eye exam at my elementary school. My parents were notified and I was promptly taken to an eye doctor. And within a short period of time, I was wearing my new glasses. I remember the feeling of finally seeing things that I never knew existed. I remember how amazing it felt to see clearly. When things are uncertain, our lives feel unfocused, much like poor vision. We just feel better when we have clarity about what the future holds.

Change, Leadership, StrategyAugust 11, 2020Creating clarity, Dealing with change, Uncertainty

Giving Feedback: Say What You Mean!

4 Minute Read

In the video, Shargaa gives a comical presentation about the word "awesome." Every single thing these days is awesome: sandwiches, PDF documents, your new chair. She says, "if you have everything, you value nothing."

And because of that exact statement, she stresses the importance of using words as they're meant to be used. Throughout her presentation, she gives ten examples of things that are truly awesome: the Pyramids, the Grand Canyon, the invention of Photography…

Resilience: How People Are Different From Rubber Bands

4 Minute Read

Words like resiliency are often interchanged with words like flexibility or adaptability. When you think of what resiliency means, most of you probably go to something along the lines of “the ability to bounce back.” Things that are resilient return to their original shape after change, and keep their integrity.

Have you ever tinkered with a rubber band? You can snap it, and strum it, almost like a guitar string. And it always goes back to its original form. The definition of resilience related to a system, organization, or person, is the ability to maintain a core purpose and integrity in the face of dramatically changed circumstances.

Change, LeadershipMay 26, 2020Inspirational Leadership

Inspiring Creativity: Why Adults Can Be Kids, Too

5 Minute Read

We have to STOP being so caught up in all the adult things we have to do, and we need to make time for play, for inspiring creativity. This video's concept is simple: Play is necessary. In the video, Kevin Carroll tells us why play is so important. “Play is...necessary, a movement, ingenuity, timeless, and genius.” Taking time for play is what sparks our creativity. It’s what keeps us out of that rut. It’s what helps us move forward with abstract thinking and innovation. It creates imagination and helps us live life to the fullest. Without play, the world is dull.

You Started Strong. Don't Let Up.

2 Minute Read

We’re all about six weeks into this pandemic. Some a little longer, some a little less. What uprooted and affected our entire world has now become what we consider normal…for now. In the beginning, when people started working virtually or rotating their shifts at work, we all tended to be more intentional about connecting with our teams. Having daily huddles, weekly (or more frequent) team meetings, happy hours, and individual check-ins. But now that some time has passed, are we really still being as intentional as we were before?

Change, Communication, LeadershipApril 27, 2020connection, intent, intention, power of intentionComment

It's A Time Of Opportunity For Your Business

2 Minute Read

For years, as we’ve guided leaders through the strategic planning process, we’ve challenged people to not just do more of the same, but to challenge assumptions of their business, their customers, and their beliefs on the way things are or should be. To find ways to try new approaches, or try doing the same things in a different way. Instead of waiting for their industry or business to be disrupted, they disrupt. Regardless of the circumstances, this is something that is very hard for most organizational leaders to do.

Change, Leadership, StrategyApril 13, 2020Business, secret to business success, successful businessesComment

Too Little Too Late...

3 Minute Read

Recently, a client had a key employee resign unexpectedly, and they were left scratching their heads wondering what went wrong. They had big plans for this employee in the future. In fact, they had discussed this during many of our leadership team group sessions. When the employee put in his resignation, it felt a bit like a punch in the gut. The leadership team felt that they had invested so much time into this employee. They asked us to conduct an exit interview in hopes of learning from the situation, so they don’t repeat the same mistakes.

During the exit interview, the employee reported that he felt like he had plateaued in his current role. And he wasn’t sure what career path the company had in mind for him. It made our hearts sink a little because we heard the leaders of the organization discuss the plans for his future. But they quickly discovered that they never clearly laid out that plan to the most important person: THE EMPLOYEE!

Leadership, Retaining Employees, TrustMarch 16, 2020career development, developing employees, employee career pathsComment

How To Create A Succession Plan

4 Minute Read

We have a critical question for you: Do you have someone to replace key employees if they suddenly left? Many companies have good intentions of developing people for key roles, but aren’t ready if a key employee left tomorrow. That creates a big problem.When we have discussions with our partners, we’re often asked that magical question: How do we create a succession plan? And how do we do it effectively?

Finding the right person to fill key roles is one of the greatest challenges of leaders. Firstly, it's important to note: a replacement plan is not the same as a succession plan. It takes time to create individual plans, to develop people, and to give them the experience and mentoring they need to be successful.

4 Easy Ways to Develop Bench Strength

5 Minute Read

If you’re a business leader, it’s safe to believe that you understand the need for, and the benefits of, succession planning. So, for the purpose of this article, we won’t spend much time addressing them. What we will highlight, however, are a few ingredients that are necessary in order to develop bench strength for your key employees. In sports, the definition of bench strength is “the quality and number of players available to substitute during the game”. In business, there’s a bit more focus on the quality piece; but really, the concept is the same. The purpose is to have people ready to step into a different role when a leadership or key position becomes available or when a new role is needed.

Leading with Compassion: A Requirement of Leaders Today

4 Minute Read

The word compassion holds many meanings, and it’s hard to define. Here’s what we know. Compassion consists of three main elements: recognizing or noticing when others are struggling, understanding and feeling for the person that is struggling, and responding or having the motivation to act and help relieve the struggle. Compassion takes empathy one step further with that final element: having the motivation to act.

You might be asking yourself, “What does this have to do with leadership? I can’t fix every person’s problems.” Our answer: It has everything to do with it. Human beings are born with a compassionate instinct at our core. In fact, research by David Rand at Harvard University shows that with both adults and children, our first impulse is to help others, not to compete with them.

Communication, Leadership, TrustOctober 30, 2019business leadership, compassion, leading teams, Leading with empathy

Executives are the Reason Development Efforts Fail

Company Culture, Leadership, Retaining Employees, TrainingAugust 9, 2019commitment, development efforts, executives, fail, problem-solving, staying involved, what employees needComment

The Importance of Developing High Potentials

Transforming the Employee Evaluation