ARTICLES BY RYAN SCHOLZ

A few days ago, I read an article about Southwest Airlines where the author claimed that the company’s values were to put employees first, customers second, and shareholders third Wouldn’t it be great if making business decisions was this simple

The worst assumption that managers can make about their area of responsibility is that they know everything that is going on in the department In reality, they only know what their people want them to know or think they need to know

Now do I have your attention I’ve written on the subject of motivation and incentives in the past, but recently have come across some additional information and research that continues to challenge conventional business wisdom as it relates to use of monetary incentives to encourage higher performance

I do not make New Year’s resolutions I find that the process of deciding what I want to accomplish in the next year is much more intense than simply coming up with a few “like to do’s” for the coming year

Most managers feel that a major part of their job is to motivate people who work for them The problem that many have is distinguishing the difference between motivation and manipulation

The term “groupthink” was first used by Irving Janus in 1972 when he was researching why teams made excellent decisions one time, yet made disastrous decisions another time The two most famous and widely used examples of groupthink that led to disastrous outcomes are the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion

In the early 1970’s Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard developed one of the most popular and used leadership models which is called Situational Leadership While I think a more appropriate name would have been situational management since it deals primarily with task execution, the model is still very relevant and useful today

A key role and responsibility of any manager is to develop those people who report to them Often, when developing subordinates through delegation or training activities, managers may fail to take into account that each person has different learning preferences

Bobby Cox, the manager of the Atlanta Braves baseball team, is retiring at the end of this season after 29 seasons as a manager He is fourth on the all time list of wins by a manager

Jay Niblick, a colleague and friend, has recently published a book titled, What’s Your Genius (available on Amazon

Many employers are not aware of this, but the EEOC is currently working on new guidelines regarding the use of background checks in hiring decisions Also, there is pending action on both the legislative agenda as well as legal field to prohibit the use of credit checks in hiring processes

Imagine that these are numbers for your business: 70% of users are dissatisfied with the process 50% of customers regret their buying decision 46% turnover among new buyers 46% failure rate from the process Less than 20% of transactions ate successful If these numbers were related to customer satisfaction, a business could not survive

A few weeks ago I watched the new TV program Undercover Boss I am not much of a fan of reality programs, but the concept intrigued me and since I am in the organizational development business it seemed like good research

According to Michael Maccoby, a globally recognized expert on leadership, there are three distinct roles of a leader Those roles are strategic, operational, and relational

As a senior leader, you make decisions every day The decisions that you make can be put into three broad categories: Strategic — These are long term decisions that have substantial impact on the future of the organization

The quality movement began in the United States in the early 1980’s Led by W

Performance appraisals are probably the most disliked and dreaded tasks that a manager has to perform Employees look forward to performance appraisals about as much as they do having a root canal – and at least with a root canal the patient is given anesthetic to lessen the pain while undergoing the procedure

In the last couple of issues of this newsletter I have been discussing the implications of the current economic downturn on businesses In November, I talked about the need for companies to rethink strategy in light of changes brought about by the current economic situation

Just about every business person I talk to will say that 2009 is the worst year they year have faced in their business life While results for some weren’t as bad as they thought, there was a lot of apprehension about the future

In the October issue of this newsletter, I began a series on the Four Pillars of Leadership Success The first pillar is communications and building relationships

As I began to write this month’s newsletter, the resignation, then leave of absence for Coach Urban Meyer at the University of Florida became headline news on the sports pages As a graduate of the University of Florida, I had more than just a passing interest in the story

A vast majority of people at all levels of an organization will accuse their boss of micromanagement However, those managers who think their boss micromanages them do not think that they micromanage

A few weeks ago I was at a conference of colleagues from around the country As we discussed what was going on in our businesses and with our clients, one common thread surfaced

My process for developing outstanding leaders is built around what I call the Four Pillars of Leadership Success One of the pillars is communications, which I believe it is the most important of all of the pillars

Almost every senior leader in his or her career will face a tough decision Some may be “bet the company” type of decisions