“I have one hierarchical boss, two functional ones whom I hardly know, and I’m part of three or four Strategic Global Initiative teams, two of them operating remotely, and I sometimes wonder if in a near future I’ll still be able to find my way back to my own bedroom… Not to think about how [...]

I know a few organizations where the way to get ahead is to be taken under the wing of a senior leader—someone based at headquarters, hundreds of kilometers away. I’m not saying this is a role model for talent development, but for those who’ve taken the time to cultivate their networks and relationships, it works. [...]

An old proverb says that “literature proliferates in the empty spaces of societies”. In other words, we discuss and re-discuss our weak points – the things we consider are missing in our environment and what we should be aiming for. If we look at it in those terms, the absolute LDH (Leadership Development Hysteria) that [...]

Governmental authorities increasingly focused on economics, growing competition by generics, the implementation of rebate contracts, networks of doctors and an increasing deficits in public health care budgets: these are only a few of the changes that are forcing the pharma industry to develop new strategies not only in research & development but also for sales [...]

“We want all our leaders, around the world, to align around a single set of leadership behaviors… as of Monday, if possible. Anyway, our leadership profile is on the intranet. So it should work”. Alignment!  Metaphors are what they are. Let me try one. Wandering in a newly replanted patch of forest is basically moving [...]

What inspired this title was a conversation with a friend only a week ago. She, an international manager, provocatively asked me what a deep sea diver and a virtual team leader had in common and immediately offered the answer “both work in the dark”. This was followed by an agitated description of the day’s telephone [...]

Overheard in the company restaurant the other day where two regional HR managers were having lunch: “Here we go again. Another questionnaire we have to ask people to fill in. It seems like we just had one to fill in a while ago. We’ve got so much to do, who has time for this? And [...]

A few years of providing 360° Leadership Feedback to our clients, we have discovered that you can get all sorts of reactions, from extreme denial on the one hand to authenticity and discovery on the other. The one thing that can make the difference is the quality of the feedback, and this depends on the [...]