What Really Matters – the ROI of Executive Coaching

When The Seattle Times headlined a front-page story (Aug 17, 2018) about the fee per hour for #coaching the CEO of Sound Transit, it was curious that the hourly rate ($550) of the coach earned the headliner status rather than the reasons why coaching was requested in the first place. (And despite all the litigations plentiful in this country, we have yet to see a front-page headline about the hourly rate of the top lawyers.)

A much more interesting figure would have been a calculation of the cost of doing nothing about a “brash”, “aggressive” or even abusive leader. Or the cost of lost productivity because of employees dealing with sexism and interactions laced with profane language. Or, what if, instead of hiring a #coach, the CEO had spent about $10,000 and bought all his Continue reading What Really Matters – the ROI of Executive Coaching

The Superpower of Inclusive Leadership Revealed

As a leadership consultant, I help leaders to be thoughtful and strategic about designing inclusive organizations. There is intense discussion, debate, research and experiment going on in this space. I challenged myself to identify the single most impactful lever – or a superpower – to implementing inclusive practices in organizations. I recently shared what I came to realize at the TechInclusion Conference in Seattle, and now I want to share my insight with you here.

Inclusive leadership is made out of two equally challenging parts, “inclusion” and “leadership” – so, let’s first explore some key characteristics of each of them.

Continue reading The Superpower of Inclusive Leadership Revealed

Adaptability, Creativity, and Diversity — Winning the Innovation Game

“Innovation! We need more innovation!”

I hear this call for innovation not only in my conversations with leaders in big corporations with R&D units, but in companies of all sizes, and even in established institutions like universities. People feel the pressure to produce like startups, constantly creating something new and launching it with a “bang.” Expand! Go global! The constant demand for ‘more and faster’ drives companies to seriously search ways how they can accelerate innovation.

As a humanist, I believe that the innovativeness of an organization is a result of the creativity, diversity of thought and adaptability of the people who work there. It’s the leader’s job to create a culture in which these three key elements of innovativeness are encouraged, expressed and exhibited both at a Continue reading Adaptability, Creativity, and Diversity — Winning the Innovation Game

Treasure hunting gems of leading innovation

I‘m the first to admit that I don’t know much about anything but I know quite a few incredible people who do! And that is what makes my life interesting and exciting.

Realizing that I’m surrounded with leaders who are doing amazing things in the world I decided to begin a treasure hunt for gems of wisdom regarding innovation and leadership from their point of view.

Leadership and innovation are broad concepts, meaning different things depending on the industry and organization. Therefore, they are also very rich for research and insights. In order to capture stories about extraordinary experiences, I’ve been interviewing CEO’s and Executives representing many different sectors because innovation happens everywhere and in many forms.

This is my effort to explore, chart and share how innovation is being defined by CEOs, and what leaders consider as the crucial human elements to stay innovative in the rapidly changing world. In other words, my interest is in exploring the human side of innovation. The gems I will share here will be a convergence of quotes and perspectives from Continue reading Treasure hunting gems of leading innovation