by Kathleen Quinn Votaw | May 11, 2018
There is no longer any question that diverse leadership teams offer tremendous business benefits. Among other things, women add stronger interpersonal skills, the ability to multitask and get things done, as well as a service mentality. Companies with more female executives and directors perform better and tend to be more profitable. Men and women should lean in and lead together. And since we need more women executives, both women and men must look for opportunities to mentor women, creating better business environments as well as results in the process.
by Kathleen Quinn Votaw | Apr 11, 2018
Your employment brand, or reputation, communicates your culture, mission, and values, serving as a key decision point for whether people want to work for you or continue to work for you—or not. Regardless of company size, a strong reputation significantly impacts whether you can attract and retain top talent; and it gives you a distinct competitive edge. Assessing, improving, and promoting your employment brand should be a top priority. It begins with being both authentic and strategic in your thinking and becomes a long-term effort that permeates every aspect of talent management.
by Kathleen Quinn Votaw | Mar 11, 2018
When the right person walks in your door, don’t miss the rare opportunity to add exceptional talent to your team—hire him or her immediately. On the other hand, when you discover that you’ve made a mistake by hiring someone who is disrespectful, negative, self-serving or otherwise disruptive, fire that person with equal speed before they do serious damage to morale. Leaders need to be like the hare when opportunity knocks. They need to be like the tortoise in taking care to hire only people who share company values, rather than simply filling positions because they’re empty. Avoid hiring mistakes by planning ahead for the right people you’ll need to grow your business.
by Kathleen Quinn Votaw | Feb 11, 2018
Allowing vulnerability into your company culture is the first step in getting healthy from the inside out. It brings you closer to your customers and to your employees and deepens understanding all around. Vulnerability takes leaders outside of the overall organizational culture where vision and strategy reside and into the sub-cultures of departments and teams where day-to-day reality lives—and where your major focus should be. This concept is from author Curt Coffman’s “Big C” and “Little C”. Today, dynamic leadership means managing change effectively, which depends on cultures that embrace vulnerability, ensure cultural fit, and build respect.
by Kathleen Quinn Votaw | Jan 11, 2018
Becoming a great company is an achievement to be proud of. Going a step beyond that to uniquely “irresistible” status is the rarest of rare in companies. Think Zappos, Red Frog, and Southwest Airlines. What they and a handful of other companies have in common is empowering employees to provide extraordinary customer service. Being irresistible requires high trust levels, well-defined core values, and courage, among other things.
