The Eight Hallmarks of Great Leadership

The Eight Hallmarks of Great LeadershipThe Eight Hallmarks of Great LeadershipThe Eight Hallmarks of Great Leadership Fernndez-Aroz, author of Its Not the How or the What but the Who Succeed by Surrounding Yourself with the Best (Harvard Business Review Press, 2014)Based on decades of executive search and management appraisal work, we at Egon Zehnder believe there are eight leadership competencies that can predict executive success across all roles, sectors, and countries.While each job and organization is different, requiring different levels of mastery in each, these are skills that all the best people have in some measure Strategic orientation An ability to engage in broad, complex analytical and conceptual thinking Market insight A strong understanding of the market and how it affects the business Results orientation A commitment to demonstrably improving results Customer impact A passion for serving the customer Collaboration and influencing An ability to work effectively with p eers or partners, including those notlage in the line of command Developing organizational capability A drive to improve the company by attracting and developing top talent Team leadership Success in focusing, aligning, and building effective groups Change leadership An ability to drive change through people, transforming and aligning an organization around a new goalThe importance of these eight competencies was confirmed in a wonderful joint study that cross-referenced our database of more than a hundred thousand appraisals with McKinseys growth statistics on more than seven hundred companies to create a sample of forty-seven companies with 5,560 ratings of their senior leaders.The top-level finding was unequivocal companies with higher levels of growth had executives with higher levels of competence in every single one of the areas we analyzed.Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review Press. Excerpted and Adapted from Its Not the How or the What but the Who Succeed by Su rrounding Yourself with the Best. Copyright 2014 Claudio Fernndez-Aroz. All rights reserved.Read mora from Claudio Fernndez-Aroz Develop your Teams Emotional Intelligence at WorkAuthor BioClaudio Fernndez-Aroz is a senior adviser at leading exe3cutive search firm Egon Zehnder and a former member of its global executive committee. He holds an MBA from Stanford and has previously worked for McKinsey Company. He is a global expert on hiring and promotion decisions and leadership development, and a frequent speaker at major business gatherings. His advice has been sought by the CEOs of several if the worlds largest companies and many governments. Fernndez-Aroz is a regular lecturer at Harvard Business School, a frequent contributor to HBR.org, and the author of Great People Decision Why They Matter So Much, Why They are So Hard, and How You can Master Them (2007).

9 ideas for celebrating Halloween, Christmas and holidays at work

9 ideas for celebrating Halloween, Christmas and holidays at work9 ideas for celebrating Halloween, Christmas and holidays at workCelebrating the holidays at work can be hit or miss, depending on how much holiday spirit your teammates have, whether there is any good food and/or activities to enjoy, and of course, if theres even anything planned in your workplace But since so much of our lives happen at work, its only right to findsomeway to ring in the holidays with our coworkers in ways that make sense. Even better is when the holiday festivities you have going on arent the exact same as youve done year after year (after year).Here are 9 unique and interesting ideas for celebrating different holidays at work that you can throw together yourself and few of your favorite coworker friends, or suggest to the right people in your company1. Host a (very) themed potluckFor instance, for Halloween, have everyone bring dishes like bloody brains (spaghetti noodles and sauce) or slimy eyes (pe eled grapes mixed with jelly or mayonnaise), place on a table in a dark room, and bring in blindfolded employees to take a stab at each delicatessen. For Christmas, have everyone bring dishes that are either green, red or yellow. Or even go dish or ingredient-specific have people bring in pies only, eggnog only, or thanksgiving dishes only2. Spend Christmas giving back instead of hosting the same sweater contest every yearMake an event of ringing the Salvation Army bell, adopting a child off of your local giving tree, or coming together to host a community Christmas dinner.3. Bring your kids/family/pets to workDuring the Easter season, host a Bring Your Kids to Work day and hold a scavenger hunt for the children and grandchildren of your employees. Allow all staff to participate in egg-stuffing and hiding to make the family event fun and engaging.4. Grown-up trick-or-treatWho says only kids get to enjoy candy on Halloween? Have different departments in your company have a bucket of treats to give away, and then have groups of employees take turns making the rounds, filling their own treat bags.5. Implement a gag gift exchangeSet just one rule each year, such as green gifts or other themes, and have each employee bring one gift to share in white elephant style. Encourage employees to regift things they have laying around or shop second-hand for their purchases.6. Hold a gratitude partyCelebrate Thanksgiving by giving back to your community alongside your coworkers plant dollar bills in Walmart, leave encouraging notes under windshield wipers, shovel a strangers sidewalk, or go shopping to fulfill the local womens shelters grocery list7. Play a game of holiday movie triviaGather some holiday related movie trivia questions and play a good old game of trivia. This gets some friendly competition going and a chance for people to show off their movie knowledge8. Play Guess Who during your holiday celebrationsHave employees bring their baby pictures or photos of their parents and offer door prizes for those who can match the photo to the employee. Bonus points for those who bring baby pictures that match the holiday youre celebrating9. Go GeocachingGeocaching is a funan outdoor recreational activitywhere you use your phone or any GPS device to hide and discover containers called geocaches or caches at specific locations marked by coordinates all over the world. This activity could work for many different holidays (you could do it in festive outfits). What youd do is break your colleagues up into equal teams, set them up with the app, and offer prizes for the teams who find the most geocaches in the afternoon. This is a great way to team build, have fun, and get out of the same drumherum for a break during the warmer months.These unique and fun ideas should give holidays with your colleagues a new spin and ensure people cant wait to participate Most importantly, remember that fun events require a fun company culture. Take time to do your homework andresearch your future employerbefore you accept an offer to ensure youre joining a company that can benefit from your innovative ideas and engagement.This article was originally published on Kununu.com.

A 10-Minute Exercise to Make Your Dreams a Reality

A 10-Minute Exercise to Make Your Dreams a RealityA 10-Minute Exercise to Make Your Dreams a RealityIts pretty common for great ideas to get stuck as just that ideas.And this is pretty bad news if youve got something big on your mind. Sure, it may change the world (or at least your life), but as long as its nothing more that a thought, its not doing squat.Today- with the help of Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb- were going to take you through a little activity to help make your idea something more. All you need is a piece of paper, a pen or pencil, 10 minutes, and an open mind.Ready to get started? Hit play below, then skip to the 730 minute mark (unless youre interested in hearing about the founding of Airbnb). Then, get imagining Whether your idea is for a major new business or a slight adjustment to your day-to-day job, this short exercise can really make magic happen.Video courtesy of 99U. Photo courtesy ofPatrick Ryan / Digital Vision / Thinkstock.