Memorial Day Should Make Us All Better Leaders

Is Memorial Day weekend just another holiday, or does it mean something more to you? Put simply, the lessons we can learn about those we honor on Memorial Day should help make us all better leaders. While this weekend simply signifies a long-awaited prelude to summer for some, it is much more than that for others. As a veteran and lifelong student of leadership, I have always found Memorial Day…

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The 15 Minute Guide to a Successful Interview

Do you want to learn the techniques which will help you to smash your job interviews out of the park and get you the offer? Learning how to answer any interview question, even those tricky behavioral interview questions begins with plenty of preparation. In this article, I will share my 15-minute guide to a successful interview. My name is Gordon Berridge, and I am the UK Partner and President at…

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Is Innovation manageable?

In the years leading up to 2018, I have spent my time bringing innovation to the financial services space. Fintech, as this sector is colloquially referred, focuses for the most part on disrupting the state of affairs induced by the use of technology. As such it is all about innovation. And now, from a distance, my optimism regarding the sector’s ability to innovate and capture opportunities has…

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High EQ: The Most Desirable Leadership Tenet of Them All

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the ability to identify, use, understand, and manage emotions in an effective and positive way. And, in many organizations around the world, it is on the rise! Contrary to popular belief, The Millennials, Generation Y, and Gen Next (those engrossed by tablets and screens) hold, on average, higher EQ levels than generations before them. In the business environment,…

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Thought Leadership – Piercing The Bubble

If you value your own opinion more than others do, you might be suffering from a common form of self-delusion. Referring to yourself as a thought leader makes you a tone-deaf narcissist; not necessarily a great thinker. For my part, I’m in the process of trying to eliminate the term “thought leadership” from my vocabulary. This week, after months of reflection, I’ll be instructing our team to…

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This Word Unleashes Change & Innovation

Have you ever worked for a boss who always said no? If you have, my first guess is it was a frustrating experience. My second guess is you don't hold said boss in high regard as a leader. I've always been amazed at the number of well-known axioms espousing the benefits of learning to use the word "no" with greater frequency. In fact, there are some very bright people who believe you simply cannot…

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Care for a white-water ride?

Change seems to occur at an ever-increasing speed, making forecasts – especially those concerning long term scenarios – an extremely risky business. Forecasts often lead to disappointments, both for management – employees – shareholders and other stakeholders. Because of the complexities, we can always find excuses: Organizational developments did not always have the impact as expected, or…

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Leadership in Cybersecurity

Defining the position of the lead security person in an enterprise can be a challenging and sometimes confusing task. There are various job titles such as; Chief Security Officer (CSO), Chief Risk Officer, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), V.P., IT Security, V.P., or Director of Information Security. Regardless of titles or functional position, the lead role in a security organization is…

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Talent Search in a Digital Age

About six years ago when I started my post-doc program at Harvard Business School and contacted several top executive search firms, the majority of them told me that social media does not affect their work at all. I was surprised and a little bit disappointed, because my goal was to study how online networking platforms influence talent search activities. However, the rules of the game have…

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The Teslatisation of the Boardroom

I am taking a break at Grand Cafe Loos in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. My mind is spinning around as I try to defragment and reorganize the many experiences, images, and memories that have made this such a fascinating year. It's easy to pick out the large, juicy chunks, which have captivated most of us around the globe: political upheaval, geopolitical instability, corporate scandals to name but a…

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Why Corporations Have a Talent Problem

The reason most corporations are broken when it comes to talent acquisition is they are simply looking for the wrong things through the wrong lens. Their hiring models are built for the old economy. They are looking for conformity rather than a non-conformity. They look to protect the status quo rather than disrupt it. They are hiring for the present and not for the future- corporations have a…

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The Evolution of the Executive, C-Suite, and Boardroom

The evolution of the Executive, C-Suite, and Boardroom is underway. People will undoubtedly say, “there is no way this guy is old enough to have experienced working in the ’80s and ’90s,” and they would be right. However, as part of any sound Executive Search professional’s toolkit, research is a useful addition and in many ways, often goes a long way. So, how did it all look back in the 'good…

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The Price of Core Values is 80 Dollars

I recently spent a couple of days in New York. It was hot and humid, so I didn't think twice about being offered a ride in an open bicycle cart from Central Park to my hotel, which was approximately a 15-minute ride. I asked the driver to take the scenic road and enjoyed the last glance of the beautiful park, which added another 35 minutes to my New York experience. "It's 35 dollars sir' or at…

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Leadership Humor – Asset or Liability

As a leader it’s quite easy to get a laugh – your title will virtually guarantee it. Therefore it’s important for leaders to become skilled at distinguishing the difference between a compliant chuckle and a sincere chortle. Good humor can bring people closer, but poor humor can be one of the strongest repellents known to man. The old saying “everybody loves a comedian” has regretfully given…

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Benghazi Hearings – A Crisis of Leadership

While today’s column could focus solely on the Benghazi hearings, or various components thereof, a lack of leadership isn’t just a problem in the United States; it’s a global problem. It’s also much more than an indictment on global politics; it’s a systemic problem that pervades every level of society. I don’t think there’s much debate the world is ensnarled in a crisis of leadership. The…

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Potential – Why It’s Over-Hyped

My premise is simple; one of the worst things an organization can do is reward potential. Identifying and recognizing potential is important, but rewarding it can be lethal. Rewarding potential has placed many gifted people in way over their heads and set them up for failure. Rather than rewarding potential, companies must learn to properly cultivate it - there is a difference. Here’s the thing –…

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