Innovation and Creativity: The EI Factor
The world of work is in a time of transition as organizations wrestle with how to maximize the human potential that ultimately makes or breaks a company.  A new generation of organizational leadership researchers and authors are shedding light on a variable that may prove to be the x-factor in how people and relationships are weighted into the equation for holistic organizational effectiveness. This increased appreciation for emotional intelligence is transforming organizations and the people who make them work.  More …

Creating Seamless Behavior
This article explores how the organizational design process can create seamless behavior for improved team effectiveness.  Seamless behavior for team effectiveness is not just another word for good communication or the sum of “individual best” efforts. It’s an unimpeded exchange of energy, ideas, resources and commitments that translate into high performance. More …

Engaging Foresight to Meet the Future Before it Arrives
It can be said that no organization plans to fail, except when it plans not to fail. When Topps Meat Chief Operations Officer Anthony D'Urso walked into his office on June 25, 2007, he did not realize that in exactly 90 days, his family’s company would be forced to end its 67-year legacy and close its doors for good. Highlighting the example of Topps Meat, this article emphasizes the relevance of foresight in the strategic planning process and offers insight into various forms of foresight useful for organizational leaders in strategy development. More …

Restructuring for a Brighter Future: Organizational Design and Culture Change in 21st Century Higher Education
The future of higher education institutions in the United States is threatened by global competitive pressures, powerful technological developments, restraints on public finance and serious structural limitations that cry out for reform. In order to become more transparent, faster to respond to changing circumstances and increasingly productive, colleges and universities must seek to change their current organizational cultures. At the same time, they need to redesign their current organizational structures into networks that function for the good of the whole. More …

Mastering Leadership Reflexes: A Case Study of Captain Aubrey in Master and Commander, Utilizing Russell West’s Reflex Leadership Theory
Using a popular film and a contemporary leadership development paradigm, this article illustrates that though events provoke responses from us, it is possible to develop the inner being so that a leader acts reflexively and wisely in the real world. People can influence, but not control their environment and their future. Those who lead must learn to dance to or act in response to environmental stimuli and the movement of fellow dancers. More…

The Role of Ethics in 21st Century Organizations
In the 21st century, ethics is neither a luxury nor an option. Although many organizations are aware of the need for ethics in their cultural fabric, there is still a great deal of room for improvement. There is a growing impatience within society with selfish and irresponsible actions that impoverish some, while enriching the crafty.  In addition to social responsibility, there are other compelling motivations for 21st century organizations to make ethical values a priority.  More…

Leader-Centered Versus Follower-Centered Leadership Styles
Leadership styles can be divided into two groups: leader-centered and follower-centered styles. Leaders of both groups have a vision, a mission and goals that they strive to achieve. The two groups use very different approaches, however, in achieving their goals. Knowing your own style as well as the style of the organization for which you work, will enable you to identify personal strengths and weaknesses as well as organizational opportunities and threats. This information will help you find the best fit for your career and will help you to improve, grow and develop as a leader. More…

Practical Application of Five Leadership Theories on a U.S. Naval Vessel On a United States naval vessel, task accomplishment and leadership decisions are vital to personnel survival and mission success. A naval vessel is a complex microcosm that utilizes a variety of leadership methods to complete tasks. Although there are a myriad of leadership theories applicable on a naval vessel, this article explores how five of the most tried-and-tested theories can lead to mission success when applied to the right situation. More…

Integrating Strategic Thinking into your Organization for Long-Term Competitive Advantage
Strategic thinking is a powerful tool. When used correctly, it has the potential to move your organization into the future in new and innovative ways, giving it long-term competitive advantage. This article demonstrates that leaders have a variety of tools at hand, which they can use to plan strategically for the future.  More...

You Have a Choice: Using strategic foresight to lead your organization into the future
In the past, many leaders have relied upon strategic planning to guide their organizations. Organizational planning is, however, insufficient in times of uncertainty and rapid change. Organizations facing uncertain times need leadership that focuses on strategic foresight. Here are some steps that a leader can take to develop strategic foresight, providing the impetus for maximizing organizational transformation and contributing to meaning-filled work.

Learning from First Century Dynamism and Early Church Strategy: A model for today
Christianity had an inauspicious beginning, but rapidly achieved a dominant role in world history. How did it happen and what can we, as the Church today, learn from those who went before us?

While We Were Working, the World Wobbled:
A Boomer's dilemma
Baby Boomers entered the workplace with the idealism and enthusiasm that epitomized their generation. They expected to join organizations with the intention of working loyally at a good wage for a lifetime, or at least until retirement. This psychological work contract was broken in the 1980s and 90s when workers realized job security no longer existed. Distrust in organizations became rampant. Now that this world is gone, what is a Boomer to do?

Business Fashion Makeover: Better design for better business
Ask a fashion creator what design is, and the likely answer involves fabric and flow. A gardener may define design in terms of plant material and placement. Ask business executives to define design, and the answers will astound you. Design in business often focuses on brick and mortar structures, but these only define placement. They do not begin to define the real material that builds a business - its people. A new reality is emerging - work no longer depends on a physical structure to house workers. There is something new in the business fashion design to improve productivity and business.

Effective Leadership within a Multinational Environment
The paradox of working in a multinational environment is that one assumes that the increasing connection among countries and the globalization of corporations would result in cultural differences disappearing or diminishing. Yet, the reality is that as economic borders come down, cultural barriers often go up, thus presenting new challenges and opportunities in business.

In Pursuit of the Right Idea - Not just the great one

Today's fast paced society seems to have hurt the people who enjoy it. When I work on a slow computer, I become frustrated because I want it to work faster. How many people get frustrated when they are forced to wait in the drive-thru lane at a fast food restaurant? Our lack of patience can limit our ability to be creative and innovative in our leadership roles. We may seek the fast answer or the good idea rather than the right one.

The Strategic Triumvirate: How to increase your organization's value and avoid future extinction
The primary objective of every CEO or owner should be to create and increase the value of the company. Yet all too often, we find that this is not their high priority. How does the concept of strategic planning relate to value? Many CEOs and owners haven't made this connection, yet these concepts are directly related. The CEO or owner can take strategic actions that directly impact the value of the company.

Generational Diversity: The Future of the American Workforce
This Mosaic Generation, the children of Boomers and older GenXers, may well thrive in a workplace that resembles what has been previously rejected by their parents. Some researchers speculate that Mosaics will resemble the veteran generation in many ways. They tend toward a belief in collective action, optimism about the future and a trust in centralized authority. Although the Mosaics are just now entering the workplace, they are already showing a strong will to get things done with great spirit.

Do-It-Yourself Fundraising: How to Get Money for Your Nonprofit
I often get asked, by start-up nonprofits, how to raise money. The panic of making budget seems to make raising money impossible without knowing someone rich and famous like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet. But fundraising isn't impossible. It can be an incredibly exciting adventure. Here is a simple plan I recommend to my clients. It can get you off to a good start and keep being used for years to come. To keep it easy, I implore them to "Get R.E.A.L."

LEADING WITH THE POWER OF COMMUNITY

The workplace, where people once found their sense of purpose and personal fulfillment, has become a place of uncertainty. As a result, interest in workplace spirituality has increased dramatically over the past decade as people are looking for ways to cope with the growing sense of insecurity that pervades much of corporate America. The threat of layoffs, restructurings and the disillusionment of many aging Baby Boomers, who now see their hard earned success as an insufficient reward for the sacrifice of family, health and even personal identity paid to earn it, have people looking for more in the workplace than what it now provides. Workers are longing for a more humanistic environment with increased simplicity, more meaning and a connection to something higher. Workers are looking for a sense of significance in the workplace.

CARPE FUTURUM
For many people, the old saying, "What will be, will be," quite succinctly sums up their attitude toward the future. Oddly enough, many of these same people are diligent practitioners of carpe diem or seizing the day, its challenges and its opportunities. Certainly, seizing opportunities is a common attribute of those who succeed in business. Yet, when it comes to the future, fatalism is not uncommon. Whatever our view of the future may be, one thing that we can all agree on is that the future is coming at us faster all the time. The increasing rate of the creation and acceptance of new technology and the social changes that technological change drives, is putting pressure on organizations to respond more quickly than ever before. This requires a new form of strategic planning; one that will allow organizations to respond rapidly to the changes of the Knowledge Age.

CHRISTMAS: A SEASON OF PARADOX -- AN EXAMPLE OF GREAT LEADERSHIP
Before the birth of Christ, the prophets foretold of a series of paradoxes surrounding the coming of the Messiah in that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem, from Egypt, from Galilee, would be born of a virgin, would be meek, etc. - all of these things that did not fit the expectations of the people. The Jewish people expected a warrior that would overthrow the Roman power base and re-establish Jerusalem as the center of power, re-establish the Torah (as interpreted by the Pharisees) as the law of the land and the temple (directed by the priests) as the controller of cultural norms. It is interesting to see that the theocracy of the Old Testament's first books changed to a plutocracy in which the wealth of resources and power - held by the church - controlled or sought to control, the social organization of the day.

TAKE THIS JOB HOME AND LOVE IT: VIRTUAL EMPLOYMENT THAT WORKS

Becky left her previous job, in part, because her employer was unwilling to consider a tele-work option. She believes it is the most desired perk for many in the Washington, D.C. area, and she's not alone.  With the combination of broadband Internet availability, a large number of tele-work friendly jobs, and time-consuming, costly commutes, the benefits of telecommuting have increased for the both the employer and the employee.

WHY STRATEGIC FORESIGHT?
It seems that every business has a strategic planning process (and if you don’t, you’re embarrassed to admit it to your golfing buddies). The number of articles, seminars, books and conferences extolling the virtues of and need for strategic planning are innumerable. And they’re right! You do need a strategic plan.

THE VALUE OF SUCCESSION PLANNING
With nearly two-thirds of CEO’s stepping down over the next decade, 39 percent have a likely successor in mind, while 45 percent haven't identified a successor at all. The latest Workplace Forecast from the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) indicates “that few organizations have executive succession plans” (Schramm, 2005). These startling facts place a new sense of value and importance on the succession planning process.

THE MOSAIC GENERATION: THE FUTURE OF CHRISTIANITY? WHO ARE THEY AND HOW WILL THEY CHANGE THE FUTURE?

The Mosaics, also known as Millennials, are those born between 1982 and 2002. Highly educated, they are well behaved and have a positive outlook on life. With the exception of the War on Terror, they have been blessed to live during a time of stability in America and around the globe when a high percentage of adults are concerned about the welfare of children.  While research is only available on the oldest members of the Mosaic Generation, preliminary results indicate that educational, healthcare and community initiatives have been effective in forming the unique characteristics and behaviors of this generation.

Overcoming Personal and Spiritual Exhaustion: The Value of Rest and Renewal

Working harder and faster, staying ahead of life, moving into the future at the speed of light. Does this describe your daily life? Are you forgetting to take time for you and your family? If so, you could be on the fast track to personal and spiritual inner exhaustion.

Five Succession Planning Values to Keep Your Organization Alive

Many organizations are just one step away from extinction. Sounds harsh, but think about it. If Jesus hadn't intentionally infused His values, teachings, vision and Spirit into the lives of several high-potential followers, would the church exist today? No. But it flourishes today because Jesus recognized that there can be no success without a successor. "As the Father sent Me, so I send you," He said (Jn 20:21). Thus, the critical importance of leadership succession continues.

The Leader-Follower Relationship: Practitioner Observations

Larger than life leaders too often define leadership as the Lee Iacocas, Jack Welchs, Warren Buffets, Bill Gates, and Rudy Giulianis. These individuals are the exception, and very few of us possess the qualities these leaders exhibit. Even if we did, still fewer of us find ourselves in a situation where we can exercise those qualities. Yet, the “experts” lead us to believe that we should strive to be like these great leaders. While striving is admirable, reality can get lost. In our society, leaders are glorified and followers are denigrated with unfortunate counterproductive results. During our years as consulting psychology practitioners, we have made five distinct observations concerning the leader-follower relationship.

Oh My Gosh! She's a Millennial!

While sitting in the parking lot of the local high school waiting on my fifteen-year-old daughter to finish basketball practice, I'm preoccupied with my assignment to write a website article on the Millennial generation. "Who are these Millennials?" I ask myself.  Suddenly, my deep thoughts are interrupted when my daughter leans into my line of view and says, "Hey Dad, open the trunk, I've been standing here for hours!" Following a non-stop barrage of thoughts, questions and excited statements from my daughter, it hit me, she's a Millennial!

Unleashing Creativity in the Workplace: Going beyond the Operations Manual
As a leader in your organization, your ability to unleash and focus the power of creativity within yourself and your followers is an essential capability that is required to make the transition from an operational manager to a strategic and innovative leader. In addition, your ability, and that of your followers, to turn dreams into realistic visions and actionable strategies, leading to successful applications, will allow you and your organization to reap the benefits of a creative environment

Overcoming Barriers to Creativity & Innovation: One County Government's Strategy for Change
Building an organization that makes a governing commitment to grace and truth will provide the freedom for workers to make mistakes and grow with an accountability that will accelerate change in people in the workplace. It is the responsibility of the organization and its leadership to provide such an environment.

Enabling Creativity & Innovation in your Organization
Team-building is an art not for the faint of heart. Those of us who have invested time and energy in working to build teams can attest to the struggles we've encountered along the way. To truly engage hearts and minds requires leaders to step out by faith, courage and conviction and be agents of positive change.

What's In(novative) with Preaching? Revolutionary Innovations in Proclaiming Truth.
Do you think Jesus would like Starbucks? Wireless Internet for his laptop-blogging pleasure . . . the jazz music setting an artistic, interactive mood . . . stories being spun and told all around Him . . . I think He'd love it. But what do blogs, jazz and story-telling have to do with Jesus and preaching today? Tons. These symbols represent recent revolutionary innovations in proclaiming Truth to a postmodern world. Look closely within the emerging church and you'll see how they fit in with today's design of preaching.

Hurdling Creativity Barriers: A Top-down Approach for Encouraging Innovation in the Workplace
How can an organization create a climate for creativity and innovation? How can the organization, as a whole, be creative? The key is the human mind. It must be stimulated, excited and nurtured to produce creative thinking. Equally, the mind must be free of creativity and innovation barriers that encumber and impede its ability to fully capitalize on the enormous potential within its grasp that now lies dormant.

There are no Points for Original Thought!
While subtle, there is a noteworthy distinction between creativity and innovation. Creativity centers on ideation - that is the process and dynamics associated with generating ideas. Innovation, on the other hand, is the practical application of creative outcomes into productive results (Shalley & Gilson, 2004; Kraus e, 2004). In this distinction we are able to form several key axioms that highlight how, at times, creativity and innovation combine as a force multiplier, while at the same time they can actually work against one another.

Carpe Mañana:  How Strong Leadership Can Seize the Future Today
For many, the future is an inaccessible, crystal-ball-encased realm that only God knows and mystics speculate about. When organizations and their leaders refuse to dialogue about their organization's future, they ensure a limited impact in it (Hybels, 2002). Having an eternal impact requires that leaders carpe mañana today. Seizing tomorrow today begins with knowing what strategic foresight really is, why it's a necessary leadership habit, and how to incorporate futuring into one's leadership repertoire.

Leading Future Employees
In the United States alone, the 2003 Census Bureau reported 73 million residents 18 years of age or younger (Barna, 2003). With these future employees graduating from high school in 2005 through 2010, how must supervisors with traditional business practices and expectations, communicate and relate to this latest talent pool, and what kind of work environment will attract, retain and motivate them to their full potential?

Leading from the Future
What has occupied your executive team's attention the past three years? Chances are you have been restructuring departments or reengineering core programs for immediate gain, rather than regenerating your strategies or reinventing your organization for the future. It is said that on average, corporate management devotes 90% of their time on the "Inside and Now," leaving 10% of their energy to focus on the "Outside and Then."

Strategic Foresight:  A Critical Leadership Competency
How often have you looked back on a past event and thought; "if I knew then what I know now, I could have . . ." When we consider a past event with the advantage of reflective hindsight, we generally find areas where we would have made better decisions. Unfortunately however, until someone finds a way to break free of the space-time continuum, going back in time and reworking past decisions is an exercise in could-a, would-a, should-a.

Insight into Strategic Foresight:  A Biblical Perspective
What is strategic foresight? And how does it work for the Christian leader? Didn't Jesus say, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself? Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matt. 6:34). Are we to plan for the future? Is it like fortune telling or palm reading? Or do we just ask God to bless our prognostications?

Editorial: Strategic Leaders Should Know Better
In 1932, science fiction writer and social prophet H.G. Wells, claimed that while vision had created the motorcar, it was lack of foresight that produced traffic jams. "All these new things . . .come crowding along; every one is fraught with consequences, and yet it is only after something has hit us hard that we set about dealing with it" (Wells, as cited in Slaughter, 1989, p. 3). Well's statement challenges us today to examine our unchecked visions.