Achieving organizational clarity requires many leadership skills. The ability to have a candid conversation is one of the essentials. The need for candor was impressed upon me again recently when I (Rip) was working with a client to implement the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®). We had already put effort into thinking about how their business… Continue reading Organizational Clarity Requires Candid Conversations
Makarios Consulting Blog
Tag: conflict
You Don’t Always Have to Be the Conflict Referee
“Why do I always have to be the referee?” This is a question we have been asked many times by leaders. The complaint is voiced out of frustration: frustration that the leader’s team members cannot seem to resolve conflicts on their own. Every major dispute, minor disagreement, and even simple difference of opinion is escalated… Continue reading You Don’t Always Have to Be the Conflict Referee
The Power of Healthy Conflict
Consider a company with two business units that provide the same products and services to customers in adjoining geographic territories. There are two business unit leaders in the company: one a successful veteran of the enterprise and one a recent hire with new ideas. It doesn’t take a great leap of imagination to realize that… Continue reading The Power of Healthy Conflict
The Unexpected Career Gift
Recently, I (Rip) was meeting with a company leader who had been preparing for some time to have a tough talk with a member of his team. The team member was a high producer, but her abrasive interactions were hurting the overall effectiveness of the team. These conversations are never easy and to encourage the… Continue reading The Unexpected Career Gift
Go to the Danger Zone
The scene is the conference room. The actors are the leadership team members of the business. You are there, sitting at the table. You have hard problems to solve – perhaps customer-related, perhaps product-oriented, perhaps financial, perhaps strategic. You have a decision to face: will you tackle the really tough problems that are facing you?… Continue reading Go to the Danger Zone
The Danger of the Third-party Conversation
You are sitting around the conference table. An issue has just been raised that is cause for concern. Suddenly, there is a notable lack of eye contact among the team members. People begin to talk in roundabout ways: “It must have fallen through the cracks.” “Someone dropped the ball on that one.” “There was some… Continue reading The Danger of the Third-party Conversation