Forget the corporate ladder and replace it with a career scaffold. Building stronger lateral foundations allow employees to progress further in their careers

Brian Formato shares one of the best failure stories ever. He’s the founder and principal at Groove Management, a human capital consulting firm focusing on organizational and talent development. He also created LeaderSurf, a professional development program that teaches leadership through surfing.

Entrepreneurs often talk about the flexibility their jobs provide, but for me it is the freedom to be creative and innovative that is the most important aspect of being an entrepreneur. This is the story of my journey.

Executive assistants are the unsung heroes of many organizations, but hiring amazing support is often a challenge. We have found the secret ingredient is discretionary effort and we have an approach to interview for that skill.

Anyone who has ever lost a job knows that networking is a key to finding the next opportunity. Sitting at home blasting out resumes is not an effective way to conduct a job search. Job seekers need to be out meeting new people and selling their capabilities in person.  Co-working venues are a great place to expand one’s network.

Honest is a rare thing in this day and age. When you come across someone with high integrity it makes you take notice.

Always better than yesterday Facebook Live interview with Groove Management’s Brian Formato

In 2001 while in graduate school I learned about the theory of appreciative inquiry. That was the spark for starting Groove Management. It has been a long journey with interesting twists along the way.

Too many organizations focus on employee retention when the goal should be employee engagement.

Leadership and entrepreneurial insights from Tom Hill, founder of Fuzion Force Entertainment Academy.

Keep your ego out of the sales process and focus on the product or service.  A lesson that many real estate brokers still have not learned.

Lay offs stink, but if you get laid off there is a right and wrong way to deal with the job loss.  First and foremost maintain your dignity.  This post tells the story of a loyal employee who lost his job after fifteen years.  How he left sets a great example for others.

If HR is responsible for managing under-performers in the organization, what happens when the head of HR is the under-performer?

Roy Mauer from the Society for Human Resource Management interviews Groove Management's Brian Formato on the concept of Forwardfilling jobs.

Companies and their needs evolve, they get acquired, they move their offices, they shift their business models and all too often their employees end up as casualties.  Career transition is nothing to be ashamed of.  It has become incredibly commonplace. 
 

Growing an organization in these turbulent times is challenging.   Having a long-range plan is an important tool for achieving growth over the long term.  The short-term focus that has captivated so many companies creates opportunities for those that are patient and willing to invest in the future.  The best way to invest in the future is to get your organization talking about it today.  No better time than the current to begin working on your 2020 Vision.

The decision to hire someone with a different work style and approach is the easy part. The harder part is flexing your style as a manager to allow someone with a different work style than yours to be themselves and excel. Too often we try to change people to fit in to an organizations culture. The best companies leverage diversity as a strength. They try to hire people with diverse work styles, and backgrounds and most importantly they create space within the organization for people to play to their personal strengths.
 

As your organization scrambles to complete year-end performance reviews, ask the question “Why are we doing this at the busiest time of the year and who benefits from this approach?”  What you may find is that your process is not serving your organization and your employees very well. It might be time to rethink your approach to performance management. 

One of the most difficult tasks of a leader is to maintain a team of A players.  Steve Jobs once famously said “A players hire A players and B players hire C players.”  Research has shown that A players outperform B players 2x on essential tasks and 10x on creative tasks.  So why do so many leaders live with mediocre talent on their teams?  

As a former leader that I worked with always said using the military term, you want “Fewer soldiers, better fed”.  A headcount freeze is an opportunity to increase hiring not freeze it.  The problem is that too many organizations mix up the intent versus the impact.  It is important to be very clear on the goal.  If the goal is to freeze employee expenses (salaries and benefits) at their current level, then a headcount freeze can achieve the same result as a hiring freeze, but in a much more effective manner.