Knightsbridge Blog

It’s an unpleasant reality of the modern workplace—at some point, you will probably have a teammate who gets fired. We get uncomfortable and awkward in these situations and that’s not helpful to anyone.  Here’s some quick tips for what to do when a teammate gets fired. 1. Stop speculating: In my...

  Last week I was going to write a blog titled “I Don’t Have a Life, I Have a Job”. The focus of the blog post was going to be the issue of work-life balance and how difficult that can be to manage. However; the issue of managing my life and managing my career recently became a reality for me. On...

You’ve bonded with your teammates; built trust and established open lines of communication. You’re a model of modern teamwork.  That is—until the playoffs pit your favorite team against the favorite of your colleague.  Whether it’s the NHL playoffs and you’re embroiled in an original-six rivalry,...

Organizations today need to approach leadership development in a more aligned and integrated manner. Some of the common challenges we see in organizations are fragmented leadership development initiatives, lack of continuity between programs by leadership level, and a focus on educating leaders...

An executive asked me a really interesting question in a team session recently: “Which should be our first team?” What he was talking about was the divided loyalties of leading one team (your team of direct reports) and participating as a member of another team (the executive team).  It’s a great...

  Imagine this scenario. You gave a presentation at your team meeting today. It was a progress report on your big project. Around the table, heads nodded. Then this afternoon, you were walking down the hallway when you overheard a conversation between two teammates. One was complaining loudly about...

The idea that leadership actually starts at the Board has been slowly incubating over the past several years – and it’s now time for that idea to fully hatch. While the primary role of the Board has traditionally been focused on CEO performance, succession and strategy oversight, times are changing...

Pssst. I’ll let you in on a little secret. Executives who hold strong professional relationships with executive search consultants are the first to land.  Want to hear another secret? The best time to build a relationship with a search consultant is when you’re not even looking for a new job....

  Many people assume networking is a skill set that you need if you are looking for a job or you are in sales, but the truth is that networking is a key skill set that everyone needs to have in today’s job market. Networking is key to career success for many reasons including if you currently hold a...

An effective succession management process will help us mitigate risk to the business, ensure continuity through times of change, and consistently build talent for the future. This sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, for many leaders, it’s far more difficult to achieve. Having a clear...

Career transition is a series of peaks and valleys, times when you are up, times when you are down. For executives in transition, the valleys can take many forms. It might be a loss of self-worth or a feeling of insignificance as one leaves a career that is part of their identity. Or it might be...

In the Leadership realm, role modeling is considered table stakes. For leaders to live and breathe the behaviors and values they wish the rest of the organization to live.  What I’ve noticed is that most leaders think role modeling only really counts at ‘important’ times and places – at key meetings...

  Detaching from a job that you have held for years is very difficult - especially if you did not choose to leave, but instead were given a package and told your services were no longer required.   Dan had been working with the same company for 10 years as a Sales Manager with 15 people reporting to...

In my last post (10 Things to Avoid When Implementing Leadership Development Programs) I talked about how the game of snakes (chutes) and ladders can be a useful analogy for understanding what strategies help move you ahead when implementing leadership programs and what make you slide backwards. In...

I read a great blog about what to do if you’re feeling under-utilized on your team.  The article was by Career expert Chrissy Scivicque.  You can read it here. One of her useful suggestions (after making sure you’re doing your current job to perfection) was to make a specific request of your boss...

Ineffective leadership continues to put organizations at risk. There has been no shortage of news coverage about boards struggling with and losing confidence in the CEO, and senior executives being ousted or jumping ship. Think E-Trade Financial, Yahoo, Citigroup, and most recently Rio Tinto.  All...

  We recruiters are great at finding candidates and getting them ready to see you. But after that, it's up to you and your team. Interviewing potential candidates is one of the most important user experiences that folks will have with your organization.  As we tell candidates, you only get one...

Organizations have good intentions when it comes to rolling out leadership development programs.  What I’ve found in working with organizations of all sizes and in all sectors is that it can become a bit like playing the game of snakes (chutes for the U.S. folks) and ladders – some actions help move...

The biggest mistake that teams make is not answering the question “Why are we a team?” It seems the time has finally come when organizations are taking seriously the role of teams in productivity, growth, and innovation.  I’ve been busier than ever.  That means I’ve been meeting new teams and asking...

  When I first started writing this over the Christmas holiday I was going to inspire you with my knowledge and expertise on creating, setting, and achieving goals.  I wanted to teach people how to get that promotion, recognition from your boss, or a salary increase — I am all about goals.  I even...