When Leaders have Each Other’s Backs, Teams Have Less Tangles

Jake Pavelka, the Bachelor (yes, I secretly watch the show—I am a romantic at heart) said that he wanted to find a mate who “had his back.” I have facilitated dozens of team effectiveness offsites and invariably participants will claim that they either want to know their teammates have their backs, or recall that their [...]

You Can’t Hurry Trust . . . You Just Have to Wait

There is an old song first sung by the Supremes, and later by Phil Collins and others, called “You Can’t Hurry Love.” The lyrics often run through my mind when I am working with leadership teams. Only the problem isn’t love. It is trust. You really can’t hurry trust. As an organizational consultant and executive [...]

Leaders: What Avatar Reveals about Respecting Differences and Organizational TanglesTM

There’s a buzz in the air about the movie Avatar. My husband and I trekked over to our local IMAX theater (www.imax.com) this past weekend and were not disappointed. The movie truly sets a new standard for moviemakers and moviegoers alike. I was transported to Pandora, a totally different world, light years away. My senses [...]

Night of the Living Dead, VUCA, and Strangling Tangles

This past Halloween, my husband and I locked ourselves in our darkened home, and watched a dvd of  Night of the Living Dead. I had never seen it before and to be honest, I can’t say that I truly watched the whole thing. I spent part of the movie hidden under a blanket! If you [...]

Warning Signs that you have a Jangle TangleTM—Compliments of Brothers and Sisters

Thank goodness for TiVo. My husband and I love it to catch up our favorite television shows. One, Brothers and Sisters is an ABC drama about an exceptionally close, yet dysfunctional family. Sally Fields plays Norah Walker, the matriarch. Norah has five adult children, each with their own lives and own dramas. As I watched [...]

How to Build a Culture of Fear in 3 Easy Steps

Leaders, follow these three easy steps if you want to ensure that tough issues are never raised, that you don’t receive early warning signs, and that employees are seen and not heard. If you follow these steps faithfully, you and your executive team will hold all the power. You will be secure in your conference [...]

Are Your Emotional Intelligence Habits Saving or Sinking You?

According to recent studies, executive leaders who possess emotional intelligence are more likely to outperform their peers than those with high intellectual horsepower. In other words, it is not enough to just be smart. A leader needs to be intellectually smart and people smart.
I have worked with a number of executive leaders who have risen [...]

Today’s Leaders Must Up their Game

photo credit: [lauren nelson]
We are living in tumultuous times. Today’s business leaders need to be more discerning in gathering and processing business and environmental data. They need to be more accurate in setting strategy, and more effective in leading the execution of that strategy. Additionally, leaders must work harder to focus employees on being [...]

Ending Strangling Tangles Starts at the Top

I watched today’s inauguration of President Barak Obama on a large screen television in front of San Francisco’s City Hall. A large and diverse crown gathered and there was a palpable sense of expectancy and hope for better times and change. A change in leadership always presents the opportunity to right past wrongs and [...]

Three Ways to Recession Proof Your Business in 2009

photo credit: leolumix

At a meeting last week someone commented that many people stayed up to midnight on December 31, 2008, just to make sure they were awake to say good-bye to 2008. 2008 was certainly not the best of years. The economy began contracting early in the year, and by mid-September was spiraling [...]

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Marcia Ruben, Ph.D., CMC

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