So Bill Gates is preparing to retire as CEO of Microsoft. Gates and his childhood friend Paul Allen founded Microsoft on April 4, 1975, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to make and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800, an early computer that was sold to hobbyists. Gates dropped out of Harvard University in his third year to focus on ...

Last week, I participated on a T&D Magazine webcast with Bill Byham, the CEO of Development Dimensions International,  a leading human resources consulting firm.  It got me thinking about a great DDI white paper I saw recently written a white paper on the qualities that predict leadership success.  According to DDI, effective ...

Most people know that high levels of stress are associated with a number of negative physical and psychological consequences.  Physical problems include high blood pressure and cholesterol, and an increased risk for heart disease, ulcers, and cancer.  Psychological side effects include anger, anxiety, irritability, and boredom as well as ...

This week, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen over at the Time: Work in Progress blog talked to Pat Lencioni, author of the new book Three Signs of a Miserable Job.   Here are the goods:   The first is anonymity, which is the feeling that employees get when they realize that their manager has little interest in them a human being and ...

[ImageAttachment] A topic that’s been coming up a lot in my discussions with twenty and thirty-something employees is empowerment.  Today’s younger workers want to come into a job and have the autonomy to take hold of projects and run with them self-sufficiently.  However, their baby boomer managers, more often than not, hold them back ...

[ImageAttachment]   This week, my friend Lisa Haneberg at Management Craft had a great post on ways to inspire others.  Here are some of the highlights:   Take a stand. Share your perspective and be open.  The most inspiring leaders have a strong vision for how things ought to be. Listen more, speak less.  Show ...