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Sep
22

To innovate, you need a supportive CEO

If I could have dinner with any actor alive, dead or fictitious I’d pick Kermit. Yes, Kermit the frog, the Kermit that Jim Henson brought to life. One of the things that is so appealing about Kermit is he is an underdog. A humble but optimistic guy who left his hometown swamp in search of […]

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Sep
19

4 tools to improve performance management

It’s pretty clear most people don’t like their performance review systems (lots of companies are actually getting rid of them entirely). Of course, we do like the basic idea behind the systems: Measuring and improving performance. So instead of getting rid of them, let’s improve them, right? Okay, so where do we start? When I […]

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Sep
16

“How Long Until We’re Hacked?”: A Lesson In Server Vulnerability

Thousands of internet-connected devices and servers are being brought online everyday, many times with little thought to security. The lack of security oversight for these server activations is hugely problematic, but it can be hard to run down reliable industry reports or data that reflect this impact directly. So, I decided to run an experiment […]

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Sep
14

How 3 Companies Built Cultures that Drove Their Success

In today’s business world, there are few corporate clubs more elusive than being known as a “top place to work.” Organizations with the reputation of having a great work culture continue to attract top talent and thrive, while others with toxic or mundane cultures struggle mightily to transform themselves, often to no avail. Silicon Valley […]

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Sep
12

Take a Clarity Break

So how do you help slow down your world as an executive – beyond meditation and gratitude? We call it a Clarity BreakTM, and you need to be taking them frequently. The term “Clarity Break” was created by Gino Wickman, founder of EOS Worldwide. Defining a Clarity Break is simple. It’s a set period of […]

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Sep
07

Why You Should Get Rid of Your Performance Reviews

Some really big companies (like GE, Adobe, and Deloitte) have recently eliminated their performance reviews, with a bit of fanfare and media coverage. We all kind of hate the performance review process, so I think it felt a little liberating to know that these huge companies could just let them go. And for companies that […]

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Sep
06

What The Book of Mormon Taught Me About Association Management

Editor’s Note: I attended Sheri’s session at ASAE16 and found the insights from her panelists to be invaluable, so I asked her to write an article summing up the points. For ASAE16 I thought about using a symbol of the Salt Lake City as a metaphor for associations—winter sports, mountains, Mormons. Since I had just […]

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Sep
01

THE MYTH OF THE “BEST PLACE TO WORK”

Okay, I know some of you reading this probably won a “best place to work” award, and are quite proud of it. I get it. Your people filled out the survey and it scored really “well” and that’s something to be proud of. I obviously don’t know anything about your workplace, but clearly there is […]

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Aug
30

4 Lessons on The Membership Economy

Have you noticed lately how many organizations are joining the Membership Economy? Netflix and Amazon are two obvious examples, but more and more private sector companies are seeing the potential of unlocking a forever transaction through membership. As an association, this is how you’ve been doing things from the very beginning, which is why you’ve had so […]

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Aug
24

My associations’ fight to end bureaucracy

Twenty-two months ago, I was hired as the staff president of the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP). My newly-created position’s responsibilities were scoped within a revised governance structure that shifted the board from operational focus to strategic design and execution. Operationally, the organization was dealing with a traditional challenge that many associations work […]

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