Insightful Articles for Leaders

The Leadership Problem of Inequity

2020 was a year that delivered 20/20 hindsight. Leaders navigated the challenges of COVID-19, racial tension and political instability simultaneously. Lives lost to disease, an economic downturn and protests dominated our news feeds. At the precipice of the new year, our 2020 challenges seem to have intensified. Polarization could cause the workplace to become more divisive.

The Opportunities Embedded in the Pursuit of Equity

Simply stated, some people are just ahead of their time. They understand complex problems at their core but struggle to convince those around them of a viable course of action, because the rest of us don’t possess the necessary grounding to see what they see. We would offer that Roosevelt Thomas fit this description. A Harvard-educated organizational psychologist, best-selling author and consultant, he is often referred to as “the father of diversity.”

Virtually All of Them!

Consider 2020 through the lens of leadership development. One year ago today, learning leaders around the world seeking to invest in the development of their leadership teams were in the process of locking in funding and travel plans to attend conferences, gain certification in credentialing programs or glean cutting-edge insights from high-profile thought leaders on the future of building great leaders. Then, leadership development took an exceedingly disruptive, and decidedly digital, detour.

Recognizing, Regrouping and Responding to Change

What Great Training Organizations Do

Executive Summary: Sustaining Virtual Leadership Development

Agile and resilient leaders who can effectively influence the performance and engagement of their teams have never been more in demand. Leadership training is a vital investment, so how can organizations ensure that their learners retain and apply what they learn back on the job? To answer that question, CLS partnered with Training Industry, Inc. to conduct a two-year research study […]

Data Fluency and Your Highest Probability of Success

Probability has long been the distinguishing factor between physical and behavioral sciences. In physics, force equals mass times acceleration – every time! If you know how much a baseball weighs and how fast it travels when your granddaughter throws it while playing catch in the driveway, you can accurately determine the force the ball had when it shattered the windshield of your car. […]

Participant Guidelines for Safe In-Person Training

If you are planning any upcoming in-person instructor-led training, it’s important that you provide participants with a resource that reinforces COVID-19 protective guidelines that they can reference during the session. While we at The Center for Leadership Studies strongly suggest continuing virtual training experiences, we also want to proactively prepare organizations to conduct safe in-person […]

Facilitating In-Person Training: A Safety Field Guide

While we at The Center for Leadership Studies strongly suggest continuing virtual training experiences, we are seeing that some companies are beginning to schedule in-person training sessions again. We developed this field guide to proactively prepare organizations to conduct safe in-person training with evidence and guidelines from the CDC. This safety field guide provides tips and recommendations for how to adjust your content and activity formats […]

The Returning to Work Handbook: Reflections and Strategies for Employees

In the transition to “normal,” the need for successful and engaged employees will be greater than ever. As an employee, maintaining your success and engagement throughout this transition will enable you to continue to develop even while facing unpredictable challenges. This handbook is designed to guide employees navigating this transition through the lens of Situational […]

Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect … Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

Despite the best-selling efforts of Malcolm Gladwell in “Outliers,” many continue to attribute accomplishments of significance to people born with unique talents. It’s a sort of built-in defense mechanism we have long been able to muster up on demand to reduce (and even eliminate) the dissonance associated with our relative commonality. The messaging sounds something […]

Behavior Change is a Function of Proactive Positioning and Immediate Reinforcement

We are officially throwing caution to the wind and thinking outside of the box we usually confine ourselves in when drafting this column. Ready for “old school interactive”? Here you go: 1. Take out a piece of paper and a writing instrument of your choice. Put the following words across the top of the page […]