Articles

Welcome to our IDEAS section where we want to share with you our current thinking on issues related to leaders and their development. We encourage you to provide us with your feedback on anything you read here, and we look forward to engaging you in conversation about our favourite topic – enhancing the depth and quality of leadership talent in organizations.

INTERVIEW WITH DENNIS DETERS
BY: DAVE JACKSON

EXECUTIVE VP, MEMBER RELATIONS AND CORPORATE SERVICES (RETIRED)
THE CO-OPERATORS GROUP LIMITED CANADA

Dennis joined The Co-operators in 1970 after completing his BA from the University of Regina. He has obtained his Fellowship of Insurance from the Insurance Institute of Canada and is a Fellow in the Life Office Management Association.

At The Co-operators, Dennis held leadership roles in underwriting, accounting, human resources, systems and corporate services. Before retirement, he was responsible for board and member relations, and for providing leadership to human resources, legal, government relations, sustainability, and succession planning departments for The Co-operators group of companies.

Dennis also serves on a number of local and international boards and committees.

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR 360 SURVEY FEEDBACK
BY: TIM JACKSON

360 surveys are one of the most common management development tools available in the market today. They are used for general career development, as well as for more targeted interventions to improve leadership skills. Sometimes they are even used to foster self-awareness for employees who are derailing, in a last ditch effort to prevent their exit from an organization.

WHAT KIND OF LEADER ARE YOU?
BY: DAVE JACKSON

What kind of a leader are you? When is it best for you to use your leadership genius? Let me tell you the story of the 33 miners who survived for 69 days last summer in the Chilean mining tunnel, as described in an exciting new book, 33 Men, by Jonathan Franklin.

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP – INTERVIEW WITH MELANIE POLONOFSKY
BY: DAVE JACKSON

Melanie Polonofsky is VP of HR for a major division of a large global corporation. We were impressed with her understanding of the development of leaders in large organizations; especially her insights into preparing women to lead. In this interview with Dave Jackson, Melanie talks about what men and women can do to put more women into the “C” suite.

FOCUSING ENGAGEMENT ON DRIVING PERFORMANCE
(HR PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE, MAY/JUNE 2011)
BY: TIM JACKSON

Although engagement surveys deliver comprehensive information about a variety of employee attitudes, perhaps the most important attitude of all is absent from these instruments: how engaged employees are in reaching and exceeding performance goals.

LEADER DEVELOPMENT YIELDS ROI (www.plasticsnews.com)
BY: TIM JACKSON

Developing leaders makes intuitive sense for many reasons. Societal demographic characteristics are shifting, meaning countless baby boomers will retire from executive positions in the coming years.

CROSS-CULTURAL LEADERSHIP SKILLS FOR A MULTICULTURAL CANADA
BY: TIM JACKSON & ERIK GIRARD

It used to be that stories of how leadership styles differ across cultures came mostly from expatriate executives returning home from assignment. They would say that Japanese managers visit the ill family members of their employees; Italian managers openly challenge and show disdain for rules; Middle Eastern leaders ignore efficiency to spend more time building relationships within their teams.

BUSINESS OWNER'S PERSPECTIVES - HOW TO BUILD YOUR EXECUTIVE BENCH

In sports, coaches and fans talk about “bench strength,” which is defined as the quality and number of players available to substitute during a game. Business owners and managers ought to be talking about bench strength, too.

Are there competent and willing employees ready to step into leadership positions on your business bench? According to Gary Vickrey, president of Jackson Leadership and a recognized authority on leadership development, this topic is of special concern as baby boomer business owners begin to consider retirement and contemplate their legacies.