One of the most difficult challenges any leader faces is uniting a group of people to pursue a common objective. Whenever we join an organization or a cause, whenever we sit down in a meeting or dial in to a conference call, we each bring our individual point of view to a conversation.

When it comes to the task of developing leaders, the one constant we have seen in our work at The Clearing has been change.

In our recent Leadership Development blog series, we’ve touched on a few relevant topics related to developing leaders in the current complex global environment. We have shared how organizations can develop leaders through strategic experiments and how leaders can play the role of coach in today’s workplace.

At The Clearing, we are constantly asked the question, “What makes an effective leader?” Our clients and partners are tackling some of the most complex problems in the world and effective leadership is a fundamental ingredient in the solution to these problems.

“The biggest job we have is to teach a newly hired employee how to fail intelligently. We have to train him to experiment over and over and to keep on trying and failing until he learns what will work.”
-Charles F. Kettering

For anyone transitioning into a leadership position, the first 180 days are critical for your long-term success. I have worked with numerous leaders who have navigated the difficult waters of leadership transition and set their organizations on a path to high performance.

Why is employee engagement important? Why does disengagement matter?

Anyone who has gone through a merger or acquisition knows that they are riddled with social, cultural, economic, and technical complexity. Acquirers spend a tremendous amount of time working on the financial and operational aspects of the merger and acquisition transaction, but often neglect the equally important “soft” task of aligning two organizations whose corporate cultures might be entirely different.