Darin Myers

Leaders with a forceful vision and presence are in great demand these days. With the global marketplace in a state of continuing flux, businesses need talented individuals who understand the power (and occasional pitfalls) of leadership. Are you satisfied with the quality of your own leadership? Or is there room for improvement, so you can better serve your various stakeholders? The potential benefits of strong leadership make the effort well worthwhile: Deeper employee engagement A boost in morale and productivity More consistent team results The capacity to promote from within

Today’s business leaders bear little resemblance to the top brass of yesteryear. Business leadership has evolved significantly over the last 50 years, driven in large part by changes in technology and societal values. Business owners, who in the 1970’s were mostly middle-aged men, tended to run their companies with a top-down leadership approach. This autocratic management style was characterized by a dominant chain of command, limited employee empowerment, and almost non-existent transparency. While perhaps standard operating procedure back in the Disco Decade, today the dynamic feels heavy-handed, unmotivating, and maybe

Depending on who you ask, there may be as many leadership styles as there are leaders in business, government, the entertainment industry, and so on. However, certain leadership traits are encountered most frequently in the workplace, and most CEOs, owners, and business leaders fall within this grouping. The four most common styles are: Autocratic Democratic Laissez-faire Transformational Each of these styles goes by several different names, but it’s likely that you and your fellow leaders will recognize the qualities inherent in each. Let’s take a look: Autocratic (or Authoritarian) Leadership

In the feverish hunt for qualified job applicants, businesses sometimes rush through the hiring process and miss out on some promising candidates. By optimizing your recruitment practices, you can significantly enhance the efforts of your team to do everything possible to attract and retain the workers you want. Why is this so important? Think of the time and resources you might save by streamlining the way people get hired within your organization. Here are suggestions on how to make time-to-hire more efficient, and lead the way to qualified job applicants:

It is a bit of a paradox. Businesses – that are run by humans, employee humans, and sell to humans – often struggle to present their brands in a humanized way online. Perhaps, it is these businesses’ attempts to be universally accepted. Or their misguided desire to sound like they fit properly into the box of their industry. Regardless of their intention, neutral and mechanical branding is increasingly ineffective in today’s digital world. Businesses that humanize their online presence are better able to expand brand recognition and distinction, customer loyalty,