Posts by Paul Curci
Successful Joint Business Planning Begins With Great Questions
Successful joint business planning requires vendors and retailers to share as much important information as possible. But you have to know what to ask and how to ask it to get the information you need. There’s an art to asking great questions; an essential skill that far too few people in leadership positions possess. Here…
Read MoreThe Key to Successful Negotiations
We find ourselves in the position of having to negotiate just about every day—at work, on a trip, in a relationship, with your kids, at a restaurant. How do you approach these negotiations? You wouldn’t be alone if you said that you stake out your position and try to bend the other party to make…
Read MoreIt’s all about the people
The much-lauded CEO of Yahoo Marissa Mayer has made “people” her number one priority in righting the company ship. Her first year did not yield great results. But if history is any guide, leaders who prioritize hiring and retaining the right people at the company produce impressive turnarounds. Exhibit A: Back in 2001, Doug Conant…
Read MoreSyndicating Leadership
No matter how brilliant or visionary the leader in a large organization is regarded, her effectiveness and success will be tied to her ability to model her leadership style; to have others make decisions consistent with the leadership agenda. We refer to that as ‘syndicating leadership.’ How confident are you that the people reporting to…
Read MoreGetting ‘Culture’ Right
Eventbrite’s co-founder and president, Julia Hartz woke up from a nightmare, and decided to leverage her company’s amazing culture to drive performance, earnings and shareholder value. Take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1mHDhIMyKs&feature=player_embedded
Read MoreThe Power of ‘Thanks’
We here at The Curci Group talk a lot about leadership, communication, and engagement, offering a lot of advice on various things to do and not do. But there’s just one very small thing you can do today that will have a dramatic impact on the productivity and engagment of your employees: say “thank you.”…
Read MoreBringing art to the people
Think you’ve seen some creative ways to market the arts? Well, here’s one that will make you smile. When the Rijksmuseum in Holland set out to boost attendance, they decided to do so by bringing art to the people. They chose a 1642 Rembrandt painting called the “Guards of the Night”….and brought to life the…
Read MoreThe importance of hiring, training and coaching managers to greatness
More and more companies are recognizing the importance of pushing responsibility and accountability down to the front lines. Being effective at front line accountability requires strong managers providing hands-on support. Gallup CEO Jim Clifton writes that “Millions of Bad Managers Are Killing America’s Growth.” While I don’t agree with this sweeping generalization, it is clear…
Read MoreFormal Authority vs. Moral Authority
In the wake of unrest by Turkish youth over what they consider to be a blatant misinterpretation of democracy by Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the question of formal vs. moral authority has been raised. In a recent Times op-ed, Thomas Friedman quotes executive consultant, Dov Seidman. “There are essentially just two kinds of authority:…
Read MoreBuilding an internal communications strategy that ties in with your culture and values
You cannot have a conversation about internal communication (IC), without having a conversation about the brain, about social media, about employee engagement, about leadership, and about culture. So, how do you begin to formulate an IC strategy? Which of these subjects do you tackle first? In what order? Who do you bring into the discussion?…
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