Posts by Mark Weaver
Your Most Important What?
“Our people are our most important asset.” That corporate cliche became popular in the mid-late 20th century. I wish we had left it there. Maybe it was a leadership guru. Maybe it was an HR professional. Or maybe a PR firm. No one definitively knows who came up with the trite phrase or when it…
Read MoreYou Are the Brand: Cultivating an Authentic Business Culture
“You Are the Brand!” There’s a reason I say this to business owners. I’m not merely referring to the Marketing Brand – as important as that is. I’m really pointing to the Employment Brand and the culture of your organization. In my mind, your Marketing Brand, your Employment Brand, and your company’s Culture are all…
Read MoreHoliday Sensitivity or Bah Humbug?
The conventional way of thinking in some circles as the end of the year holiday season approaches is to be sensitive to various religious beliefs – or no religious beliefs. Some argue that everything should be kept so generic and potentially non-offensive that traditional symbols of Christmas or Hanukkah or Mawlid an-Nab or whatever else…
Read MoreEverybody Knows a Turkey
No, I’m not talking about the politician you love to loathe. And I’m not even meaning a line from the famed Christmas Carol. Believe it or not, we’re in the final quarter of 2020. Thanksgiving is just a month away. Besides all the other stuff that goes along with this holiday, many employers use it…
Read MoreMake Black Lives Really Matter
I’m old enough that I remember 1968. I wasn’t old enough then to grasp what was going on in the world. As an elementary school kid, it was just the way the world was when I was growing up, complete with constant nightly news about race riots, police brutality, tear gas, national guard, sound familiar?…
Read MoreCulture Clarification
I absolutely love helping organizations define their culture. Sometimes that’s precipitated by some kind of morale issue or dysfunction that points out a need to reset or even completely overhaul a culture that’s eroded to something entirely different from what the leader envisioned. More often than not though, the intended culture is just not defined…
Read MoreHire the Best and Avoid the Rest
Unless you just need a generic person with a pulse and some skills, recruit someone who fits – who will value the same things your team values because they’re inherently wired the same way. While you should never make decisions based on illegal discrimination (sex, age, ethnicity, etc.), you should be very discriminating in selecting…
Read MoreHelp! I Hired the Wrong Person
Help! I Hired the Wrong Person! Unemployment is very high, but not as high as it was a month ago. The employment market is picking up. Still, there are people who want a job and any job will do – like a job you need to fill. I’m in business to help organizations find solutions.…
Read MoreSee the Future
You’re a leader. You’re expected to be visionary. So what happens when you constantly look at the future through the lens of what was? When we screen everything that’s happening around us through the lens of what was, all we can see is constant change. When we look backward, we tend to glamorize the past.…
Read MoreIs Your Culture Cultivated?
I live on an almost 20 acre greenbelt that I lovingly call a brownbelt. That’s because the only time it’s green is this time of year. It’s not cultivated; no irrigation, nothing planted, just whatever grows. If you want open space that is a habitat for a bunch of birds, frogs, mice, a rat or…
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