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Change and Transformation
“The Beacon Group’s program proved to be a transformational experience for our staff, and has created a new, more open culture of creativity and collaboration that has given The Globe and Mail a marked and measurable competitive advantage.” — Phillip Crawley
“The Beacon Group’s thought provoking curriculum utilizes best practice tools and interactive media for evaluation, assessment and overall learning. It has helped us raise the bar on our calibre of talent.” — Ernst Lieb
“The Beacon Group was able to handle our 360 reviews across 9 offices in a manner that brought significant value to our partners, the firm and ultimately our clients.” — Judson Whiteside
“The human capital programs provided by The Beacon Group are best in class.” — Tye Burt
“The Beacon Group acted as a strategic partner and was instrumental in helping us raise the bar on candid dialogue and team performance.” — Robert Courteau
“The Beacon Group approaches very serious and difficult topics in an accessible and insightful way.” — Eric Siegel
“We engaged The Beacon Group when we needed to bring two cultures together after our first major international acquisition: the evidence of their success lies in both the subsequent growth in our business and our presence in more than twelve countries on five continents.” — Rupert Duchesne
“The Beacon Group excels in facilitating open & candid dialogue that has fostered superior team performance.” — Mary Ellen Carlyle
“Top-level thought leadership, combined with practical, cost-effective solutions—that’s the real value the Beacon Group team brings to bear on Foresters talent challenges.” — Suanne Nielsen
“The Beacon Group delivered cutting edge perspectives on many human capital topics that were tailored and customized to our company in a way that we could not have obtained at more generic, cookie-cutter advising shops.” — Doug Lord
“Doug Williamson and his team were of invaluable assistance in helping our organization navigate through a completely new strategic planning process and emerge with a three year plan resoundingly endorsed by our Board. Doug’s global perspectives and ability to drive consensus was an integral part of our success.” — Don Forgeron
“The Global HR & Communications senior team engaged the Beacon Group in shepherding us through a unique strategic planning process that involved an outside-in view of our current and future workforce and how this aligns to our business strategy. Thanks to Doug and his team it was a thought provoking process that sharpened our strategic thinking and, in the end, made our strategy stronger.” — Sylvia Chrominska
“The Beacon Group’s customized and personalized approach fit our needs perfectly. From the initial self-discovery phase all the way to recommending solutions, the work they have done has been consistently world-class. They combine strong analytics with a wealth of real world experience. They are focused, targeted and are experts at taking theoretic concepts and making them real. We look forward to working with Doug and his team as we continue to elevate our business and improve our internal performance.” — Don Romano
“I have had the pleasure of working with The Beacon Group and Doug Williamson for several years across several organizations and have always been impressed with their professionalism, work ethic and customer orientation. Doug's own highly energetic and highly customized approach to the specific needs of our business and our leadership team sets him apart from other strategic facilitators and objective "thought provokers" I have experienced. I am always grateful and impressed by the tangible results his interventions tend to produce.” — Lloyd A. Perlmutter
“The big contribution was The Beacon Group challenged our culture and our comfort level. We then arrived at a clear plan of concise deliverables that we needed to execute to move forward on our vision.” — Tony Ambler
“SKF approached The Beacon Group to develop our Talent Management program. The process implemented by Doug Williamson and his team was extremely important for us in determining how to execute the program on a clear, organized and systematic way. This was one of our most important projects that will enable us to ensure our sustainable growth.” — João Ricciarelli
“Through its sound and strategically practical business knowledge and experience The Beacon Group has and continues to assist SCI in better understanding and enabling our organization to build engaged teams and leadership capability to help make our supply chain clients more competitive.” —John Ferguson |
Provocative PropositionsIn the hyperactive and challenging world in which we all live, it is becoming harder and harder for business leaders to find time to read, reflect and gain insight from the many valuable sources at our disposal. In "Provocative Propositions", The Beacon Group attempts to fill that void by offering our opinion, often rather pointed, on a wide array of issues we believe are relevant to leading a modern organization. The articles are catalogued into 12 categories so you can quickly and easily find a topic of particular interest. We then offer three easy steps under the heading "In Our Opinion" to help business leaders take action on the key themes. Simply click on the category and read away. Out the Snakes
It's late at night.
You're still at the office after a full day's strategy meeting. The team left the meeting feeling upbeat, ready to move the organization forward. The path ahead is ambitious, but you feel truly confident about your organization's ability to succeed. After all, you have a great group of employees. You're walking down the hall with another executive talking about the great outlook for the company, when you nudge him and ask: "Hey, who's the new guy…?" "Oh that's Harrison; he just came on board last week." "Really, have you met him? What's he like?" "Oh he seems great, highly motivated, smooth talker, ambitious." "Great" you exclaim, "He seems like just the person we need at this company." The two of you walk out to the parking lot and head home for the day. Meanwhile, Harrison has overheard your conversation from his office. His dark green eyes narrow, his ice-cold blood begins to pump, his long tongue shoots out of his mouth – with a hiss … and he rattles his tail, knowing he's fooled everyone. Watch out, there are snakes all around you. Engagement, Investment & Risk Management One of the more critical focus areas for most well run organizations today, is in defining and determining new and effective ways to help drive employee engagement (or what we prefer to call discretionary investment). Most leaders have come to understand it is an essential element of the execution-oriented culture. There is only one problem; in far too many organizations there are snakes in the grass. These snakes, present at any level in the organization, are only looking out for one thing – themselves. They will strive to rise through the ranks at any cost, all the while manipulating and using everyone around them for their own personal gain. The problem is – you don't see them, until it's too late. Snake Oil Charming, intelligent, well-spoken - these all seem like great descriptors of an ideal executive. However, when you add in the dangerous characteristics of what Dr. Paul Bibak Ph. D. and Dr. Robert D. Hare Ph. D. in their book "Snakes in Suits" ,are calling "psychopaths at work", characteristics such as opportunistic, manipulative, and cunning, you begin to see a whole different person. The problem is, "corporate snakes" are very good at hiding these characteristics, until they're ready to strike. Organizations have to wake up to the fact that if they want to be successful, they have to flush out these people to ensure there is constant organizational alignment, focus, and energy. Cold Blooded To back up their claims, Bibak and Hare turn to the DSM for ammunition. The research is solid and shows that all psychopaths display certain characteristics. If you want to ensure that snakes don't make it onto your organization chart, be sure to look for these characteristics: Interpersonal Traits The person is: Superficial; Grandiose; Deceitful. Affective Traits The person: Lacks remorse; Lacks Empathy; Doesn't accept responsibility. Lifestyle Traits The person: Is impulsive; Lacks Goals; Is irresponsible. Antisocial Traits The person has a history of: Poor behavioural controls; Adolescent antisocial behaviour; Adult antisocial behaviour. Now, before you panic and feel you may be a psychopath, or that someone you know is a psychopath, even "normal" people will display some of these characteristics. However, if you are hiring or determining promotions, take these factors into account. Three-headed Beast Regardless of whether or not you are trying to track down snakes, it is always important to remember that when it comes to organizational behaviour, perception is indeed reality. You will find that you can be far more successful in your career if you keep your three personalities in check: Private personality – what you experience inside yourself Public Personality – what you want others to see Attributed Personality – your reputation, based on what you say and do To help your organization understand it's "reality", behavioural assessments and 360-degree feedback can be tremendously beneficial. Poisoned Profits Studies have shown that inappropriate or fraudulent behaviour (in many cases attributed to snakes) costs companies millions of dollars in lost productivity. By having a snake high up in your organization, you can very likely be at risk of falling victim to their manipulative ways. In Our Opinion The Beacon Group's Recipe for Anti-venom Get a Mongoose – Deputizing the HR department, or hiring a strong-willed executive coach can go a long way towards flushing out potential snakes. Remember, these people are intelligent, so attack quickly. Check for Bites – Open lines of communication, with candid dialogue can make snakes uneasy. Make sure that everyone is on the same page, and that the collective goals are clear. Cut the Grass – Review your talent pool regularly. Solicit feedback from various parties. By eliminating redundant positions, and excess headcount, snakes will have a tough time finding prey, and more importantly – places to hide. Stay Close – More eyes on the trail will help protect the group. Make sure that there are ample opportunities to get together as a group, and celebrate organizational wins. Our Monthly Rant Get Help Immediately Not to encourage tattle-tails and turncoats, but - if you have been made the victim of a crime you really should report it. Drs. Bibak and Hare refer to the prey of snakes and have labeled them as - Pawns, Patrons, and Patsies. Don't become one of these. If, for whatever reason you do, do not be embarrassed or ashamed. Let your colleagues know, before they get bitten. You owe it to your colleagues to save your organization's life. |
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