Organizations have always faced the need to change, but—with the current rate of technological change, intense competitive pressures, shift to a knowledge-based economy, and globalization—change has become more common and even more crucial to success. As such, leading change is an important skill for managers.

While many management experts have estimated that some 70 percent of change initiatives fail, more recent research suggests that finding valid and reliable empirical evidence of such a failure rate is problematic.

A leader's loud, energetic communication style may be deemed charismatic by one group of workers, while another group might find that leader's approach to be over-the-top. For women business leaders, charisma is even more difficult to define and assess, and it can often be mislabeled based on stereotypes. Women who show charisma by being gregarious and expressive might be categorized as "chatty" or "emotional," while a calmer and more nurturing woman leader might be criticized for being too "motherly." Leadership charisma is a complicated concept with no single set of guidelines. But, the majority of workers would agree that a charismatic leader, regardless of gender, commands the room.

Cindy Hale is a transformational leader in the healthcare industry. She is Vice President of Strategic Marketing and Engagement at Walden Behavioral Care (WBC), a mental health system with 15 hospitals and clinics. Prior to her role at WBC, she held numerous senior-level positions in marketing at organizations like KHJ Brand Activation and Boston Children’s Hospital.        

Skye Learning is excited to feature Cindy Hale in its Certificate in Leadership for Women in Business. The courses within this certificate investigate body language, communication, leadership, management, negotiation, networking, mentorship, and work-life balance through a women-centric lens.

Leadership and ethical conduct go hand in hand. Principled leaders demand principled behavior. In turn, ethical behavior is a foundation of effective leadership.

When it comes to organizational ethics, it starts at the top. No organization can achieve a sustainable ethical culture without senior management setting the example and leading the way.

New managers should expect a learning-curve when transitioning into a leadership position for the first time. The process of adapting to new responsibilities, goals, and challenges takes persistence and determination, along with support from our peers, mentors, and superiors.

Moving From Peer to Boss

Moving from peer to boss can be challenging because you will need to establish a new relationship with friends who were peers and draw upon the boundaries of that new relationship when making decisions.

Women are an invaluable part of the workforce, making up nearly 47 percent of all working adults. Women are athletes, academics, actors, and accountants; politicians, pilots, plumbers, and police officers; scientists, school teachers, sanitation workers, and security guards. Few jobs have never been held by a woman.  

In many ways, we are far from the days in American history in which women were told their place was either in the home or in particular roles doing "woman's work."

As part of its "Project Oxygen," designed to improve managerial performance, Google analyzed more than 10,000 performance reviews, feedback surveys, and other reports to figure out what makes a manager effective. After analyzing the data, the company circulated eight behaviors that managers could model to improve the quality of their management. Check out our latest infographic to learn more.

Can anyone be a good leader? Can leaders achieve work-life balance? What skills do leaders seek in job applicants?

We asked these questions to Sandy Slager, President of Skye Learning and Chief Operating Officer of MindEdge Learning. Learn more about Sandy and her thoughts on leadership, mentorship, and more in the Q&A section below:

Leadership can be defined in many ways, including the ability to convince other people to follow you, setting a direction and steering people toward a goal, and encouraging and inspiring others to work together. People lead by influencing the thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors of other people.

A leader must have the skills to bring his or her vision to life. Our latest infographic highlights five essential leadership skills.

The storm has been building for years. Now it’s hitting with full force.

The storm currently battering the nonprofit sector is a generational one. Leaders of the nation’s 1.6 million nonprofits are old (the median age for mid- and upper-level nonprofit manager is 52, according to a 2018 nonprofit leadership survey), and getting older. And like a lot of Baby Boomers and older Gen-Xers, they’re ready to retire.