Jo McDermott

executive development

  • The Transition From Manager to Leader

    Leaders v. Managers I’m sure you’ve probably heard about the differences between managers and leaders.  Managers do things right and leaders do the right thing–right? I think that this is an interesting discussion, but it isn’t that easy.  Managers do… Continue reading

  • Break the Rules? Only After Careful Consideration.

    Rules Have Reasons Rules in organizations are there for a reason.  Someone at some time figured out that there needed to be guidelines in place to govern the situation.  These rules can be formal–procedures written in manuals that have multiple… Continue reading

  • Onboard Yourself

    Onboarding Onboarding is the process that organizations use to get their employees up to speed enough to do their jobs.  Another term for it is “organizational socialization.”  Organizations have informal and formal methods for the knowledge transfer or processes, tools,… Continue reading

  • Trust me, damn it!

    Demanding Trust Doesn’t Work I once had a boss demand that I trust her again.  We can talk later about how I made the mistake of letting her know that I didn’t trust her (not a good career move, and… Continue reading

  • Flip the Switch

    A Story I’m going to tell you a story so that you can learn an important lesson without having to go through what I went through to learn it.  How’s that for a deal?  Then you’ll be able to do… Continue reading

  • What If Your Leader Won’t Act?

    What if my leader won’t . . . I get this question all the time.  My leader won’t make a decision; what do I do?  Why won’t the leadership in my company LEAD?  Things go up the chain, but nothing… Continue reading

  • Are You A Wannabe?

    Are you an Executive wannabe?  An entrepreneur wannabe?  An artist wannabe? A marathoner wannabe? An author wannabe?  Do you put one of those on your New Year’s Resolutions list?  How about your career goals list? What Is Stopping You? Look… Continue reading

  • Not Your Mad Men Career Ladder

    Way back, before most of us were working, you got a job with a company and you stayed with that company–making steady progression–until you retired.  You were, of course, a man.  If you got fired, you had done something pretty… Continue reading

  • Manage Your Resistance

    Put Your Leader Hat On Who would you rather work with if you’re implementing a new change in your organization?  Would you rather work with someone who has been there for ten years–who knows his/her way around the organization, who… Continue reading

  • Promoted! Now What?

    Congratulations!  You just got promoted.  Or you just got reorganized into a new department.  Or you just got a new boss.  How do you make this a step in the right direction and keep from crashing and burning.  Ok, crashing… Continue reading