At Interaction Associates, we work with clients to achieve greater and more sustainable levels of business return on investment, by delivering a different ROI — Return on Involvement™. The primary way that we do this is by helping our clients to create cultures of involvement by developing a type of leader that we call the Facilitative Leader. They are best defined as leaders who demonstrate:

1) strategic thinking,

2) excellent collaborative skills, and

3) self awareness.

As the newly elected Chairman of the Board at Interaction Associates, I am thinking a lot about how the principles of Facilitative Leadership apply to this new role. 

Whether you're a leader at your company, or you help develop them, the practice of delegating to others successfully is both an art and a science. And the upside to your organization is huge: Effective delegation can empower and engage employees, fuel initiatives, and spur energy and creativity. What's more, delegation clears a leader's crowded plate of things that someone else can do, so you can focus on the things you must do. When a leader excels at delegating, ownership and accountability take off, too.
 

You hear a lot about collaboration these days — in the business world especially. It seems nearly everyone wants to know how to collaborate more effectively to achieve greater results in an ever more complex and interdependent world.

Yet, for most companies, two overlapping considerations are important: 1) Whether it makes sense to invest in building your company’s collaborative capability, and, 2) How to explore ROI when deciding whether to invest in becoming more collaborative.

With a miserable 75% failure rate, mergers and acquisitions seem risky at best. Yet in today's economic climate, they are more in vogue than ever. How can you increase your odds for M&A success? In this ten-minute podcast, Jamie Harris discusses common factors that cause mergers and acquisitions to stumble (Hint: it's the people part). Then, you'll learn three key strategies for M&A success.

Use the play button to listen now. To download the podcast, please right-click and save the mp3 for listening on your mp3 player or on your computer, anytime.

An economy in distress, recession, lay-offs and cut backs, investment markets in turmoil - times are tough and getting tougher for lots of people in lots of industries. Business climates like these present us two big questions:

- How can I deal with the personal consequences difficult times may cause me as an individual?
- How can I, as a leader of my company, help the organization continue to fulfill our mission?