Chris Cancialosi, Partner and Founder at gothamCulture

Preventing Potential Dysfunction in the Boardroom

By Chris Cancialosi

Published at November 1, 2018December 11, 2019 In Category Blog Tags: Leadership

There is no shortage of research on the impact that boards can have on the performance and profitability of the organizations they serve. In today’s business context, boards face higher expectations, increased scrutiny by the community, press, politicians, and the street, and significant increases in the velocity of demands of their attention. These realities create a need for boards to be as effective as possible in driving profitability for the firms they serve. Board inefficiencies and lack of effectiveness are simply not something that organizations can afford. Setting up boards for success starts during the recruitment process and some recent research sheds some light on how to make this process have greater positive impact. Read More…

Knowledge Transfer: The Key to Organizational Resilience and Agility

By Chris Cancialosi

Published at July 6, 2018December 11, 2019 In Category Blog Tags: Knowledge Management, Leadership, Learning and Development, Process Improvement

Chris Cancialosi’s article was just published in July’s issue of TD at Work.

How do organizations not only survive, but thrive in today’s new operating environment? By developing resilience and agility. Knowledge transfer is critical to this, and talent development practitioners are positioned to help companies prepare. In “Knowledge Transfer: The Key to Organizational Resilience and Agility,” Chris Cancialosi details:

what knowledge transfer is and why it is critical to organizations’ resilience and agility
the role of effective knowledge transfer in the future of work
ways to develop and strengthen an organization’s ability to effectively transfer and manage knowledge.

Nine Questions Every Leader Must Ask Before Letting Someone Go

By Chris Cancialosi

Published at June 7, 2018June 7, 2018 In Category Blog Tags: Leadership

If you have worked in the professional world as a leader for any length of time you have undoubtedly found yourself managing a team member who was failing to live up to expectations. While it might be tempting to cut someone loose if their performance is sub-par, the turnover may cost more than you think.

Tips For Nailing Your Next Executive Kickoff

By Chris Cancialosi

Published at March 21, 2018March 21, 2018 In Category Blog Tags: Employee Engagement, Leadership

The launch of a new strategic effort represents a key opportunity for senior leaders to set things off on the right foot. Unfortunately, many senior executives fail to grasp the importance that a well prepared and delivered executive kickoff can have on the success of a project team.

This may happen because some leaders don’t take the time to develop the skills necessary to ensure that their kickoffs meet the mark or because they don’t see the inherent importance that their presence, statements, and interactions with others can have on their staff. Whatever the reason, or reasons, taking the time and effort to adequately prepare for this leadership responsibility can certainly pay dividends. Read More…

Why United’s Bonus Lottery Was Doomed From The Start

By Chris Cancialosi

Published at March 14, 2018March 14, 2018 In Category Blog Tags: Leadership, Org Culture

The commercial aviation industry is a tough business. Really tough. Margins are often razor thin, factors like the weather can wreak havoc on your operation in the blink of an eye and customer expectations of the air travel experience tend to be extremely low. Aviation workers give it their all every day to deliver in, sometimes, unrelenting environments and they aren’t usually paid all that well for what they do.

A Guide To Dealing With Difficult People

By Chris Cancialosi

Published at March 7, 2018March 21, 2018 In Category Blog Tags: Leadership

We’ve all been there. Be it work, school or Thanksgiving dinner, we’ve all found ourselves in situations where we have been forced to interact with people we find to be “difficult”. For many of us, we’d rather eat glass than have to deal with challenging people like this but how we survive and, dare I say thrive, in these situations can separate us from the pack in both business and in life. Read More…

The Power Of One: Focus In A Fragmented World

By Chris Cancialosi

Published at January 25, 2018January 25, 2018 In Category Blog Tags: Leadership

Entrepreneurs juggle a lot of balls, no doubt. The culmination of the many items that demand our attention on a day-to-day basis and the multitude of stressors that come along with the lifestyle we have chosen can make it seem impossible to focus our attention on any one thing for long.

Not only does this make our lives take on a frenetic tempo but it can also have other, long-lasting negative impacts on our organizations and ourselves. Let’s explore why trying to focus on multiple things at once doesn’t really work all that well considering what we’re trying to accomplish. Read More…

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Organizational Artifacts And The Reshaping Of History

By Chris Cancialosi

Published at November 7, 2017November 7, 2017 In Category Blog Tags: Change Management, Leadership, Org Culture

As Winston Churchill once proclaimed, “History is written by the victors.” While this sentiment may hold a bit less weight in today’s society where even the “losers” can shape the collective narrative with the help of things like the internet, the “winners” do tend to hold quite a bit of power over shaping how future generations interpret the events of the past.

One way to shape peoples’ interpretation of the past is to remove and replace the physical artifacts of a people. The statues, monuments, images, the schoolbooks and stories that do not align with the version of history that you wish to promote. Read More…

The Quiet Price of Entrepreneurship

By Chris Cancialosi

Published at October 20, 2017October 18, 2017 In Category Blog Tags: Leadership, Startups

Read a selection of articles in most business publications and you will, undoubtedly, find more than a handful that explicitly or implicitly refer to entrepreneurs as stalwart heroes in some form or fashion. While there may be some level of “courage” (comfort with risk, ability to thrive in nebulous situations, ability to envision a future state that others can not, etc.) the overwhelming amount of content of this nature continues to reinforce a myth about entrepreneurs as mighty warriors who don’t blink in the face of danger. Adding further to this cycle, especially here in America, is our national culture of showcasing success and of loving a good underdog story.

Unfortunately, showcasing successful underdog entrepreneurs who have “made it” doesn’t really tell the full story. For every success there are multiple examples of failure- each one leaving indelible scars on those involved. For some, these failures may serve as the inspiration to try and try again while, for others, it may result in wounds that become insurmountable. Furthermore, even the entrepreneurs who do make it, in most cases, do so at the expense of many things in their lives, each adding stresses to them as individuals that are difficult to measure. Read More…

Creating Lasting Impact As An Interim Leader

By Chris Cancialosi

Published at October 2, 2017October 2, 2017 In Category Blog Tags: Leadership

I remember growing up in the days when having a substitute teacher for the day meant watching a movie instead of moving forward with the planned content for the day. At the time, it left me with nearly the same feeling as a coveted snow day.

In the business world, stepping in as an interim leader can sometimes feel like you’re the substitute teacher, left to mind the store until a “real” leader steps in. I feel for substitute teachers and anyone stepping into a leadership role temporarily as they often feel somewhat powerless to act in the fear that they may break something.

Interim leadership roles can certainly come with their challenges, but these situations can also provide unforeseen opportunities that you otherwise may have missed.