This episode provides a deep dive into "pretextual justifications" and organizational culture's role in crafting political strategies within corporate environments. The host, a seasoned management consultant, unveils a foundational framework used to navigate complex corporate politics, focusing on gaining power and influence. Listeners will learn about the nuances of pretextual justifications—business-oriented rationales that legitimize strategic interventions while advancing personal agendas. The discussion also covers how understanding and aligning with an organization's unique culture is crucial for the successful implementation of these strategies. This episode is essential for executives looking to enhance their political savvy and maneuver through corporate dynamics effectively. It promises insights into controlling narratives, managing optics, and the art of strategic positioning to consolidate power within an organization. For those aiming to master organizational power dynamics, this is a must-listen.

Effective leadership remains a cornerstone of success in today's dynamic business landscape. Yet, with many colossal leadership development industry offerings, are organizations truly getting the necessary leadership acumen? In this episode, host Jawn Lam scrutinizes the glaring shortcomings of conventional leadership development programs. Specifically, the failure to address critical elements like power dynamics and organizational politics. Tune in to unpack why the industry's one-size-fits-all approaches often result in power being abused or squandered, and arm yourself with insights to choose programs that drive executive effectiveness. Don't settle for feel-good platitudes; make your investment in leadership development count.

In this episode, I share some perspectives on organizational politics that I've heard from many clients.

In today's episode, we have a conversation with Mike Braham about transitioning out of the military, learning the skills of crisis management, and the value of leading with a clear stack of priorities.

Power is a difficult concept to define and understand. As we continue our exploration of power & politics in the organizational setting, let's set the foundation for our approach to wrapping our minds around this nebulous concept. Rather than trying to define power by what it is, our process will be based on understanding power by understanding its contexts in application.

In this conversation with Mike Sarraille, CEO of EF Overwatch, former US Navy SEAL and co-author of "The Talent War," we talk about how his experiences as a special warfare operator translate into the business world.  Why does EF Overwatch adopt the "whole person" concept (i.e., mentally, physically, & emotionally well rounded) to talent placement?What military stereotypes about military leaders do we, civilians, get wrong?Which processes of military assessment work and which needed modification for the business world?How can businesses move past strictly evaluating talent on objective metrics?How should businesses approach the current labor market landscape?How do you create a culture where everyone believes that talent acquisition is a competitive advantage? Mike gives us great insights into these questions and more. Tune in for his thoughts on talent management and how the principles that bring success to special operations military units can help organizations win the talent war. ……………… Links: Talent War: How Special Operations and Great Organizations Win on Talent (paperback available November 10, 2020, pre-order now on Amazon): https://amzn.to/3bLwJ6E Michael Sarraille: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelsarraillemba/ EF Overwatch: https://www.efoverwatch.com/ Jocko Podcast episode 244: https://jockopodcast.com/2020/08/26/244-dont-do-it-alone-how-to-build-a-winning-team-the-talent-war-recruiting-selecting-training-and-mentorship-w-mike-sarraille-and-george-randle/ ……………… The views, information, or opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the individuals in this piece; they do not necessarily represent or reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.

The traditional view of organizations is to treat it as a machine. Inputs are fed into the system and predictable outputs are expected on the other side. To a certain degree, this works. However, there is a cost to this paradigm. Is it a financial cost? While in most cases the answer is "no," what is certain is that in all cases there is an opportunity cost. Adopting the mechanistic view of organizations means relinquishing the opportunity to see the organization as a vehicle for community development. In other words, changing your paradigm will empower a business to do well and to do good.  ………………  Links: The Living Organization: Transforming Business To Create Extraordinary Results: https://amzn.to/2FME2zk Norman Wolfe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wolfe/ Quantum Leaders: https://quantumleaders.com/ ………………  The views, information, or opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the individuals in this piece; they do not necessarily represent or reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.

In this conversation with George Randle, VP of Global Talent Acquisition at Forcepoint, Strategic Advisor at EF Overwatch, and co-author of "Talent War," we discuss the topic that should be the first item on the agenda of every org-development initiative: talent management. How do you identify the right character attributes required for leadership success?Why do some companies NOT have a CHRO role?How can HR professionals raise their strategic value to the organization?What benefits will the executive team enjoy if they empower the HR team to do what they do best (focus on the people issues)?What are some pros and cons of switching to a "service center" model for the HR function?What makes an executive stand out among other leadership candidates?Why is humility important in the hyper-competitive world of business? George gives us great insights into these questions and more. Tune in for his thoughts on talent management and the strategic importance of HR in every organization. ……………… Links: Talent War: How Special Operations and Great Organizations Win on Talent (paper available November 10, 2020, pre-order now on Amazon): https://amzn.to/3bLwJ6E George Randle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgelrandle/ Forcepoint: https://www.forcepoint.com/ EF Overwatch: https://www.efoverwatch.com/ Jocko Podcast episode 244: https://jockopodcast.com/2020/08/26/244-dont-do-it-alone-how-to-build-a-winning-team-the-talent-war-recruiting-selecting-training-and-mentorship-w-mike-sarraille-and-george-randle/ ……………… The views, information, or opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the individuals in this piece; they do not necessarily represent or reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.

In this conversation with Shane Plank, Director of Sales & Business Development for Netmind US, we discuss the topic that everyone is thinking about in today's leadership environment: coping with change. How can we get comfortable with change? What are the key success factors for when we change to a new structure? How should managers lead in our new virtual environments? What's the benefit of taking ownership of our professional branding online? Shane gives us great insights into these questions and more. Tune in for his thoughts on leadership not only in business but also in life. Don't forget to get connected with Shane on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaneplank/ ……………… The views, information, or opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the individuals in this piece; they do not necessarily represent or reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.

Full video lecture: https://youtu.be/UkcEEar7V48 If you would like more information on how the "Workforce Maturity Practice" can take your organization from operational chaos to optimized agility, send me a message on Linked in and I'll be happy to discuss how we can help: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jawnlam/ Whether we're talking about organizations or executives, what do we mean when we use the term "immature"? What are the consequences of living in an immature organization? How do we fix the root cause of immaturity so that we can begin to climb up the workforce maturity ladder? In this Leadership Lecture, we start our multi-part series on breaking down the workforce maturity practice. Tune in to find out the one key factor that any organization (no matter the industry) needs to climb out of Level 0 and onto the Level 1 of workforce maturity. 05:23 - What is Maturity? 06:53 - What does it take to scale? 09:01 - The hard & soft costs of poor talent retention. 11:35 - Employee apathy suffocates growth. 12:49 - "Talent retention is silver bullet!!", said no one, ever. 13:51 - Operational chaos: Symptom #1 16:36 - Operational chaos: Symptom #2 18:36 - Operational chaos: Symptom #3 19:48 - Operational chaos. So what? What's the big deal? 20:26 - What's the cause of operational chaos? 21:35 - Where does an immature culture come from? 23:01 - What needs to change in order to change an immature culture? 24:27 - The right executive mindset. 27:38 - If you want to break out of Level-0, you must… 31:12 - The first step to organization growth is…