The Roche Report

I should probably rename this blog reflections of a mother and former Cornerstone attendee - as my blogs are almost entirely about one or the other (have I told you lately that I love Cornerstone?). However, yesterday, I was having a conversation with a really, really strong performer on my team who said that they felt like they were happy to work on any type of project because they didn't really have any particular eminence in one specific area. This comment really resonated with me because it's something that I really struggled with myself -- and if I'm being honest about, is something that I used to feel very self conscious about as an up and coming leader in my organization. I felt like I was "known for" being a hard worker and someone who would see tasks to completion but I wasn't "known for" a functional eminence, which seems to be something that is valued as we talk about thought leaders and experts and branding.  Interestingly, for me, t...

One of my favorite pieces of advice that I've received is "what got you here, won't get you there." This means that the skills and experiences that made you great and helped you to get your current job, role, position, or recent promotion, will not be the skills that differentiate you for the future. This advice was a central element of one of my favorite training classes that I've ever taken, Cornerstone (hi Wayne!), which focused on the divergence from being a leader of people to being a leader of leaders -- and how you have to think differently and have different expectations, measurements, and ways of engaging than you did previously. Interestingly, most of the people taking the class felt that they were "known for" being detail-oriented, fact based, and subject matter experts - and the class challenged us that the expectation for the next level was in fact not about being the SME - but trusting your team of SME's to deliver for you. However,...