Trajectify Summer Reading List 2024

Trajectify Summer Reading List 2024

Here’s that world famous list that thousands have been awaiting. Some of our Trajectify coaches and clients put together recommendations for books that they've been reading. We encourage you to use some of your vacation time and your days away from the office to invest in growth through reading. Wherever your adventures take you, even if it's just in your backyard hammock), use this out-of-office time to learn, reflect, and challenge yourself.

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How a CEO's ethics impacts the culture of the organization

How a CEO's ethics impacts the culture of the organization

Much of the tech talk recently is about AI, specifically ChatGPT (generating text) and Lensa AI (generating images). So, I gave ChatGPT a request to write an article on how a CEO's ethics impacts the culture of the organization. While it lacks my charm and occasional snark, nor does it include the storytelling I often do, can you tell that it was machine-generated?

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Stop Hiring for Culture. It’s Harming Your Business.

Stop Hiring for Culture. It’s Harming Your Business.

How many times have you been in an interview process when someone asks the question: “Will they fit in here?” Is there an objective way to answer that? The question of fit is based on careful business choices. It’s based on emotion, and we all know hiring isn’t a decision we should make emotionally. And yet…so many business leaders do.

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Should We Be Hiring a Chief People Officer?

Should We Be Hiring a Chief People Officer?

94% of senior executives think it’s important to focus on the growth and development of their HR executives so they’re ready to face the future. Of course, if you don’t have an HR executive on your team, you can’t focus on developing them. That’s the time to begin thinking about hiring a Chief People Officer.

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Is an Interim Executive Right for Your Company?

Is an Interim Executive Right for Your Company?

An interim executive temporarily takes a management position in an organization to help the existing leadership solve problems and set the future, permanent leader up for success. Knowing whether an interim executive is right for your organization depends on your current needs and your assumptions about the future.

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Gen Z Isn’t Going Away, and We Shouldn’t Want Them To

Gen Z Isn’t Going Away, and We Shouldn’t Want Them To

It’s time to stop the generation war and recognize that we’re all looking for the same thing and that our workplaces are better when they include the perspectives of all the generations. During the pandemic, people started to look at their lives differently, at their jobs differently. Employers looked at their organizations differently. And many of us have come out of the pandemic in the same, new place.

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Performance Development Programs Don’t Work Unless You Follow Through

Performance Development Programs Don’t Work Unless You Follow Through

They do the performance development, and nothing changes. Why? Because a change in behavior requires practice, reinforcement, repetition. If leaders want to see real change when they implement performance development initiatives, they need to follow the three Cs of good management: Clarity, Communication, and Consistency.

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Get Out of the Weeds: How to Balance the Day-to-Day with Overarching Strategy

Get Out of the Weeds: How to Balance the Day-to-Day with Overarching Strategy

One of the most frequent struggles I see with entrepreneurs and business owners is this tension between managing the day-to-day operations of the organization and focusing on overarching strategy. Many business owners who seek coaching or peer advisory boards know they’re not spending enough time on strategy, and they can’t figure out how to shift the balance. 

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Diversity and Inclusion for Nonprofits: Building the Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce Board

Diversity and Inclusion for Nonprofits: Building the Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce Board

Research shows plenty of upsides to diverse workplaces — more innovation, more successful decision making, better ability to connect with a wider variety of stakeholders. In 2021, after four years as a board member of the Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (PICC), I was asked to serve as its president.  Coming into the role, I knew we needed to make some changes.

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How to Build Cohesion After a Merger or Acquisition

How to Build Cohesion After a Merger or Acquisition

You might think that since companies spend upwards of $2 trillion every year on acquisitions, they’re a sure thing. The truth is, mergers and acquisitions fail at a rate of 70-90%. The biggest hurdle companies face after a merger or acquisition is the integration of teams. Few take the time and give the focus needed to build cohesive teams.

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How to Raise Prices Without Losing Customers 

How to Raise Prices Without Losing Customers 

If you’re in business long enough, one thing is inevitable. At some point, you’ll need to raise your prices. Business owners are often afraid of making that change, worried their customers will leave and revenues actually decline. The truth is, customers can weather difficult changes when businesses approach the issue with the customers’ needs in mind.

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Designing Competitive Compensation Packages for Today’s Talent

Designing Competitive Compensation Packages for Today’s Talent

How do you develop a system for compensation that gets you the talent you need, is relatively easy to administer, and is equitable across your organization? If I could impart two pieces of wisdom to every company with employees, they would be these: document every promise or concession you make; and assume compensation transparency.

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Is it Business or Is it Personal? When Friends and Colleagues Collide

Is it Business or Is it Personal? When Friends and Colleagues Collide

Given the bonds that can develop in the trenches of an early startup or young business, it’s not uncommon for business relationships to veer into friendship. What happens when a company grows beyond a person that helped start it? And what do you do when you’re the one faced with that dilemma — do you choose the business or your friend? Or is there some way to choose both?

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Psychological Safety Isn’t a 4-Letter Word

Psychological Safety Isn’t a 4-Letter Word

If you’ve turned your nose up at the concept of psychological safety because, frankly, you’re getting tired of trying to figure out every new buzzword, I’m encouraging you to rethink. Creating a workplace culture where people feel safe to be themselves and feel respected for their contributions is critical. You’ll lose talent if you don’t.

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How Coaching Helped Me Come Out

How Coaching Helped Me Come Out

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been writing a lot about how to become a good coach to your team or for others. I’ve gotten a lot of great feedback on the effectiveness of that content. It wasn't only for marketing Trajectify that I decided to write about coaching. It was because I have benefited from so much life-altering coaching in the last two years.

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