Many leadership development tools are useful, and as a business coach, I’ve tried most of them over the course of my career. However, I have also seen many of these tools for leadership development create unintended negative consequences.

There are 4 fundamental step for businesses and leaders to consider if they want to be successful. It so happens that these steps were outlined for Chicago Public Schools by a commentary column in Crain’s Forum. They’re great for the private sector too.

Older people deserve our respect, yet they face ageism in many forms. Some people assume older leaders are incompetent, irrelevant and should just become invisible. There comes a time, however, when age negatively affects some abilities, and change is required. True leadership includes knowing when to quit.

When it comes to company and corporate culture, there are three key dimensions to consider if you want to survive and thrive, especially as a leader.

We all have strong opinions on subjects we care about. I can sound off on a host of topics, most of which I have little or no expertise on. But I find it better to stay in my lane and keep those diatribes to myself or limited to personal communications with people I know well. Many senior leaders could take a page from that book.

I started my own business, Gail Golden Consulting, 15 years ago as the U.S. was in the throes of the financial crisis and after I was laid off. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, and exactly the right thing, on many levels.

Does business coaching work? That’s a good question, considering the time and money invested in the effort. The question has been studied, and the results bear out that yes, executive coaching does work.

Lateral moves aren’t always a negative or a neutral thing. Growth and development often come from beyond a straight line or forward progression. Discover how you can learn new things when you move sideways.

I expected an accounting course in business school to be awful. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be memorable. This quote is big reason why: “What you measure is what people will do.” And it’s true. When we don’t take the right measurements, we fail to achieve the desired results.