Authenticity Army Archives

Leading to Outcomes

September 1, 2016March 20, 2023 by Tim Empringham, MBANo Comments

One of the more successful strategies I have seen managers take in their organizations has been shifting their focus from managing the process to leading to outcomes. In the age of employee empowerment, one of the best ways to allow your team to feel like they have a say in the work is to allow them some flexibility in the process and approach. As long as they deliver the desired outcome, they should be able to define the path. The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it. Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt I would suggest that the act of simply managing for outcomes isn't enough in the current corporate environment. Setting goals and offering flexibility in the approach by Leading to Outcomes is a far more effective approach. If you retain the concept of managing in the approach, you won't achieve the...

Don’t Be Afraid Ask

August 24, 2016 by Tim Empringham, MBANo Comments

Over the past couple of months as I have been looking for my next career challenge I have been lucky enough to enjoy a lot of amazing conversations, meet a lot of really interesting people, and learn a lot from both the people I am meeting as well as my own experiences going through this. One of the most important lessons I am drawing on though I learned through my last big career search: Don't Be Afraid To Ask I love meeting new people and I love great conversation, but ultimately neither of those things on their own are going to find me the right next opportunity. If I don't actually use those introductions and conversations to let people know what I'm looking for and how they can help then it is a wasted opportunity in the end. (more…)...

Take Chances When Opportunity Strikes

March 19, 2014July 6, 2016 by Tim Empringham, MBANo Comments

I've recently had new opportunities present itself on multiple fronts in my life both personally and professionally. Those opportunities couldn't be different from one another in their context, but upon reflection I think my potential success in both cases is very similar. The key to my success will be a willingness to take chances when the opportunities exist. If I spend too much time thinking and weighing options or and don't commit myself to my first step toward the goal then I will likely doom myself to either failure or minimal success. (more…)...

Unleashing Authenticity

March 10, 2014July 6, 2016 by Tim Empringham, MBANo Comments

I watched an incredible TED Talk this morning from Caroline Casey that had an extraordinary effect on me. I'm fairly sure I got a few looks on the GO Train as I alternated between wiping tears from my eyes to chuckling out loud, but the message struck a core nerve for me. I won't spoil the talk, but Caroline makes a stunning admission to open the story and then discusses how her life and parents taught her the power of believing in looking past and defeating limits that might be placed in our way. (more…)...

The Authenticity Army

September 10, 2012 by Tim Empringham, MBA5 Comments

A colleague of mine (Stewart Hayes) reached out to me a couple weeks ago with the brief message: I found another member of The Authenticity Army I hadn't thought of the concept in that way before and it really made me reflect. I know that Stewart and I share similar thoughts on doing the right thing (not because it's the way the organizational culture thinks it's the right thing, but because it's the right thing to do), but I'd never thought of how rare that quality really is in the real world. In my current permanent role I am realizing more and more each day how lucky I am to be surrounded by authentic people. People who share my passion for excellence. People who want to create the future rather than just experience it. But Stewart's comment reminded me that truly authentic people who you can count on to do what they say, deliver when they say they will, challenge groupthink and tradition, and...