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Effective leaders understand their people. They provide a firm foundation of expectations from the outset of a mission. They take steps to “get the word out” to everyone. They provide clear direction and follow-up as appropriate. They embrace the power of innovation in their teams. Above all, they take care of their people.

Small group presentations are common and may include training seminars and workshops, pitches to new clients, sales presentations, business proposals, reports to management, and project updates to your colleagues or clients. You’re usually standing just a few feet away from your audience members, which means you must always keep in mind that what works in the ballroom may not work in the boardroom.

Kforce is a professional staffing and solutions firm that specializes in hiring for financial, accounting, health-care, technology, and government organizations. To place consultants with its clients faster, Kforce implemented Adobe EchoSign, an automated electronic signature and Web contracting solution, to speed up the contracting process and place job-seekers with more efficiency and speed.

An owner says to his manager, “What if we spend all this money training our employees and they leave us?” The manager answers, “Worse sir, what if we don’t train them—and they stay?” The moral of the story: Increase your odds for success by hiring carefully and training consistently.

Flooring provider Shaw Industries, Inc.’s “Surround the Account” program was developed as a coaching tool to drive consistent behavior in the field and to connect field sales to more decision-makers and influencers.

Human performance is the result of nine major factors. Some are internal to a performer and some are external, the external factors being either tangible or intangible. Not accounting for all factors may result in poor ROI for your training dollars.

Just because you may be doing your due diligence in providing sufficient training doesn’t mean your team is doing theirs in providing good service. But how do you spot those staff members who aren’t cut out for a customer service job? Generally, they will come in one of several forms.

In 2014, 36 percent of the U.S. workforce will be Millennials (aka Gen Y). By 2020, that number will be up to 46 percent, and Millennials will account for 75 percent of the global workforce by 2025. Here are a few examples of the tremendous impact Millennials will have on the workplaces of today and tomorrow.

Not all managers are leaders, but every leader is a manager. Your goal is to understand how to capture individual talents and get the best out of each contributor. When you focus not only on the “what” of what it takes to be a successful leader but also on the “how,” you will see your sphere of influence grow and your career soar.

From the perspective of Starbucks leaders, the strong loyalty connection the brand enjoys with its customers is linked directly to the way in which those leaders connect with and develop their employees, or partners, as they are called. In fact, every aspect of training is guided by a commitment to build a dynamic learning community at Starbucks.