If We’re So Smart: Lately, there have been many articles on most media platforms about how we humans are purposely manipulated by other humans. On the surface, that seems a bit crazy. After all, we are the most intelligent species on earth, right? Yet, we see suckers being born every day. The Silly Season Let’s start with the misleading and …
Saving Face: During my time working with colleagues at a Japanese owned company, I learned how important it was to make sure people left any kind of public or group encounter with their pride intact. I’m pretty sure I knew that was appropriate before joining the company, but it was emphasized within that culture. At first, the most notable practice …
Question: I had an interesting question from a student in a recent guest lecture I gave at a local university. To paraphrase, the student asked, “Why do we say it’s best to criticize in private? I played competitive sports. The coach criticized us in public all the time. The shame caused us to redouble our efforts. So, won’t you get …
Time, Connections, Knowledge: Leaders and managers are tasked with developing other leaders in the organization. Therefore, they must, of necessity, share the resources they have with their fellow employees. That is no easy task, if only because the press of day-to-day business tends to keep us all focused on tactical transactions. Time Perhaps the most precious thing we have, as …
Culture Challenge: Peter Drucker famously noted that “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” My experience is that Drucker is correct. One of the more straightforward ways I’ve observed that phenomenon is when a large change initiative is launched by management. For example, installing a new, complex, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. While leadership and employees may all agree that such a …
Business Roundtable: According to the reporting I’ve seen, the Business Roundtable has declared that they are changing the focus of their business from maximizing shareholders’ returns to improving the experience of all stakeholders. Stakeholders are made up of individuals or groups that have an interest in the success and progression of a company. External stakeholders comprise vendors, customers, neighboring companies, …
Situational: I came across the concept, new to me, of leadership through First-Principles. My interpretation of the idea is as follows. The difficulty in being consistent as a leader and living up the values of the organization is that each situation is a bit different. We have to begin with the organizational culture as a whole, define “first-principles” in a …
Vacation: How about starting the next meeting of your leadership team with a personal check-in? Take a few minutes at the start of the session for each member to report on the last trip or vacation that person made. Getting to know each other personally, not just professionally, is an excellent way to grow trust. Building trust with a group …
Choice: In today’s world, being found and having a distinct differentiation from the other competitors being found is critical. Unlike in previous years, today’s consumers are usually well educated on our product or service before they call us. They no longer rely on salespeople to bring them information. In fact, many purchasers, even for highly technical products, prefer to educate …
Do You Agree? Several reasonably consistent comments, in one form or another, are being made by business leaders. One is, “My employees treat our customers the way we treat our employees.” Another is, “Customers first is wrong. It’s employees first. Then the employees will take good care of our customers.” Also, of course, there’s the ancient mantra still spoken today, …