Stereotype: “We need fresh ideas.” “We need a Millennial to address our social media marketing.” “I don’t think Frank is up to the demands of the new software.” “If our salespeople won’t use the automation system, then we’ll get some younger folks in here who will!” I’ve heard these comments or comments very close to them on more than one …
Nature Rules: There is a lot of discussion about organizational culture these days. What is it? How does it contribute to or inhibit effectiveness? How do we “manage” it? I define culture as simply “the way things get done around here.” And that means how decisions are made. That includes whether employees feel that the environment is safe for them …
Engagement: I was slightly amused at the recent NY Times anonymous editorial about the “Internal Resistance” to the President’s leadership. “Welcome to our world,” I said out loud to no one in particular. They are lucky that this is out in the open. We in the private sector rarely get such a heads up! According to Gallup for over two …
According to an Adelaide newspaper in Australia: “A championship team will always beat a team of champions.” A young entrepreneur I know said, “I would much rather play on a championship team than on a team of champions.” His sport in college was basketball. He pointed out that you can easily tell the championship team if you watch the college …
Nature: Along with Corporate Culture, Employee Engagement is a hot subject these days. On the topic of engagement, I’ve been wondering about how we allow our people to get back to what Dr. Brian Little refers to as their “restorative niche.” I think we are not allowing for that. And not doing so may be making it harder to secure …
Playing it Safe According to Bill Taylor, founding editor of FastCompany magazine, playing it safe may be the riskiest path of all for your organization. Safety can be a trap, in that you never move forward. Two activities in my past are sailing and rock climbing. When a storm approaches, large ships move out to sea away from the rocks …
Drucker and Fields It’s my understanding that Management Guru Peter Drucker coined the phrase “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” I also understand that Mark Fields, CEO of Ford, made it popular. All of which is fine with me. What I know from experience is Drucker’s statement is absolutely true. And I will be so bold as to add that a …
According to Gallup The numbers rarely change. In the U.S., the annual Gallup survey shows that about 70% of our employees are NOT engaged. Meaning, they are putting in no extra effort to move the company forward. Employee engagement is the engine of productivity. Job #1 The CEO, Founder, Owner of a company has one main job and that is …
Culture Trumps Everything Yes, culture trumps everything AND . . . money still talks. On Tuesday, 6/20/17, Travis Kalanick, the co-founder of Uber resigned, as CEO. He had taken a leave of absence the week prior, but that wasn’t enough to satisfy those wanting to protect their investment in Uber. So, while Kalanick will remain on the board, he is …
Leadership Owns This Scandal And just where was (is) the leadership at Wells Fargo in this ethical failure? What kind of culture would lead an employee even to consider falsifying emails, establishing unauthorized accounts, issuing unauthorized credit/debit cards, collecting fraudulent fees, and impacting customers’ credit scores? How can customers ever trust Wells Fargo again? Full disclosure: I am a Wells …