... or so says Fred Smith, Chairman and Founder of Federal Express. By any other name, there is no substitute for making sure that everyone on your team is "aligned" ... with the goals of the organization, its vision and mission, its values .... One way to discover a lack…
At first, I figured it was too late to talk about surviving the economic storm we’re in … and then, I thought, hey, this isn’t over.
Maybe the sense of impending doom has dissipated but the reduced level of business activity and an increasing sense of frugality in a buyer-dominated market are going to be our unbidden passengers for quite a few more miles.
“Let us go into the storm … and through the storm,” said Winston Churchill as he prepared England to confront the Nazi regime in World War II.
As it applies to our current business climate, I thought this might be a touch of hyperbole, but then I recalled that Churchill’s odyssey raged for five years, not just the single year we’ve navigated since September 2008.
[pullquote]“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” ~ Winston Churchill[/pullquote]
Imagine Churchill, FDR and others slogging for five dreadful years through the greatest threat to civilization we have known.
So, how do we get through four more years of this business cycle, a time frame proclaimed by many before employment gets back to 6 percent and more customary growth trends resume?
Consider these few concepts inspired by the triumph and tragedy of those years: (more…)
I have mentioned on many occasions the Corner Office series in the Sunday NY Times which features an interview by Adam Bryant with a prominent CEO. The questions are consistent but invariably reveal an important reminder of key elements of leadership.
In a recent interview with Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy, Rogers explained how important it is to be on the front lines, to employ the MBWA concept that keeps you in touch with what’s REALLY going on. He also emphasizes a point made repeatedly in Sword Tips … that a strong leadership team is an invaluable cornerstone of successful leadership. In an unusual reference, Rogers mentions it in the context of time management … that he can’t get done what’s on his plate unless he has built a trusted team, clearly shared the company strategy with them and demonstrates his trust in their ability to succeed.
A final reminder is a bugaboo for most business leaders … (more…)
The NY Times runs a weekly column entitled the Corner Office, that discusses leadership lessons from CEO’s across a broad spectrum of companies. These interviews usually recall important tenets of successful leadership and serve as a valuable reminder about important lessons and how they should be applied.
This week, Adam Bryant interviewed Susan Lyne, CEO of Gilt Groupe. Lyne reports that she has learned the importance of being committed to “stepping back to think about the big picture,” a major challenge for most business leaders. A great way to do that is to grab a blank sheet of paper to begin.
I also like her suggestion about “office hours”, an idea she picked up from a colleague who was a former college professor. (more…)
During the last several meetings of the CEO Round Table, we’ve invested a lot of time with leading experts to discuss “Talent Management” issues. Experienced CEO’s understand that building a high performance company centers around the recruiting, retention and performance of talented executives. In building our knowledge and insights into these critical challenges, we’ve improved our recruiting skills, launched goal and performance management initiatives among member companies and learned about the strengths and weaknesses of compensation as a high performance driver.
In my experience, few CEO’s devote the necessary time to Talent Management. (more…)
Patrick Lencioni has got it right in his guest column in Business Week recently: There's no substitute for taking an active interest in the lives of your employees. The MBWO - "managment by walking around" theory has always been popular in these pages as a simple, no-cost tool to stay…
I mentioned here before about the regular Sunday NY Times feature called the Corner Office, which summarizes conversations with various CEO’s about leadership, lessons learned, interviewing techniques, etc.
Here are 4 key lessons.
Sunday’s column interviewed Lawrence Kellner, CEO of Continental Airlines, who reaffirmed several points emphasized on this blog.
First, it IS critical that you have the right people on the bus and in the right seats. Leaders are dependent upon many others to fulfill their responsibilities, so if you haven’t focused on strengthening your leadership team to the maximum extent possible, you’re simply extending your INability to get things done.
Kellner also emphasizes how critical it is to provide regular, unbiased feedback to your people all along the way. (more…)
Dennis Zeleny, an established HR professional and frequent contributor to Forbes magazine, contributes another POV in a growing list of articles about How to Lead in Tough Times. I think his key points are right on, and represent a compelling summary of key elements of leadership for all times:Communicate regularly…