If you want to poison the well where you work, allow a Certified Jerk to roam free. Mollycoddling is a pernicious and infectious organism you need to expel from your organization. Smart people can often be prima donnas, but the brilliance of some people is often more blinding than enlightening. Fortune…
While I am spending a little downtime with my family, I wanted to share with you a timeless article from our Leadership Library. If you want to poison the well where you work, allow a Certified Jerk to roam free. M ollycoddling is a pernicious and infectious organism you need…
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So, why not jump into the deep end right now by reading Business Finance is about much more than finance
I’ve said before that leaders don’t have the luxury of confining their interests to just a few things
By now, you know that the Sunday NY Times Corner Office series is oft-quoted here to highlight varying aspects of leadership that flow from Adam Bryant’s conversations with notable CEOs and business leaders.
This week he interviewed Drew Gilpin Faust, the first female President of Harvard University. Communication is a critical factor in her leadership style, and I can concur with the extraordinary importance this has in a university setting, having spent 6 months consulting with UCLA. The university community is a diverse governance conundrum with many cooks and few bottle washers, so communication is vital across all of the constituencies and leadership platforms. It’s no less important in your organization but the style required in a university setting sets a high standard for what’s required from all business leaders.
She also emphasizes the value of MBWA … the leadership tactic of “Management by Walking Around” mentioned often here. She also emphasizes (more…)
I have always advocated the "try 'em to see if you like 'em" theory of hiring whenever you can pull it off. Business Week has written this week about Test Drives in the C-Suite, which suggests a growing trend toward a "temp-to-hire" process to see if an interim executive is the…
How do you create jobs? Finally, this question is finally getting some attention in Washington ... sadly, it took increasing painful unemployment reports to get this front and center ... but from the ground floor where we live, I don't see the efficacy of some of the programs being considered.…
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…)
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…