Leadership Succession
Having worked on CEO succession plans and processes for a number of organizations, I was intrigued this week when Pope Benedict announced that he was going to stand down. The…
Storms
Having spent most of last week in Rhode Island and Boston last week, I cut short my planned activities Friday morning to avoid the storm. That was a preventive action. …
Strategy and the Customer
The doctor appointment was for 3:30. I was still waiting at 5:00.They said the truck would be ready in an hour. An hour later the truck hadn’t gone in the…
Samsung and Apple's Resiliency
Samsung is testing Apple’s ability to respond post-Steve Jobs. It is a reminder that every strategy must adapt to change and that a company’s resiliency is not just a key…
Back-in-the-Day Management Techniques
Henry Ford said, “Why is it, that when I ask for a pair of hands, a brain comes attached?” Management tools developed in Ford’s day are still mostly what’s used…
Dissent in the Internet Age
Last week in Vietnam, 14 activists and bloggers were sentenced to up to 13 years in prison for attending courses in nonviolent resistance and use of the Internet. It’s not…
Is Your Team On the Same Page?
Don’t assume that a team shares a common direction. Yes, they may agree that the strategy sounds good, but they’re not going to effectively implement it unless they’re actually on…
A New Year Exercise
Take ten minutes right now to do this exercise. First, imagine something has happened and you won’t be in your office for the next six months. Then write a letter providing…
Manipulation Instead of Commitment
Commitment is a hugely important part of implementing strategy. It cannot be achieved through manipulation. I had a client who prided himself as leading by consensus, yet he wondered why…
A Simple Habit
One of the best lessons I learned as a boy scout was to leave a campsite in better condition than it was when we found it. It’s a simple approach…
Investing in Weakness vs. Strength
Just as you cannot make an organization perform well by focusing on weaknesses, the same is true of individuals. The best sports coaches focus on players’ strengths. This is true…
Motivation, Collaboration & Simplicity
In his biography of Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson quoted Jobs talking about how the idea for the iPhone began: ““We would sit around talking about how much we hated our…
Giving Thanks
I caught myself reflecting gratefully last week as I overlooked San Francisco from our hotel. The view ranged from the Bay Bridge all the way to the Golden Gate. I…
Be More Weird
I was in Austin last week working with an international group on strategy. One of the key discussion topics was the need for change and innovation in the organization. Often…
No blame, just performance focused
We were in Toronto this weekend for a Blue Jays-Yankees game. The Yankees lost a must-win game they easily could have won having many opportunities. In interviews after the game…
When technical skills are insufficient
A Wall Street Journal article last week caught my attention. It cited both surveys and industry discussion groups that have identified “soft skills” as a significant part of the current…
The Skills Needed to Survive Change
Kodak is a prime example of a dinosaur that thrived as long as the environment stayed the same, but did not have the skills to survive change. The resulting 30…
Diagnosing Conflict
Conflict in the workplace has three primary sources. The first two are most common: Disagreement over objectives and differences over alternatives. For example, Democrats and Republicans agree that the “fiscal…
Appraisal vs. Coaching
There’s a significant difference between appraising performance and coaching performance. Appraisal is judging the past while coaching has to do with the future. While both are important, only coaching will…
Listen Up!
During a heated election season, all the signs of weak communication and miscommunication are on full display. One clear sign of a poor communicator is that he interrupts others. In…
Your Under-employment Problem
Unemployment is a societal problem; under-employment is an organizational problem. I am referring to employees who are prevented from excelling because of restrictive jobs, bureaucratic policies, and controls on freedom…
The Energized Workplace
The Olympics remind me of upbeat and energized workplaces where there’s talent, focus, energy and enthusiasm. I talk a lot about the need for focus and urgency, because without those,…
… must be an excellent communicator.
I am amused by the qualifications stated in job descriptions and want ads. “Must be an excellent communicator,” is the most abused. How many people are excellent communicators? How many…
Olympic Preparation
I enjoy the background stories of individual Olympians – how they got to where they are. At some point, each of them had a vision of winning Olympic Gold and…
Leadership – Pure and Simple
Whether you lead a billion dollar company or a small department, your primary accountability is to leverage the talent of your people to get results. That is the opposite of…
Shifting responsibility from skipper to crew
The new America’s Cup boats are high-tech catamarans that can exceed 40mph. The action is so fast and the crew needs to be so responsive and precise the skipper no…
First, empty your cup
A university professor visited a Zen master to ask about Zen. The master served tea. He poured tea into the professor’s cup until it was full and then kept right…
Improve Your Yield on Training
Advertising legend David Ogilvy said half the money spent on advertising is wasted – the problem is which half. The same is true of training. You can increase your training…
Resistance at the Top
The leader who is attempting to shift strategic direction faces three sources of resistance within their organization -- the broad employee base, middle managers, and senior managers. Of the three,…
What the Doctor Said
“Are you exercising?” he asked.“Yes, sure, I’m going on walks around the farm,” I said.“By exercising, I mean 30-40 minutes, 4 times each week where you break a sweat,” my…
Changing Tires at 65 mph
Much of my work is either helping executives successfully implement strategy or lead major change. In either case, success often hinges on preparing an organization to support its own growth. …
The Perfect Program to Turn-Off Employees
Most performance appraisal programs are perfectly designed to de-motivate managers and subordinates alike. Managers detest them and employees dread them. If you don’t believe me, ask your people. It doesn’t…
Poison in the Well
During a college summer I worked for a manufacturing company as a machine operator. It was boring work. During the first night, I figured out a more efficient way to configure…
How to Get the Best Ideas from Your Team
You have a decision to make and you want the input of your people. This is not about reaching consensus, where the focus is on reaching group agreement. Rather, you…
Fear of Communication
There is fear deep in the heart of many organizations. It has become worse over recent years due to the economy, but it’s not new. I’m not referring to the…
The Myth of Consensus — Part 2
My message last week was that consensus decision making is a mask for weak leadership – either because the leader is afraid to make a decision and wants the group…
The Myth of Consensus
Fresh from business school with my MBA, I went to work for a global consulting firm in Chicago. The office was run by a brilliant Israeli who was a tank…
Pink Slime in Your Organization
“Pink slime,” was in the news last week. Whether you call it “lean finely textured beef” or “salvage” as one scientist called it, you won’t want to eat it, especially…
Strategy and communication problems
Many leaders are simply not good at communicating their business strategy to the people who will execute it. That can be fixed with good coaching. But when your senior managers…
When pay for performance goes wrong
Pay for performance took on new meaning with revelations about the New Orlean Saints and their bounty program for intentionally injuring opposing players. Greg Smith resigned from Goldman Sachs last…
Fuzzy vision problem
Early in my consulting career, I worked extensively with Wilson Sporting Goods. One day I interviewed an elderly gentleman who was the wood head designer. He worked closely with Wilson’s…
Bees in a bottle
The experiment was simple. The scientists put a few bees and a few flies in a glass jar, and placed the jar against a window with the jar’s opening facing…
A Simple Communication Problem
The management team was unable to have a productive discussion. They kept going in circles because they were using words such as “strategy” and “tactic,” “goal,” and “objective” interchangeably. Identifying…
What Do You Mean?
“We want to go from good to great,” a prospective client recently told me. “That’s wonderful.” I remarked, “Can you tell me what in particular will be better when you’re…
Actions and Emotions
The reaction of Afgans to the treatment of religious materials is alarming but it clearly illustrates two points affecting organizational behavior: Emotion is at least as important as logic in…
A Fresh Take
CEO turnover is high. Every week the Wall Street Journal reports on more turnover and that’s just at large companies. In most cases, the new CEO isn’t smarter or a…
Why Not Use a Horoscope?
Assessment tools (Myers Briggs, DISC, etc.) are being touted as useful ways to improve teamwork and productivity. But they’re really nothing more than a way to label people in ways…
How to quickly assess a leader
Leadership effectiveness at all levels is an important component of successful strategy implementation. I’ve worked with hundreds of corporate leaders and I’ve seen all kinds. Weak leaders are driven by…
Kodak and strategic change
One of the lessons of Kodak is that getting really good at what you do can have a severe drawback, especially in our age of rapid change. There is danger…
Why Apple is so Profitable
Steve Jobs leapfrogged the competition in computers, music, animated film, cell phones and tablets by developing a distinctive strategy, not by focusing on improving operational effectiveness. Business strategy is all…
Is Your Team on the Same Page?
It’s a new year and a good time to assess your team’s engagement. A periodic check to make sure that your people are focused, challenged, stimulated and feeling good about…
The Crab Pot
It’s been interesting to watch the rise and fall of various candidates in Iowa this Fall. One candidate will soar in the polls only to be attacked by the other…
Why You Cannot Build Teamwork in a Committee
The World Series reminds me that teams can take many forms. Baseball teams operate differently from football, basketball and hockey teams, but in every case, the team members are all…
When Continuous Improvement is Bad for Your Company
Think about it. Google, the iPhone, Facebook, the microwave oven, the CD player.... None of these were a result of continuous improvement. I'm all for getting better at the fundamentals,…
On the Farm
We have chickens on our farm and, up until a week ago, we had a rooster. The rooster had to go. He was bossy with the chickens and even the…
Managing By Opinion
In some leadership groups, opinions appear to be more important than facts. I've seen senior management groups where an executive's in-depth knowledge and experience is over-ruled by opinions from other…
Five Organization Problems That Inhibit Growth
Many companies have these problems, and they all damage the ability to grow. Weak internal communication Inability to react quickly to opportunities (or threats) A preference for over-analyzing problems instead…
How clear is your strategy – Is your management team on the same page?
Most organizations set aside time each year for the senior team to discuss strategy and develop a strategic plan. Yet, in my experience, few companies end up with a strategic plan…
Looking to Change Your Culture?
If you want to go from 'good to great' or create a high performance organization, you'll probably need to address the culture. Here's what you need to know to get…
Preparing for Growth
Many of the strategic plans I see these days aren't strategic at all -- they don't address business strategy. Instead, they focus almost exclusively on annual objectives, projects or tasks…
How to kill (or improve)
Strategic plans are worthless unless they are successfully executed. Period. Similarly, high intelligence is worthless if it's not put to good use. Three things that will kill your ability to…
How to Motivate When Pay Increases Are Small
Pay increases this year will again be small or nonexistent – below 3%. Even top performers will get planned increases less than 3%. So, what can you do to motivate…
How to Build Stronger Accountability
Most managers don't know what they're accountable for, and are unable to hold their people accountable.
What's Wrong With "Holding Their Feet to the Fire"
"Make people accountable." "Lay down the law." "Hold peoples' feet to the fire." "Increase the heat." If there's one big idea we learned from Alvin Toffler's classic book Future Shock,…
Why you don't want happy employees
A happy worker is not necessarily a productive worker. Here's why.
Accountability vs. Responsibility
Accountability and responsibility -- both are important, but they are NOT the same thing. Accountability An accountability is an end result. Being accountable is being answerable for a result. For example,…
Competitive Advantage and People
On October 21, 1805, Lord Admiral Nelson's English fleet defeated the combined fleets of France and Spain at the Battle of Trafalgar. For decades afterward, the English fleet dominated the…
The biggest downsizing mistake.
If you don't come out of this recession with a much more valuable workforce, you've missed an exceptional opportunity.
Innovation during recession?
What's your excuse for holding back on innovation today?
Trust – What executives can learn from A-Rod
A-Rod's biggest mistake may have been trusting that the study was confidential and anonymous. What is the lesson for employers seeking "confidential" employee input?
Merit Pay Satisfies No One – and Upsets Many
Merit increases does not improve individual or organizational performance.
The Corporate Crabpot
I did quite a lot of work for an urban school district some years ago. One day I was talking with the superintendent about how to improve student achievement. There…
If You Must Downsize: How to Maximize Return on People
Downsizing may reduce costs, but it won't increase your return on people. In fact, layoffs usually have a negative impact on productivity, morale, employee satisfaction, external reputation, and even the quality of your workforce. It doesn't have to be that way. Follow these tips to overcome the negatives and get a greater return.
Benefits of Succession Planning
Succession planning offers a number of benefits, including these major ones: Management Continuity -- When a management vacancy occurs, it's good to know that you have candidates available to capably…
What turns you off at work?
Endless meetings and approvals, certain personalities, trivial requests, lack of direction from above, mindless policies, wasteful practices, uncooperative people, rumors, gossip.... What things have the greatest negative impact on your…
Energizers
What turns you ON at work? What policies, procedures, practices, values, management styles, etc. actually help energize you and help you be your best and do your best work?
Leaders and managing workplace stress
There's a lot of stress going around these days. And leaders need to know how to handle it. But first, they need to understand it. About stress: It's impossible to…
Hope Wins
People want to believe. They want to know what their leaders see for the future. They want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, but they want also…
Managing during the recession
A Forbes reporter called me, having found an article I wrote online about managing in a recession. If there's one thing we know for sure about humans and change, they…
Peter often says it best
"So much of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to work." -- Peter Drucker
Return on People
The theme of this new blog is "return on people". Every management needs to increase the value of people faster than the rising costs of employment. People today drive nearly…