Tag: Business
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Beware of Greeks bearing gifts, especially when it’s wrapped in a big compensation package
A friend of mine just got off the phone with the head of HR from a national company. The HR executive noted that his company’s growth prospects were being limited by the lack of executive talent due to a depleted bench. He felt that “outside” talent was needed to expand their footprint and to bring in…
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Worst to First: Everyone loves a turn around!
Everyone loves turnaround stories. They give us hope. They tell us that no matter how bad things are now, change is possible and that greatness is just around the corner. They provide inspiration and reward loyalty. Even though our team hasn’t been to the playoffs in 14 years, our loyalty will be rewarded and this…
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Leadership Stories: Defining Moments
Everyday Leaders make decisions. The most important and difficult decisions occur when someone has to choose between “Right” and “Right”. These are what Joseph Badaracco calls “Defining Moments”. While either decision can be viewed as the right decision, the one you choose defines who you are and what you stand for. A Simple Example Fresh…
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6 Steps to Cultivating Entrepreneurship in your Organization
No doubt about it. Empowerment is a great way to motivate people and unleash their energy and talents. But here’s how to reach an even higher level of performance: Create an entrepreneurial culture. Think about it. On the one hand, you have a highly motivated employee. On the other hand, an entrepreneur who owns the…
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Unleashing the Entrepreneur in Every Employee
Unleashing the Entrepreneur in Every Employee In many industrial work settings, employees are simply viewed as cogs in a machine, I.e. cost of goods sold. It’s a longstanding tradition that dates back to Frederick Taylor and Henry Ford. But that perception sells people short. And it does a disservice to employers and employees alike. Empowering…
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Effective Communications: The Catalyst for Everything You Want to Accomplish
Innovation engineering…empowerment…entrepreneurialism…employee engagement… These are big themes. Powerful ingredients. And when they come together, they can help you accomplish great things. But it won’t happen without great leadership and a high-powered, multi-faceted, never-ending communication campaign. Nitin Nohria, Dean of the Harvard Business School, once said that “communication is the real work of leadership.” I’d like to…
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Fair is not Equal: How to win the hearts and minds of your people
I once had a union official lodge a complaint that we were not treating everyone in the factory the same and that it had to stop. I told him that if he insisted, at my next “all hands” meeting I would announce that the union told me to treat them all poorly. The reason –…
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If You Want People to Listen, You Have to Listen to Them
If you’re trying to tap into the power of employee engagement, you can’t stand on a mountaintop with a megaphone. You have to create an active, ongoing dialogue. And that means you have to listen—really listen—to the people on your team. That may seem like an obvious point. But a lot of leaders just go…
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How to get the most out of your R&D Budget
The 2012 Booz & Company Global Innovation 1000 Study reveals that successful innovators bring clarity to the early stage of innovation – that critical time when ideas are generated and selected for further development. The study also suggests that the most successful innovators in all industries have developed a consistent, manageable set of principles, tools,…
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Praise for The Perpetual Innovation Machine
Take a look at what executives and thought leaders are saying about The Perpetual Innovation Machine, a book that describes a holistic approach to management which uses data-driven analysis, skillful prioritization, inspiring leadership and the ‘lost art’ of employee engagement to achieve exceptional results. Competition in the 21st Century is about ‘innovation as a mindset…