In an effort to err on the side of caution, many of us approach our bosses, employees and peers with skepticism because we want to be prepared if someone doesn’t follow through on their responsibilities or lets us down in some other way. While some skepticism is reasonable, we must be careful not to let […]
Most people assume that values are an either/or issue: Good people have them and bad people don’t. Yet recent brain research shows that all people probably have blind spots. For example, research on “bounded ethicality” shows that otherwise good people routinely contradict their own values in ways they may not realize at the time. Through […]
Strategic leaders know that when teams share information and work together, the company as a whole is able to win more customers, fend off competitors, reduce costs, and increase agility. Yet in practice, teams naturally lean toward going it alone. As organizations become more global, virtual, and complex, it takes more work for teams to […]
Leaders who listen and engage in open dialogue with their employees gain enormous advantages. Yet, in practice, leaders sometimes hesitate to invite such dialogue, because they fear their employees’ opinions will be off-base. Rather than face a confrontation, these managers sidestep important conversations altogether. Avoiding difficult conversations may seem easier in the short term. But […]
In September, 2016, I spoke with three experts on how to say no in the most difficult situations. Mariano Mosquera, director of the “Transparency Observatory” at Catholic University of Córdoba, Argentina, who teaches classes for business professionals trying to resist corruption. Joshua Weiss, senior fellow at the Harvard Negotiation Project. Richard Bistrong, chief executive officer […]
In today’s high-speed organizations, it is easy to find ourselves in situations that subtly (or not so subtly) conflict with our values — even in companies we admire. Are we really treating our employees with respect? Are we telling the whole truth to our customers? Have we “massaged” the numbers in ways that are misleading […]
Company leaders, consider the following questions: How many surprises have you dealt with this week? How many customer relationships have had to be rescued or late orders escalated? How many apologies delivered, numbers explained, or presentations redone? Every leader I know wrestles with these and other crises as a matter of routine. Yet leaders also […]
Most successful leaders have little difficulty saying no to a losing deal, to a project that’s wasting money, or to a request that doesn’t align with their priorities. But these same leaders can find it very uncomfortable to speak up when their concerns are less cut-and-dried or when their organization is hell-bent on pursuing a […]
For many companies, the biggest threat today is not complacency, but overreaching. When too much change is happening at once, competing initiatives undermine one another and disconnected priorities put the core business at risk. But how should change champions reconcile these competing, urgent initiatives? Eli Goldratt’s 1984 classic, The Goal, offers a counter-intuitive but powerful […]
To shape a positive culture, many leaders focus on articulating their organization’s mission and values — the why and the how they hope will inspire their teams to deliver. Unfortunately, almost every company has a values statement, and posted values show no significant correlation with business outcomes. However, research shows that companies that live their […]
