Private organizations have much they could learn from the military. Everyday, the armed forces take ordinary young men and women and turn them into leaders. It is a routine and we can all learn much by their process and example.
Forward thinking companies are beginning to think about the employee experience. After all, it is the employees that create the customer experience, right?
They are to so simple; we overlook them. In our technical sophistication, we often ignore the simple routines that make for elite level performance. Yet we are all creatures of habits and routines. Charles Duhigg, in his book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business discovered the power…
The latest Gallup numbers tell us that engaging employees is a central fixture with organizations that consistently maximize their impact. Here is a true story of a company with high levels of employee engagement. I had finished a tour of a manufacturing company. They design and manufacture custom commercial and retail furniture. Their size prohibits…
Are leaders born or are they made? According to General Jim Mattis, legendary General of the US Marine Corps, they are taught. This according to his recent book, Call Sign Chaos, Learning to Lead
Elite organizations do not leave the critically important function of leadership up to the good will of a few. They intentionally design their system of leadership to give them the best opportunity of achieving their business objectives.
1999 David Marquet took command of the USS Santa Fe. The platform of his leadership was superior technical competency. Unfortunately, the Santa Fe was a ship for which he had no superior competency. Therefore, he was forced to design a new system of leadership. One that would engage the entire crew to be leaders.
Creating cultures of collaboration. How can leadership create cultures of collaboration or more to the point, why don’t they? Reasons abound, pride, disrespect, people are seen as units of production, or maybe because leaders are not paid to collaborate?
Innovation is seldom a light bulb moment of genius. Usually, it is a collaborative process of sharing ideas.
Replacing shareholder value with stakeholder value requires new systems of leadership. There is an entirely new value proposition for employees and leaders need to understand this.