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.
They are to so simple; we overlook them. In our technical sophistication, we assume anything routine should be changed. 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 of simple routines. He calls…
Scaling Leadership I had finished a tour of a manufacturing company. They design and manufacture custom commercial and retail furniture. Their size prohibits them from being a household name, but many of their customers are well known globally. What I had witnessed was breathtaking and pure inspiration. We put a lot of trust on first…
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.
Innovation is seldom a light bulb moment of genius. Usually, it is a collaborative process of sharing ideas.
In a well-written article published by Deloitte Insights (June 20, 2019) by the same title, the authors outline the value of measuring the human experience beyond that of the customer to include the workforce and stakeholders. The authors quote four Deloitte leaders: “It would be wonderful if we could have a common framework that applies…
Systems are responsible for virtually everything we see around us. DNA is a system and from it springs the very foundation of life. This article applies the power of a system to organizational leadership
We worship at the altar of personally driven leadership. My last Amazon search listed 197,000 books on leadership, virtually everyone approaching leadership as the characteristics of the individual. Annually, we spend approximately $40Billion in leadership development. Yet there is not a shred of evidence there is any measurable organizational impact. Training is disconnected from organizational…
I just read an article by By Todd Nordstrom, on questioning the value of the 40 hour work week. One part resonated strongly with my own research. Todd states: Engagement is a choice of the employee. It means they give their discretionary effort. You can’t force it…focus on providing the best employee experience possible that…
I had been invited to facilitate a lean workshop with a large state agency. The division had been hammered during the recession with massive layoffs, forced retirements, huge loss of institutional knowledge but with little reduction in workload. So, for four days I met with 18 front line managers and workers to document their processes,…