Three Practical Ways The previous article ended with an interview quote* from Southwest Airlines’ co-founder, Herb Kelleher. His comments lead into the three things we’ve found helpful in moving work cultures forward. Kelleher commented, “We used to have a corporate day. Companies would come in from around the world and…
Can You Engineer Work Culture? 2 of 3
Here are 3 reasons organizations should take a step-by-step, engineered approach to strengthen work culture. Available Energy Untapped – Employee Engagement North American employee engagement has remained around 30% for 20 years according to Gallup. They found the primary predictor/ influencer to be the relationship between employees and supervising managers…
Can You Engineer Work Culture? 1 of 3
Leaders see the potential for growth beyond already functioning efforts like lean or six-sigma. They seek ways to make innovation the new everyday ‘normal’ to increase performance, engagement, and agility. They want to move past process activities to influence leadership, customer-service, and collaborative behaviors and for all employees to innovate…
Five Implications from Accenture’s Elimination of Performance Reviews
Pierre Naterme, Accenture’s CEO, revealed key insights for leaders seeking to maximize employee innovation and energy in his interview with Lillian Cunningham from the Washington Post. While propelling his organization to be more agile and customer-centric, Naterme is thoroughly impressed with Accenture’s new generation of talent. He seeks to motivate…
Rule of Five
If you are communicating more than five priorities to your staff, you may not be communicating as effectively as you’d like. Our suggestion – apply the Rule of Five – a maximum of five priorities for any given year. [a re-post from 2006] Five priorities: too few? Professional baseball/ basketball/…
Spieth – Character Leadership from a 21 Year-Old
Take a minute to reflect on a spirit-lifting example we can applaud and emulate. Justin Spieth withstood daunting conditions to win the 2015 US Open. BBC described Spieth as “magnanimous” in his win. From his press conference video, five quotes reveal outstanding character: Grace “I feel for Dustin.” – He…
Is Integrity Obsolete?
Is our acceptable level of integrity declining? Is it still realistic to expect integrity from notable citizens – politicians, advocates, or organizational leaders? In daily news stories, sidewalk interviews, or hearings, shameless individuals float absurd stories to explain activities which, in previous years, would have launched investigations, firings, and even…
5 Reasons Microsoft Was Right to Terminate Bell-Curve Assessments
As reported in the Economic Times, Microsoft abandoned ‘bell-curve’ assessments in 2013. The decision came after the 2012 Vanity Fair article “Microsoft’s Lost Decade” by Kurt Eichenweld blamed the practice, in large part, for ‘killing innovation and teamwork’. This practice was also promoted by other leaders, most notably, Jack Welch,…
Will Zappos Find Agility?
As recently reported, 14% of Zappos’ workforce chose to take a three-month package and seek new entrepreneurial or employment opportunities rather than remain and support its new, intricate, ‘self-managed’ organizational approach. When the exodus of the un-committed is complete, Zappos’ leaders hope the remaining group will more quickly progress toward…
11 Personal Choices Transformed Lincoln’s Adversaries into Allies
Eleven personal choices set Lincoln’s leadership apart and brought him support even from his foes. Here they are with adoption suggestions to increase your effectiveness, influence, and goodwill. Lincoln chose to: 1 – Serve What’s Greater Criticized personally for everything from his appearance to his views, Lincoln still appointed those…