“All these new companies — Facebook, Google, Twitter — benefit from this. They grow, but they don’t really need to hire much.” –Jean-Louis Gassée
In particular, companies say they need engineers with more than high school, but not necessarily a bachelor’s degree. Americans at that skill level are hard to find, executives contend. “They’re good jobs, but the country doesn’t have enough to feed the demand.”
Then, of course, there is the ongoing debate on the effectiveness of managers; it started around the time the first hunting party organized to go after a wooly mammoth.
“It’s very tough to believe that there are such wide differences in management out there.” –Raffaella Sadun, assistant professor at Harvard Business School.
(Only someone who has never been in the workplace could make that statement with a straight face.)
The list of companies, not to mention executives, that have crashed and burned as a result of their lies is extensive and very public, while the number that are more or less opaque is uncountable. Is there truly a benefit for those that practice candor?
“In fact, the share prices of survey companies in the top quartile of CEO candor outperformed companies in the bottom quartile by 31%. For nine of the past 10 years, top-ranked companies have outperformed bottom-ranked companies on average by 18%.”
Finally, a disturbing look at the meritocracy called Silicon Valley.
“Silicon Valley is indeed a meritocracy for those to whom these criteria are not hurdles. But others—the blacks, women, and Hispanics whom it overlooks—find it an elite private club from which they are excluded.” –Vivek Wadhwa
(Hat tip to Emanio CEO KG Charles-Harris for sending this to me.)
I owe my Saturday readers an apology. Expand Your Mind was absent last week and I have no excuse; worse, I have to admit I just plain forgot. That is embarrassing. I hope today makes up for it.
A rude awakening for all the companies and managers who believe they can treat their people any way they choose comes from an Aflac survey-based report saying otherwise.
77 percent of adults employed full/part time, and not currently self-employed, stated they would leave their current position to become an independent entrepreneur.
…more employees intend to stay with their employer, feel motivated to put forth extra effort, recommend their companies as a great place to work, and say they love their current organization.
What’s the difference; why such disparate results?
More research from Harvard shows that what excites and engages people has nothing to do with money and everything to do with managers (you knew that).
According to recent research, the single most important factor is simply a sense of making progress on meaningful work.
Next, two excellent survey-based articles about women and work.
First, research from Harvard Business Review, looks at the factors that impact both women and men when competing.
…how women and men perform at work may be strongly linked to the gender of the person they are competing against.
And from McKinsey comes advice based on feedback that focuses on changing deeply embedded attitudes.
…a survey we conducted earlier this year indicated that although a majority of women who make it to senior roles have a real desire to lead, few think they have meaningful support to do so, and even fewer think they’re in line to move up.
He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him, he is always doing both.
From Mark Suster via TechCrunch talking about an important CEO role that is rarely mentioned—Chief Psychologist.
My primary role was “chief psychologist” and as I’ve learned over the past few years the same has been true as a VC. Both are basically people businesses.
But then there are the introverted CEOs—calm, eremitic, and observant—who prefer flying below the radar. You’ve never heard of them because they don’t like the spotlight.
Ask any leader, CEO or not, about the power of stories and they will tell you that stories are critical to any effort at engagement. And how better to learn the fine art of storytelling than through improv, which is available to all?
Improvisation (or improv, as it’s commonly called) is becoming increasingly accepted as a method to teach business skills; in fact, many of the country’s top business schools are including lessons on improvisation and its use in the world of business…
After all that reading you would probably appreciate a good video and what better subject than watching these experts Talk about the biggest mistakes a leader makes? Bill George, Professor, Harvard Business School and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Medtronic Evan Wittenberg, Head of Global Leadership Development, Google, Inc. Dr. Ellen Langer, Professor, Harvard University Andrew Pettigrew, Professor, Sïad Business School, University of Oxford Gianpiero Petriglieri, Affiliate Professor of Organizational Behavior, INSEAD Carl Sloane, Professor Emeritus, Harvard Business School Jonathan Doochin, Leadership Institute at Harvard College Scott Snook, Associate Professor, Harvard Business School and retired Colonel, US Army Corps of Engineers Daisy Wademan Dowling, Executive Director, Leadership Development at Morgan Stanley
A new study at Harvard talks about “power posing.”
New research shows that it’s possible to control those feelings a bit more, to be able to summon an extra surge of power and sense of well-being when it’s needed: for example, during a job interview or for a key presentation to a group of skeptical customers.
It ties in with a post I did a few years ago that’s worth sharing again.
Defined by action—or thought?
As studies on corporate culture and the psychology of managers and workers proliferate, people spend more time and energy tracking themselves in an effort to “know their place” than ever before.
You are what you eat; you are what you wear, and now, you are where you sit. Far be it for me to pooh-pooh any of these findings, I’ve been around long enough to see them in action.
However, I have a passionate belief that you are what you think and an equally passionate belief that you can change what you think if you so choose.
My attitude towards, and development of, MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy)™ throughout my working years has it’s underpinnings in the writings (sans the religious parts) of Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, to which I was introduced in my late teens.
His writings predate, and are supported by, much of the current research, so if you want a synopsis of great thoughts on which to build your MAP and guide your organization, here are ten of Hill’s greatest (and best known) quotes.
“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
“What you think, so you will become.”
“If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.”
“Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.”
“Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.”
“A goal is a dream with a deadline.”
“Thoughts mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a burning desire are powerful things.”
“Perseverance: The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those that fail.”
“Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.”
“Lack of loyalty is one of the major causes of failure in every walk in life.”
Print them out; share them with your people; discuss them; embrace them; practice them; and watch the benefits roll in for your company your people and you.
Hill and Harvard agree—it really is all in your mind.
Whether you consider your boss, or yourself, a leader or a manager you should find today’s offerings of interest.
Most of you know that I firmly believe that good managers must also be leaders, and vice versa, in order to get the best from today’s uber-savvy workforce, but that doesn’t always happen. This interview with Randy Komisar, who has been launching startups for 25 years, both as an entrepreneur and a VC, talks about the difference and what needs to be done.
Next is an interview with Aaron Levie, co-founder and C.E.O. of Box.net. Levie talks about how he manages, leads, hires and his company’s culture.
Our third interview today is with executive coach Liz Wiseman, Co-author of Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter, discussing the difference between ‘multiplier’ and ‘diminishers’ (I sure hope you work for the former!)
In a great column, Bill Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company and co-author of Mavericks at Work, considers the idea of corporate heroes from a different point of view—not are there any left, but rather how do we recognize one in today’s business climate.
Finally another look at Mark Hurd—two, actually.
The first, from Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School professor and the author of Confidence and SuperCorp, considers a question we’ve all been asking: “How can very smart, accomplished people do such stupid things?” The second, from Stanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior and author of a new book, Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don’t, sees Hurd as a teaching moment on the subject of power.
Last week I wrote about HBS’ effort to legitimize leadership as a multi-faceted function worthy of scholarly pursuit as opposed to anecdotal advice.
Back in 1994 Joel Kurtzmen coined the term “thought leader” and defined it as follows,
“Thought leader is a buzzword or article of jargon used to describe a futurist or person who is recognized among their peers and mentors for innovative ideas and demonstrates the confidence to promote or share those ideas as actionable distilled insights (thinklets).”
Back then it may have had meaning, but 16 years later its frequent use in conjunction with the leadership flavor-of-the-month has reduced it almost to meaninglessness.
“Innovative ideas” doesn’t mean restating old stuff in new ways or recycling ideas the way the fashion industry recycles styles.
More importantly, truly innovative thinking is not tied or constrained by ideologies or past actions.
A great number of leadership fundamentals were first stated 2500 years ago in China by Lao Tzu and others of his ilk.
It is good to restate them in language current to the time and place, but presenting them as original or innovative and then claiming, or accepting, the mantle of thought leader is not.
It’s Saturday, so grab a cup of your favorite brew, settle back and enjoy some really interesting stuff.
If you are considering a move into management check out this article for, if not answers, direction on what you should consider.
Some people are natural managers. They love to lead, drive performance and contribute to the broader goals of a company. … Yet, management isn’t for everyone. It requires a unique set of skills to get the best performance out of all employees and to juggle a number of tasks all at once.
If you do decide to take the step to management, or it you are already there, Inc. says that leadership has changed and offers you a look at what they thing is needed not.
…the rules of great leadership have changed. So to guide the contemporary leader, Inc. has compiled 13 unconventional and surprisingly effective leadership ideas…
Anytime the talk turns to leadership Steve Jobs is usually mentioned. Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter takes a different look at Jobs—v1 and v2.
…a remarkable leadership phenomenon: a founder who returns after a long pause to rescue the company, bringing a new mindset rather than trying to restore former glory.
Finally, a look at denial, the damage it does and why it happens. And while it’s a giant problem for business, it’s also a problem for individuals.
“Denial has always been a problem,” writes Harvard Business School historian Richard S. Tedlow in a new book, Denial: Why Business Leaders Fail to Look Facts in the Face-and What to Do About It. “What is different today is that the cost of denial has become so high. We are living in a less forgiving world than we once did.”
If you are a manager and despair at the quality of people that fill your entry level positions, not their attitude, but their skills and basic education, prepare for it to get worse.
Perhaps instead of ranting and whining about America’s loss of global leadership we should look closer to home for the real cause—US education.
The ethnic groups with the worst outcomes in school are African-Americans and Hispanics. The achievement gaps between these groups and their white and Asian-American peers are already large in kindergarten and only grow as the school years pass. These are the youngsters least ready right now to travel the 21st-century road to a successful life.
By 2050, the percentage of whites in the work force is projected to fall from today’s 67 percent to 51.4 percent. The presence of blacks and Hispanics in the work force by midcentury is expected to be huge, with the growth especially sharp among Hispanics.
No, whites and Asians aren’t smarter, but they do have socioeconomic advantages that are lacking for these minorities.
Advantages that our educational system and politicians at all levels are doing little to address.
It’s not always about money, although that is a part of it, nor is it about standardized tests that do little to improve true education, it’s about innovation and educating outside the box.
Harvard Graduate School of Education is creating a new doctoral degree to be focused on leadership in education. It’s the first new degree offered by the school in 74 years. The three-year course will be tuition-free and conducted in collaboration with faculty members from the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. The idea is to develop dynamic new leaders who will offer the creativity, intellectual rigor and professionalism that is needed to help transform public education in the U.S.
Creativity, intellectual rigor, professionalism; this leadership isn’t just about visions and influence, it’s about creating people who will roll up their sleeves, get their hands dirty often toil in relative obscurity on the biggest problems facing this country.
Kathleen McCartney, the graduate school’s dean, explained one of the dilemmas that has hampered reform. “If you look at people who are running districts,” she said, “some come from traditional schools of education, and they understand the core business of education but perhaps are a little weak on the management side. And then you’ve got the M.B.A.-types who understand operations, let’s say, but not so much teaching and learning.”
Will it work?
Can the program make a difference quickly enough to change the current downward trajectory of our future?
Will other schools step up to the plate now or will they wait a decade or so and see how the Harvard program fares?
Does anybody care enough about what will happen in 20, 30, 40 years to accept a little discomfort now or should we just build more prisons?
Leadership Turn is ending; its last day is December 29. I’ve enjoyed writing it and our interaction since August 16, 2007 and I hope we can continue at my other blog where Leadership’s Future will carry on.
If you enjoy my views and writing, please join me at MAPping Company Success or subscribe via RSS or EMAIL.
If you’re looking for a good resource; one that will stimulate your mind as it provides useful information with enough feedback to see a wide range of thought on whatever the subject is, then Harvard’s Working Knowledge has a lot to offer—and not just from it’s own staff.
Here’s a small sample, but it’s worth checking out and signing up for the specific subjects in which you’re interested.
First is Peter Bregman, a global management consultant, who talks about using stories to change corporate culture.
Next are professors Joshua Margolis and Andrew Molinsky in an interview about the effect of “necessary evils”, such as layoffs, on those who have to perform them as opposed to those on the receiving end.
Finally, Here’s a link to my very favorite researcher, professor emeritus Jim Heskett, who asks questions and develops amazing conversations with his followers. His current question is Are You Ready to Manage in an Irrational World?The forum is open until July 29, stop by and add your thoughts. You can find his previous discussions here.
Today is all about opening your mouth, what happens and what should happen when you do. Although the most of the links are directed at CEOs the information and lessens apply to all levels in or out of management.
Communicating is everyone’s responsibility.
First is a post by Steve Roseler at All Things Workplace who cites four critical reasons to open your mouth and speak instead of wondering if you should. Here they are,
Never assume that anyone knows anything.
The larger the group, the more attention needs to be given to communicating.
When left in the dark, people will fantasize their own reality. Do you want their fantasy to trump your reality?
Effective leaders are obsessed with accurate, frequent communication.
Next, Mike Chitty weighs in on what’s changed in communication and why changing from “being told” to “finding out” stimulates a wide range of good stuff.
Third is a light look considering whether voice mail is going the way of the dodo bird; the shift seems to be along generational lines…
Finally, phenomenal advice from readers to a question asked by Jim Haskett, Baker Foundation Professor, Emeritus at Harvard Business School. The question was “How Frank or Deceptive Should Leaders Be?” I’m not a big believer that leadership is just the function of the guy at the top and honestly believe that although most of the responses refer to the actions of positional leaders it’s just as applicable to anyone who ever has or will take the initiative to make something happen.
Happy reading and try and remember that real communicating requires more than your thumbs—in fact, that’s why you have a mouth.
Certain subjects have been discussed and debated constantly over the years; today’s links are updates on four of them.
A new study at Harvard talks about “
Back in 1994 Joel Kurtzmen coined the term “thought leader” and 
If you are a manager and despair at the quality of people that fill your entry level positions, not their attitude, but their skills and basic education, prepare for it to 
Here’s a small sample, but it’s worth checking out and signing up for the specific subjects in which you’re interested.
Subscribe to MAPping Company Success 