Research and experience tell us that collaboration is critical to organizational success. In fact, 86% of executives cite poor collaboration as the main reason for workplace failures. And only 14% of executives feel completely satisfied with their ability to collaborate and make decisions as a team. Why is it so difficult to work together?
We often hear executives say teamwork is important. Some CEO’s even make it part of their corporate values (Ford, Bain, Pfizer). But even as they… Read the full article >
Need a new product to grow your business? Great! You assemble your best cross-functional team of experts, and you get started. Your push forward, focused on getting things done. The problem is that you forget 3 key things, which in the end will derail the launch. Wish you’d known them beforehand? We can help!
Here are the most common pitfalls that derail launch team success:
Teams of Distinction do not sit around waiting for orders at every turn. They develop a mind of their own; a mind that serves as a compass for what to do as they encounter unforeseen opportunities and challenges. Some people call this an “innovative” team, others an “empowered” team. We call it an accountable team.
Many teams aren’t accountable because team members don’t feel compelled to be accountable. This might be due to a lack of alignment. Other times, it… Read the full article >
All executives start off their year with the best intentions. “This year will be better.” “Our results will be higher.” They set annual goals. They coach their people periodically. They may even have an annual retreat to kick off the year. Yet they don’t leverage one key thing that Facebook does to ensure that their team turns their January dreams into a reality.
Most goals are set once at the beginning of the year. My experience with these annual goals at work is that they are… Read the full article >
People more than ever are thinking on their own. As I have traveled the world this year working with leaders—across the United States, in Paris, Turkey, Switzerland, Eastern Europe, and Asia—I’ve seen this playing out in business too. I am seeing, more than before, a deep desire from people to have their point of view heard, and to influence the direction of the teams they are a part of.
I was doing leadership development in Istanbul and a fellow named Sertac came up to me at a break and asked “Are you Jewish?” Being in Turkey, a little… Read the full article >
To many, “capitalist” has a negative connotation: greedy, only thinking of their money and not people. Yet, I have found that bottom line capitalists are in fact often not only enlightened leaders, but extremely generous, to the point of being humanists.
When I started in this field in 1993, I considered myself a humanist. I was guided by the principle that if employees concerns are ignored, it will negatively impact the company. I still think this principle is the foundation of strong leadership, yet I am surprised by how often over the years I have heard myself asking clients,… Read the full article >
When Jack Welch ran GE, one of the rules he introduced was to trim the deadwood from his organization by systematically and consistently firing the bottom 20 percent of GE performers every year. That was Jack’s way of saying I want a team composed of the best and the brightest, and I am willing to take what some view as ruthless and unpopular action to achieve it.
Similarly,but on a much more modest scale, when the small group of Microsoft founders told Bill, “We have 12 great people now but the time has come to recruit the next 12,”… Read the full article >
