Some years ago, I brought an internal corporate team I was leading to visit GE’s famous Crotonville Learning Center, where we spent a day with the legendary Steve Kerr, then GE’s Chief Learning Officer. I don’t think any of us will never forget the awesomeness of that experience; not only was Steve a gracious host, […]
Jared Diamond, a historian, anthropologist and self-described polymath, is one of my favorite writers. After I read his groundbreaking Guns, Germs and Steel, I was hooked. Although he writes about societies and nations, I found his latest book Upheaval of particular relevance to organizations, especially with the parallels between the themes in this book and […]
As most managers know by now, working from home (WFH) has presented some challenges for their team members. While some have embraced it, others are less than thrilled. A manager I was talking to recently said he found these new arrangements as definitely a mixed blessing for him and his team. He was thinking specifically […]
In the early days of this pandemic that we are all living through, you must have questioned – as I did – the behavior of the throngs of people up and about in San Francisco, or of people in bars in other parts of the country, seemingly oblivious to the dangers of COVID-19. And three […]
As we look forward to the vaccine and the new year, I’ve been reflecting on what I learned about this year and would like to share four lessons that I hope you’ll find helpful and hopeful. Adaptability. More than ever, I have learned to get out of my comfort zone and my routines, and have […]
We all know that small business owners have been hit hard by the current COVID-19 crisis. In a recent survey by the National Bureau of Economic Research, less than 40% of small business survey respondents expect their businesses to be opened by the end of 2020. Earlier surveys by FEMA have found that 40% of […]
When sharing the results of his 360-degree feedback with him, Henry seemed to show a great deal of interest – not surprising for someone who is considered a high-potential manager at a global services company. I had just started coaching Henry and found him to be bright, analytical and very ambitious. However, as I had […]
Two out of the many emerging and related work trends I’ve been hearing and reading about lately are the growing interest by many organizations in developing generalists versus specialists, and the increased skepticism about expertise. Let’s take the first trend. A recent article in The Atlantic Monthly (2019) describes a new type of Navy ship, […]
I recently finished reading Michele Gelfand’s 2019 book, Rule Makers, Rule Breakers, which is based on research she has been doing over the past several years (I have referenced her work in my own book, Successful Global Leadership). Her book details a different way to look at cultures by examining the dimension of tightness-looseness – […]
If you are like many other managers who have received 360-degree feedback results, this is most likely the sequence you followed in analyzing your data. First, you looked at the overall averages for each dimension or category. Second, you read – and re-read – the comments made. For many managers, these comments are often the […]