In my last article, I shared two TED Talks on connection. In Susan Pinker’s TED Talk, she referenced the research of Julianne Holt-Lunstad which found that “social integration” provided a 91% increase in the odds of survival for individuals. But what is social integration and how can you encourage it in your own life?
Many thanks to CausePlanet founder Denise McMahan for inviting me to participate in her podcast on the importance of culture in nonprofit organizations. Listen to our conversation and learn more about the benefits of connection.
| Appearance: | CausePlanet Podcast: Avoid Burnout by Getting Your People Connected |
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| Outlet: | CausePlanet |
| Format: | Podcast |
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Jim Blasingame, host of the The Small Business Advocate radio program, about the factors that have made Costco a great place to work. Listen to our conversation.
| Date: | August 22, 2017 |
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| Appearance: | Interview with Jim Blasingame: What is Costco’s Secret to Being a Great Place to Work? |
| Outlet: | The Small Business Advocate |
| Format: | Radio |
Costco Wholesale moved in front of Google to earn the title of America’s best large employer this year. To determine America’s best employer each year, Statista and Forbes survey 30,000 workers at U.S. organizations, asking them questions about their work experience. Costco has consistently appeared in the top three. Clearly, Costco is doing something right.
It was an inspiring day today as I learned about Costco’s connection culture, gave a keynote speech to company managers, and met company co-founder Jim Sinegal.
Many thanks to Alan Mulally, retired CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and The Ford Motor Company, for his kind endorsement of our book “Connection Culture.”
“Connection Culture really captures the why and how to mobilize an organization to work together toward a compelling vision. The insights about the unique contributions of the leader and the leadership team are especially useful.” – Alan Mulally
I’m thrilled to be giving the keynote speech at Costco’s Annual International Managers Meeting. Approximately 1,300 Costco leaders will learn what makes a Connection Culture so powerful and how they can be intentional about preserving their organization’s unique culture.
| Date: | August 2, 2017 |
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| Event: | Keynote Speech at Costco's Annual International Managers Meeting |
| Public: | Private |
To consider me for your speaking event, click here.
It’s encouraging to see more leaders identify connection as a primary factor contributing to their organization’s sustained success. Fortune magazine recently recognized Theo Epstein, President, Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball and the Cubs organization, as #1 on its world’s greatest leaders list. Last year the Cubs won the World Series and broke the franchise’s 108-year World Series title drought, the longest in professional sports.
I had the privilege of contributing a guest column to a recent issue of Business Standard, a leading business publication in India. The article tells the story of how Admiral Vern Clark used the principles of Connection Culture to lead a turnaround of the U.S. Navy. Read the article.
| Date: | March 16, 2017 |
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| Appearance: | Guest Column in Business Standard |
| Outlet: | Business Standard |
| Location: | Mumbai, India |
| Format: | Newspaper |
An old fad is making a comeback: the “brutally honest workplace.” From my vantage point, interacting with your colleagues using “radical candor” or “radical transparency” is a subtle—and sometimes not so subtle—form of verbal assault that seems to be spreading, given the success of firms like Bridgewater Associates, and contributing to the rise of incivility and insensitivity today. Proponents of this approach sometimes say that offering constructive criticism should come from a caring mindset but, from what I’ve seen, it merely gives the arrogant and the bullies permission to verbally attack others in the name of honesty. Fortunately, recent research shows the foolishness of this approach (in fact, even mild expressions of rudeness have been shown to impair team performance).