Category Archives: Leadership

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Share First, Listen Second: A Guide for Incoming Leaders

Photo of an incoming leader talking to her team

The announcement comes down from above: the current boss is leaving and a new boss from outside the team has been chosen. What if this change takes the team by surprise and little more is shared about the situation? Now, if the current leader has been ineffective or difficult to work under, then this news may come as a relief to the people on the team. Regardless, cue the side conversations and speculation and the range of emotions that come with it, chief among them nervousness. What will this new boss be like? Is the person a command-and-control type who will dictate all sorts of changes? Is anyone’s job safe? Will they be connection-minded, welcoming input and establishing a sense of belonging and collaboration?

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Three Tips to Draw Employees Back to the Office

Group of employees talking and brainstorming in an office

Can real-life office connections save lives? Consider this: a chance meeting in an office setting years ago set in motion a vaccine to prevent untold number of deaths due to Covid-19.

Dr. Katalin Kariko and Dr. Drew Wiseman, both researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, got to talking one day about their respective areas of RNA and immunology as they took turns using a copier. That friendly conversation led to a collaboration that ultimately resulted in the mRNA technology used in the first Covid-19 vaccines. For their pioneering work, in 2023 the two were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

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People First… Love Them Up!

Smiling leader talking to employee

“People first… Love ‘em up” is a phrase that Alan Mulally has been consistently saying at work for more than 30 years. He said it as general manager of the multi-year project to develop the 777 aircraft at Boeing, he said it as CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, and he said it as CEO of Ford Motor Company as he led the turnaround that brought it back from the brink of bankruptcy to become one of the most profitable automotive companies in the world. When he retired from Ford in 2014, Alan was named by Fortune magazine as one of the top three leaders in the world.

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Leaders’ Biggest Mistake in Q1: the Communication Illusion Trap

Business leader talking to his team to avoid communication illusion trap

Alan Mulally, the former CEO who saved Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Ford Motor Company, was recognized by Fortune as the best business leader in the world in 2014. In a series of conversations that I had with Alan, he made a point about communications that is especially relevant in the first quarter of the year. I subsequently discovered this quote in Twenty-First Century Jet in which he elaborates:

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Lessons from Holiday Movies: Why We Need More Leaders like George Bailey than Ebenezer Scrooge and Henry Potter

Image from "It's a Wonderful Life"

Holiday movies may not be the first place one might look for gleaning leadership lessons we can apply in the workplace. But if we did, what might we see? Think of a movie and see what comes to mind. Off the top of our heads, from Home Alone you could talk about the need to think out of the box and be innovative when facing adversaries or threats to your territory (looking at you, 8-year-old Kevin). Or you could draw inspiration from Buddy’s commitment to pursuing his vision while adapting to a completely different environment in Elf. Comparing two classics, A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life, highlights the importance of a leader’s character and motivations. Is he or she a connector who cares about others or a disconnector more focused on personal gain?

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A Practice to Finish the Year Strong

Photo of an hour glass representing the end of the year

The final months of a calendar or fiscal year are an important time for teams. When you consider the goals you established for the year (or were assigned to you and your team), how are things looking at this juncture? Are you confident you will meet the goals by the end of December, cautiously optimistic, concerned, or slightly panicked? 

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Frances Hesselbein: A Leader of Leaders, Who Cared For People First

Frances Hesselbein

Sitting in the historic St. Bartholomew’s Church in Manhattan before the start of the memorial service for Frances Hesselbein, my thoughts turned to one of the last days I spent time with the remarkable woman who had led the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. back from decline decades earlier and transformed it into what Peter Drucker described as “the best-managed organization around.”

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Extraordinary Opportunity to Win the War for Talent

Highly engaged team of employees giving fist bumps

An opportunity exists for leaders and organizations to gain a performance and competitive advantage if they can win the war for talent. A recent conversation I had with Jon Clifton, CEO of The Gallup Organization, reinforced my long-held position that the x-factor in talent acquisition, employee engagement, and employee retention is connection. Fostering an environment in which workers feel connected to the organization, their supervisor, their colleagues, and the work they are doing will enable those organizations to pull further ahead of organizations that lack great jobs.

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Campbell’s Turnaround Recipe: Measure Work Culture and Hold Leaders Accountable

Photo of Doug Conant and Campbell's logo

Campbell Soup Company was not in good shape when Doug Conant was named President and CEO in 2001. Sales were declining. The stock price was falling and it was underperforming the S&P 500. I’ve long held that it takes a commitment to pursuing both task excellence and relationship excellence in order to achieve sustainable superior performance. Pushing the task side alone won’t do it and will cause more harm. Brought in to effect a turnaround, Conant knew it would be essential for leaders across the organization to combine the two elements. He told leaders, “When you are both tough-minded [on issues] and tender-hearted [toward people], you can deliver ever-higher levels of performance.” People at Campbell’s would come to realize that he was serious about the relationship side of the equation.