I recently completed a podcast interview with Scott Laningham, host of IBM’s developerWorks podcast interviews. You can listen to the interview and download it on iTunes by clicking on employee engagement.
Insightory.com recently added me to its list of experts. This website has a treasure trove of content. Here is a link to my page on the website.
The Mutual Promises of Servant Leaders and Servant Citizens
In outstanding businesses, people serve one another. Leaders serve employees and employees, in turn, serve customers. Customers respond by being loyal to the business and the employees they know. One way to reflect this servant mindset is to codify it in mutual promises. I learned from Admiral Vern Clark, who was the head of the US Navy from 2000-2005, that he told his leaders the sailors under their command promised to support and defend the US Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic, and they, as leaders, needed to make promises to sailors in return. Promises such as giving the sailors the training and resources needed to do their jobs. That make me think, what promises do we want from employees we lead and what promises should we make in return. I spoke this morning on Jim Blasingame’s radio program about his and you can hear it at this link.
Here are some promises to consider:
D-DAY: Honoring the Courage and Ingenuity of Allied Soldiers
Tomorrow is the anniversary of D-Day when 160,000 Allied troops landed on French beaches and began the march to defeat Hitler. The Army has a website devoted to D-Day that I hope you will explore. The visual images, accounts and statistics testify to the courage of Allied soldiers. In addition, the story that I tell in a SmartByte video recorded for Athenaonline.com entitled Voice and Culture describes the American Army’s culture of ingenuity that historian Stephen Ambrose wrote was largely absent in the Nazi army.
Inclusiveness at Pixar, Speech to Wharton Alumni
The Economic Times in India published an article I wrote about inclusiveness at Pixar.
Last night I spoke to delightful group of Wharton alumni in Boston. It was a stimulating evening and I would like to thank Wendy Dalwin and Stuart Zimmerman of the the Wharton Club of Boston for inviting me to speak, and McKinsey & Company for hosting the event.
Speaking at Google on July 28
On July 28 I’ll be speaking about leadership, employee engagement and Connection Cultures at Google’s corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California as part of it’s Leading@Google program. Google will film my presentation and make it available online before the end of July at Leading@Google on YouTube.
Attitudes and Activity Picking Up
The leaders I speak with seem to be more optimistic about the future, even though some express concerns about the state of consumer credit card debt and how it might affect the financial system and economy. At E Pluribus Partners, we’ve definitely seen a recent surge in business prospects. Here are some of the new activities on our agenda.
The Conference Board just asked me to be speak and be on the advisory board for its Customer Experience Leadership Conference next March 23-25 in New York City. The conference chairman and emcee is Robert Reiss, host of one of my favorite radio shows, The CEO Show.
The Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement just hired me to give the keynote speech at its annual conference in Chicago, Illinois on October 14. The Forum is an affiliate of the Department of Integrated Marketing Communications, the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
On October 20-22, I have the honor of meeting with several leaders and speaking to various business student groups at my alma mater, Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. I had a wonderful experience as a undergraduate business student at ISU from 1977 until 1981 and remain in touch with several students and faculty members I met during my years on campus.
The Human Capital Institute just invited me to facilitate a session and speak at its Employee Engagement and Onboarding Conference in Boston on October 26-28. HCI is doing great work and I’m looking forward to working with them.
On May 27, I’ll be recording an interview
for IBM’s developerWorks podcast with host Scott Laningham.
What’s New: DC, Yale, Wharton, Korea, AMA, etc.
In addition to my recent posts about speaking at the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business and the interview I did that was just published in the award-winning Rotman magazine, produced by the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, here’s a quick update about my recent and upcoming activities.
I’ve been in Washington, DC lately speaking to various groups including Martha Dorris’ Office of Citizen Services and Communications (part of the U.S. Government Services Administration), Kitty Wooley’s Society of Fellows and Friends and Michael Yoka’s Executive Development Exchange Network. I was inspired during my visits to DC by the dedication, energy and intelligence many Federal Government employees have. This may come as a surprise to many but I believe working in government will be one of the most exciting, challenging and rewarding workplaces in the years ahead. Part of this comes from President Obama’s belief that government can be a force for good and his appreciation of people who want to serve a cause greater than self. I’m thrilled to be working more in DC. On June 12 I will be a guest on Federal News Radio’s (AM-1500) book club and on July 1, I will be speaking at the Treasury Executive Institute.
Yale-New Haven Health System just hired me to speak to its 450 managers on June 2 at its Yale-New Haven Hospital Management Symposium. This is one of the world’s great hospitals and I can hardly wait to fire their up their leaders and empower them with tools to create a Connection Culture.
I’ll be presenting at the Wharton Alumni Club of Boston on June 4.
My publisher just informed me that Fired Up or Burned Out is being translated into another language, this time Korean. In the last year alone the book was published in Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam (in Vietnamese, as you can see from the cover to the left). In addition, the book is now available in Kindle and paperback editions. An audio edition is in the works and I’m optimistic it will continue to be published in more languages over the coming years.
The American Management Association just published an article I wrote about Pixar Animation entitled “Case Study: Pixar’s Winning Strategy of Inclusiveness.”
There are some very exciting additional engagements in the works that I hope to announce soon so stay tuned.
P.S. On the personal front, my daughter Sarah was just accepted at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas. A couple weeks back, our whole family flew down to Texas to support Sarah as she tried out to be a cheerleader. So, I’m now the proud father of a TCU Horned Frog cheerleader. Sarah has worked hard and I’m happy and confident that she will thrive at this great school.
Connections at the World Innovation Forum
The sun is shining here in New York City where I’m attending HSM’s World Innovation Forum as a designated blogger.
As readers of my blog know, I focus on the importance of human connection among management, employees and customers. Connection stimulates innovation. And connection is omnipresent at this event.
Blogging@the World Innovation Forum in NYC
HSM invited me to the World Innovation Forum next week at the Nokia theater in New York City where I will be joining a group of leading bloggers. In addition to yours truly (www.twitter.com/michaelstallard), Twitter accounts and blogs for the bloggers are as follows:
Rotman Magazine Interview
Rotman, the award-winning magazine of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, just published an interview I did with them on Connection Cultures, leadership and employee engagement. The Spring 2009 issue also features fascinating interviews with Warren Bennis, Prof. Renee Mauborgue of INSEAD and Prof. Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago. You can subscribe to Rotman magazine or purchase the download by clicking here. Following is the text of the interview.