How to energize your organization

I just discovered a fascinating article that appeared in the Sloan Management Review about how individuals increase energy in organizations. Several of the practices are germane to employee engagement and Connection Culture Theory. Here’s a copy of the article what-creates-energy-in-organizations

Note: The free download of this article was available on co-author Professor Wayne Baker’s website at the University of Michigan.

My AMA Podcast on Employee Engagement (now on iTunes)

Today the American Management Association posted a podcast I did with the AMA’s Dave Summers. The topic of the podcast is how to create Connection Cultures that increase employee engagement. You can hear the podcast and even download it on an iPod or iPhone by clicking on employee engagement.

Free Materials for AMA Webcast Participants

Here are links below to follow-up materials for the participants in the American Management Association webcast I’m doing tomorrow. The 2,600 spots for the webcast were oversubscribed but the AMA is making the recording of it available on or around November 10. You can click here to sign up for an email to access the recording. Here are the materials:

Free download from changethis.com:
Connection Culture eBook

Free Getting Started Guide to Connection Cultures:
e-pluribus-partners-getting-started

Feel free to pass them along to anyone who might benefit!

Warren Buffett: More than an Oracle

Warren Buffett is in the news these days after publicly expressing his confidence in the future of American corporations and recently investing $8 Billion Dollars to purchase interests in GE and Goldman Sachs. With the recent stock market turmoil, many look to the world’s wealthiest man for guidance, and rightly so. Buffett is widely recognized as an exceptional judge of corporate value. “The Oracle of Omaha,” as he is known, is arguably the most successful investor in history. Corporate leaders regularly make the trek to Omaha, Nebraska, seeking his wisdom. With so much attention on Buffett’s investment acumen, it’s easy to overlook another talent: motivating people. It’s one of a host of reasons his investments tend to outperform the market.

Webcast with Avon’s Marc Effron

Join me this Thursday at 11:00 AM Eastern when I will host a presentation by Marc Effron, Vice President of Talent Management at Avon and head of The New Talent Management Network. Marc is a thought and practice leader in talent management who is challenging industry practices when it comes to developing talent. Tune in to learn more about how Marc and his team have transformed Avon into one of the leading talent engines worldwide. You can sign up to attend the free webcast by clicking on employee engagement.

Corporation: “to thine own self be true”

Inspired by Socrates advice to “know thyself,” Shakespeare penned the words “to thine own self be true” in Hamlet. From our research at E Pluribus Partners on employee engagement, leadership development and team building, we know that great leaders have a high degree of self awareness, i.e. they know who they are and who they are not.

Knowing oneself is also important to organizations. Why? Organizations today must differentiate themselves in ways that are relevant to customers in order to win in the crowded, noisy marketplace. You can learn how by watching a recent webcast I hosted with Larry Ackerman, one of today’s leading experts on corporate and individual identity. Larry is the founder and president of The Identity Circle. He is also the author of two excellent books I recommend entitled Identity is Destiny and The Identity Code. In his presentation, Larry explains how he helped the Global 500 company Norsk Hydro discover its identity. You can see my webcast with Larry Ackerman by clicking on employee engagement.

Speaking at a Social Media Conference in San Francisco

I wanted to let you know that I will be presenting at the Advanced learning Institute’s “Social Media For Internal Communications Conference: How To Engage Employees, Drive Change & Improve Your Bottom Line Using BLOGGING, PODCASTING & The Latest WEB 2.0 Technologies,” November 17-20, 2008 in San Francisco, CA.  This conference will focus on how to use social media for internal communications and leverage the latest interactive tools and techniques to advance your organizational goals. You can save $200 by mentioning email code “SPK” when registering and another $400 on top of that if you register by October 2nd (the “early bird” registration deadline).

My session topic will be:“Giving Employees A Voice: How H&R Block Built An Online Community”

For more information or to register, see below or click 
here to go to the conference website. 

Hope to see you there!

Book Review: Why is Everyone Smiling?

Paul Spiegelman, CEO of the Beryl Companies, has written a wonderful book about Beryl Companies and its extraordinary culture.  Rather than write a review of Paul’s book, I’m posting the review written by the business maven and book reviewer extraordinaire Robert Morris (see below).  On Monday at 11:00 AM Eastern, I will be hosting a webcast with Paul Spiegelman and you can sign up for it by clicking on employee engagement.

Robert Morris review of Why Is Everyone Smiling?

Do Your Company’s Mission, Vision and Values fall flat?

A well-articulated mission, vision and set of values increases employee engagement. It’s the responsibility of an organization’s leadership to understand and communicate mission, vision and values. Sadly, most leaders dismiss it as window dressing. Great leaders, however, are serious about this responsibility. Howard Schultz of Starbucks did a remarkable job when he wrote the book Pour Your Heart Into it. Here’s another outstanding example below from the commander of the nuclear submarine, the U.S.S. Montpelier. Next month Jason Pankau and I will holding a training session for managers at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics. They build nuclear submarines. When I recently read Montpelier Command Philosophy, my thoughts were on the people I’ve met and worked with at Lockheed Martin Aerospace and who build and maintain military aircraft and those I’ll meet who build nuclear submarines. Their work is so important to protect liberty on the world. I hope they appreciate it.

The USS Montpelier Command Philosophy