Last year Leader to Leader published a article Jason Pankau and I wrote entitled “Strengthening Human Value in Organizational Cultures.” Previously, the article was only available to Leader to Leader’s subscribers or those who paid for a download from the internet. Leader to Leader has given us permission to post the paper on our blog so here it is. The article begins with a remarkable story about New York-Presbyterian Hospital System and its CEO Dr. Herbert Pardes. New York-Presbyterian presently uses the tag line “amazing things are happening here” in its advertising and other written communications. Read the article and I think you’ll agree.
Tag Archives: michael lee stallard
Webcast with David Zinger, Employee Engagement Expert and Founder of the Employee Engagement Network
Join me tomorrow at 11:00 AM Eastern when I will host a webcast with David Zinger, employee engagement expert and founder of The Employee Engagement Network. David has a wealth of knowledge and wisdom, as well as strength of character. He’s an inspiration to me and to many other professionals who work helping organizations engage their employees. In the webcast David will share his thoughts about the diverse connections that help engage people. To sign up for the webcast, click on employee engagement. If you are unable to join the live webcast, you can still click on the link to see the webcast recording.
Increasing Employee Engagement at Lockheed Martin
Recently I presented to a group of 60 leaders at Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defense company. The leaders I met were part of the aerospace group. It was an inspiration for me to hear their stories including one about a dramatic savings of time and money when a front line worker’s idea led to a software breakthrough. I was pleased to see some business units were using the Start-Stop-Continue exercise. Both of these reflect the Connection Culture element of Voice. I was also inspired hearing how one leader felt extremely proud of his company and its important work when his young son saw up close the remarkable military aircraft his dad worked on (which reflects the element of Vision). I get goosebumps just thinking about these stories and how the bright, dedicated and motivated employees at Lockheed Martin are creating a Connection Culture!
U2’s Unity Featured in the American Management Association’s “Moving Ahead” Publication
An article I wrote on the band U2 was just published by the American Management Association as the lead article in its popular Moving Ahead: Management Insights for Business Success publication. The article is entitled “Great Teams: The Extraordinary Unity of U2.” Thanks goes to Shari Lifland, the editor of Moving Ahead, who made some very clever changes from the original article that was published last month in The Economic Times in India.
Reducing employee anxiety
What can managers do to reduce the anxiety workers feel these days? Anita Bruzzese, award-winning journalist and workplace columnist for Gannett News Service, recently interviewed me about this topic for her nationally syndicated column. The article, entitled “In gloomy times, good management becomes essential,” has appeared in Gannett papers across the country.
Our Responsibility to Connect to the Disconnected Among Us
Years ago when I attended a large church in Wheaton, Illinois, I remember the Asgedom family who came from a refugee camp in Sudan. They were ever present members of our church community. Mawi Asgedom was a young boy at that time. I recently learned that Mawi went on to graduate cum laude from Harvard in 1999 and was voted by his fellow students to be one of the Harvard’s four commencement speakers.
Standing before an audience of 30,000 Mawi gave a remarkable speech entitled “Of Snakes, Butterfies and Small Acts of Kindness.”
Forgiveness as a Bridge to Unity
Nelson Mandela recently celebrated his 90th birthday. I’m grateful for this man and the wisdom of his example. When he entered Robben Island Prison he was known for confronting his enemies. When he was released 27 years later, Mandela stunned South Africans with his magnanimous behavior toward former adversaries.
The Brain, Change and Connection Cultures
Consultant and blogger Michael DeWitt just posted an insightful video on his Spooky Action blog about how the human brain works and its implications for organizational change efforts. He concludes that leaders should create Connection Cultures to help members of organizations accept and implement change. Check out DeWitt’s blog. It’s one of the blogs I frequently read for its wisdom on topics such as leadership, organizations and employee engagement.
Post Merger Trap#2: The Unfairness Trap
Over the course of my career I’ve had the good fortune to have been involved in several mergers. At first, I was fascinated by the process of identifying a compelling rationale for combining companies, negotiating the deal, planning the integration of people and systems and then executing the plan. The dizzying array of tasks that must be accomplished to complete a merger is challenging to say the least. In time, however, I learned that even greater challenges arose after the investment bankers and lawyers had packed up their briefcases and moved on to the next deal.
Post Merger Trap#1: The Urgency Trap
Thus far it appears that the Disney acquisition of Pixar has worked well. Brooks Barnes wrote an excellent article about it in today’s The New York Times entitled, “Disney and Pixar – The Power of the Prenup. “There is an insightful quote in the article made by Disney’s CEO Bob Iger. He says “There is an assumption in the corporate world that you need to integrate swiftly…my philosophy is exactly the opposite. You need to be respectful and patient.” Iger’s view reflects his recognition of one of the Post-Merger Traps that companies frequently fall into. We call it the “Urgency Trap.”