Category Archives: Employee Engagement

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Google Beams, Curiosity and Innovation

Last week when I toured Google’s corporate headquarters, the “Googleplex,” I was shown a monitor that had an image of the planet earth with multicolored beams of light shooting up from the various contintents. The beams represented Google searches that were presently being conducted from those locations. (For example, when I searched on Google this morning for an article on “augmented intelligence,” it would have appeared on Google’s global search monitor as a beam of light shooting up from Greenwich, Connecticut where I live.)

What stood out to me when I observed Google’s global search monitor was that locations such as North America, East Asia and Western Europe were aflame with Google beams of search activity whereas some regions like Africa and much of South America were largely dark.

If Google searches can be thought of as a proxy for curiosity and learning, then locations (nations and organizations) that are aflame with search activity are preferable to locations that are dark.

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Intrapreneurs: Find a Work Environment to Help You Thrive

If you aspire to be a successful intrapreneur, seek a healthy work environment. There are organizations with healthy work environments that energize employees and others that suck the life out of them.  Unfortunately, the latter dominate.  According to research from Gallup, over the last decade, 75 percent of American workers reported that they were not engaged in their jobs.

Here’s what you should be looking for in a work environment that will help you thrive.

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Connection Critical to Healthcare

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about healthcare organizations.  I recently spoke in New Haven to nearly 500 managers at Yale-New Haven Hospital and in Philadelphia to a group of CEOs that included several leaders from the Cancer Treatment Centers of America.  I’ve written from the patient’s perspective about my wife Katie’s battles with breast and advanced ovarian cancer and about Dr. Herb Pardes, head of New York-Presbyterian Health System, and how he is leading his organization to deliver patient-centered care. Recently, I interviewed Bill Shannon, Chief Wisdom Officer, at DaVita, Inc., the leading provider of kidney dialysis services and shortly I’ll be hosting a webcast with Pat Charmel, CEO of Griffin Hospital, a perennial member of Fortune’s best places to work list.

Two books I recently read reminded me again just how critical connection is to health care.

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Connection — and Connectors — in Federal Government

Recently I’ve been spending more time in Washington, DC.  Earlier this year I spoke at the General Services Administration, the Executive Development Exchange Network (EDEN) and at  Senior Fellows and Friends.  In the coming months I’ll be speaking at the US Treasury Executive Institute, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Government Accountability Office.

Washington, DC is abuzz with energy, enthusiasm  and a “can do” spirit.  Some government employees meet on their personal time in groups such as Senior Fellows and Friends and 13L to exchange ideas that  make government more effective.  They have come up with innovative practices and programs such as Flash Mentoring and FedPitch.  The private sector could learn much from these thoughtful civil servants who dedicate their professional lives to a cause greater than self.

Yesterday I had the privilege of joining Martha Dorris, the Deputy Associate Administrator at the GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and AM 1500 Federal News Radio hosts Chris Dorobek and Francis Rose in an hour long discussion about my book, Fired Up or Burned Out, and creating Connection Cultures in Federal Government.  Martha is a dynamic leader and an intentional connector who is developing a Connection Culture at the GSA.  Chris and Francis are outgoing, intentional connectors too.  Their radio programs are thoughtful and encouraging.  They inform, educate, inspire and help federal government workers feel more connected. You can listen to our radio conversation by clicking on leadership and employee engagement in federal government.

During this critical time in history when we are rethinking the roles of the government, private and social sectors, government is playing an increasingly important part in shaping our collective future.  To this end, President Obama is challenging federal workers to make a difference.  He inspires them with a vision of positive change, values their service and contributions, and gives them a voice by seeking their opinions and ideas. And I’m looking forward to spending more time in DC to encourage and advise leaders about how to develop Connection Cultures that will help release the genius of the dedicated individuals who work in federal government.

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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.

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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.