Many thanks to internet entrepreneur Evan Carmichael for recognizing michaelleestallard.com as a top 50 leadership blog and a top five blog on the topic of leadership at work. This adds to the earlier recognition michaelleestallard.com received as a top blog on leadership.
Category Archives: Leadership
Pixar’s Competitive Advantage? A Connection Culture
At the Technical Academy Awards ceremonies held in Hollywood, the Associated Press reported that it wasn’t the host, actress Jessica Biel, who attracted the most attention. Instead, it was an understated, bespectacled, computer engineer named Ed Catmull. When Catmull’s name was announced to receive an Oscar for his lifetime of work in computer animation, the crowd went wild, whistling and whooping. And rightly so. The impact Catmull and his collaborators have had on Hollywood may last for decades to come.
Ed Catmull is the president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios. He has rejected the traditional Hollywood star system and its often toxic work environment and replaced it with an environment that emphasizes community and long-term relationships. Catmull described it this way in a Harvard Business Review article he wrote: “[Pixar has] an environment that nurtures trusting and respectful relationships and unleashes everyone’s creativity…the result is a vibrant community where talented people are loyal to one another and their collective work, everyone feels that they are part of something extraordinary, and their passion and accomplishments make the community a magnet for talented people…”
What is it about Pixar’s environment that attracts talented employees and helps them produce outstanding movies such as the blockbuster hits Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and WALL-E that have made Pixar the envy of Hollywood?
Overcoming Leadership Myopia
Howard Behar and Michael Lee Stallard
American leaders need to wake up and smell the coffee. Research from two well-respected organizations makes it clear that we have a big collective blind spot that’s dragging down productivity, innovation and economic performance. Earlier this year, a Conference Board research report showed that job satisfaction is at the lowest level since the organization began measuring it more than 20 years ago. The report went on to show this has been a long-term downward trend rather than a temporary decline due to the Great Recession.
Another well-respected organization, the Corporate Executive Board, came out with a research report last year that showed 90 percent of employees are either not aligned with organizational goals or not engaged and giving their best efforts. It’s nearly impossible to pull out of difficult economic seasons when nine out of ten employees are just showing up for the paycheck. We need everyone to pull together in the same direction to lift us out of this slump. What can be done?
Mrs. Hesselbein: “To Serve is to Live”
Frances Hesselbein, To Serve Is To Live. from Leader to Leader on Vimeo.
In Fired Up or Burned Out, we wrote about Frances Hesselbein, the former CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA and current chairman of the Leader to Leader Institute As we were about to part following lunch, I’ll never forget Mrs. Hesselbein looking me directly in the eyes and saying “just remember, to serve is to live.” Here is an outstanding video about Mrs. Hesselbein’s life entitled “To Serve is to Live.” Check it out.
Strengthen Your “Critical Connections”
Research has shown that people perform better if they take time to create checklists that break their work down into necessary tasks. Here is an approach we recommend. Make a list of those individuals whom you count on you in order to do your work well and the individuals who count on you in order to do their work well. Think of these people as your “Critical Connections.” Strengthening your relationship with them is, in addition to making checklists, another key to achieving excellence in your work.
Top Leadership Bloggers’ Recent Best Posts
Here’s a collection of the best blog posts over the last month written by top leadership bloggers. Thanks to Dan McCarthy over at Great Leadership for organizing it.
ASTD Webcast Download: Neuroscience Implications for Leadership
Last week I did a webcast for members of the America Society for Training and Development (ASTD). The webcast covers select research findings from the field of neuroscience and their implications for leadership, productivity, innovation and employee engagement. ASTD is the world’s largest association dedicated to workplace learning and development professionals. The webcast and slides are available at this link. (Note: clicking on the link will begin an automatic download of the webcast and slides.)
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.
Which Presidential Candidate is a Remarkable Leader?
Kevin Eikenberry is the author of an excellent book entitled Remarkable Leadership. He recently invited people to vote on the presidential candidates based on how they stack up in relation to the attributes of a Remarkable Leader. Check out the results 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.