Category: Management

Who is Managing the Business of America: The Market, or the Business Leader

It is with ironic interest that I see the media hyperbole regarding the market and investors. It seems investors are our bell weather for the state of the economy. If the market is up everyone is
happy. If the market is down we all get nervous. Yet I ask myself why?

Today’s Wall Street Journal whines that investors are worried. Well pardon me, so is the business leader. They want to build a business. They have customers and ideas. They can’t get financing
because the investors are worried.

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Keep your friends close…

I have been exploring and really enjoying Social Media for some time now. I have reconnected with old friends and made new ones through the most unlikely of channels (Twitter). And yet as this
political season ramps up and the lingo gets hotter I see friends calling friends idiots, scumbags and liars. (Are you really my friend?)

I recently sat through a webinar by Claire Riley of Boulder Community Hospital. It was about communication and specifically it was about conflict resolution. Specifically she spoke about the
difference between Acknowledgement and Agreement. There is …

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Passing the Buck

I am talking to a consultant who was hired to help an organization convert their Customer Relation Management system (CRM). Everything went well. About 90 days after the conversion they called him
back and asked him to work with one of their employees who was just having a hard time with the system.

They said, “Steve is a valuable employee. He has been with us for more than twenty years. We really want him to get on board”.

The consultant sat with Steve for two weeks. When …
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Esprit de Corps and Culture

I am reading the book, War Fighting, published by the United States Marine Corp, in 1989. I was struck by the following phrase, “Leaders should develop unit
cohesion and esprit and the self-confidence of individuals within the unit. In this environment, a Marine’s unwillingness to violate the respect and trust of peers can overcome personal
fear.”

This speaks to the value of Culture in an organization. When there is a strong culture, …

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Is it about Trust or Utility

I belong to a number of groups on LinkedIn. It is a useful way to stay connected with some of the conversations in the marketplace and my areas of interest. Today I took a survey sponsored by
Business Roundtable, Institute for Corporate Ethics conducted by the Catholic University of America. Here is a link to the survey tinyurl.com/3knmr5e 

I had my awareness raised in how I make decisions about trust and economics through the process of taking the survey. What I found was that Integrity mattered a lot to me. …

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Are Your Employees Under Attack?…From Whom?

In order to be successful organizations need to have goals and destinations. The paradox is that when we manage so tightly to the interim steps – when
we get attached to the interim goals we often lose sight of the bigger picture and our team can come under attack …FROM US!

If you think about a sea voyage or plane trip, the vessel is off course most of the time. (Missing the interim goals) The Navigator makes adjustments and pulls …

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