The great divide among the sexes is one of the biggest enigmas in business. No, I am not referring to the disproportionately high number of males in the executive ranks. I am speaking of the higher number of successful female entrepreneurs versus male entrepreneurs. Successful companies have 7.1 percent female executives versus 3.1 percent at [...]
Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your minds and fear less the label of ‘crackpot’ than the stigma of conformity. Thomas J. Watson Even in his death Steve Jobs, the uber nonconformist, is one of the most sought after people in the business world [...]
The most important decision executives make is who they name as manager, at all levels in a company. Randall J. Beck Gallup Organization CFO asks his CEO, "What happens if we invest in developing our people and then they leave the company?" CEO answers, 'What happens if we don't, and they stay?" Are you feeding [...]
In past columns I have asked, “Who does the best thinking in your organization?” The purpose of these questions is to focus on two different and yet important types of thinking: Creative thinking that generates new ideas that can be exploited for the growth and prosperity of the business, and analytic or critical thinking to [...]
"My main job was developing talent. I was a gardener providing water and other nourishment to our top 750 people. Of course, I had to pull out some weeds, too." – Jack Welch "If you don’t invest the time to do it correctly today, you will spend more time and money in repairing mistakes tomorrow." [...]
“Having the most talented people in each of our businesses is the most important thing. If we don’t, we lose.” –Jack Welch while CEO of GE "If you don’t invest the time to do it correctly today, you will spend more time and money in repairing mistakes tomorrow." – Don Paullin Would you describe your employees [...]
“Having the most talented people in each of our businesses is the most important thing. If we don’t, we lose.” ─ Jack Welch while CEO of GE "I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day you bet on people, not on strategies.” — [...]
Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. -Bill Gates It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. -Charles Darwin It is not uncommon for companies to overlook their most valuable assets. Recently I discussed how employees can prove to be [...]
A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle. - Japanese proverb The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say 'I.' And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say 'I.' They don't think 'I.' They think 'we'; they think 'team.' They understand their job to [...]
“Business, more than any other occupation, is a continual dealing with the future; it is a continual calculation, an instinctive exercise in foresight” – Henry R. Luce Steve Jobs death is certainly an incredible loss at many levels. However, there are important questions and lessons for founders and leaders of closely held businesses. Most [...]