A few months ago, I stood outside in the rain in front of the NASDAQ headquarters in New York City, waiting for a cab. At that moment Ken Frazier, the celebrated outgoing CEO of Merck, emerged from the building. We had just attended the same dinner where he was named Chief Executive Group’s CEO of the… Continue reading It’s Really Happening
Presented by: The Granger Network Based on Interviews Conducted by: Kari Granger, Ilene Fischer, Noey Jacobson, Diana Ajzen, Maria Hincapie What We Wanted to Find Out In the whirlwind of the past year, organizations have transitioned to varying degrees: several have experienced outright chaos, many have experienced genuine disruption, most have experienced some uncertainty, but… Continue reading Meeting the Current Leadership Moment: In Executives’ Words
It’s likely that somewhere along the way, you’ve explored the difference between “yes, and” and “yes, but.” And, if you’re like me, you’ve found the difference to be striking. The word “and” is one of the most powerful words in our vocabulary. It opens up the possibility of more than one answer, more than one… Continue reading Managing Polarities and the Power of “Yes, And”
Google pulled a fast one on us. There are few web services I love(d) more than Google Photos, which enables you to back up unlimited images to the cloud. With Google Photos, there’s no need for clunky hard drives. No worrying when you drop your iPhone in the river—and all of those adorable photos of… Continue reading A Lesson From the Google Photos Fiasco
How to Get Out of the Office Without Things Falling Apart Everyone “needs” a vacation. We say it all the time. And, just saying the word may evoke images of beaches, mountains, or narrow cobblestone streets. All of the things we work for, right? Don’t we “work to live”? Isn’t it obvious that taking care… Continue reading Take Your Vacation–Things Will Be Fine!
As a business owner, one of the most important contracts that ever came my way was the one I didn’t end up signing. On paper, it was a no-brainer. The prospective client was a powerhouse in the beauty care space. It was a lucrative contract with ample room to expand into an even larger engagement.… Continue reading Primal Seeking–the Allure & Danger of “More”
How to Overcome Breakdowns Without the Drama “I’m looking forward to partnering on what our contract will look like for next year,” you say. “But before we go any further, I just need to know…do you love those Godiva chocolates as much as I do?” “Sorry?” the client replies. “What do you mean?” “Oh,” you say,… Continue reading The Chocolates That Never Were
Implementing Stakeholder Capitalism Recently, in the midst of hashing out a particular nuance regarding ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance metrics), my colleague turned to me and said, “We’ve been talking about this stakeholder capitalism thing for a while now. I’ve known about ESG funds for months. But I just realized…I’ve never even taken a look at my… Continue reading Walking the Talk
The notorious performance review has become a modern-day torture tactic somehow accepted into the canon of corporate best-practices. Year after year, millions of employees file into their annual review with an enthusiasm befitting a dental cleaning. Here’s how you measured up. Here’s where you did well, and here’s where you fell short. Now get back out… Continue reading How to Do Performance Reviews Better
I once worked with a chief operations officer—we’ll call him Nicolas—who was asked by his CEO to present an update to the board. Nicolas prepared beautiful charts and airtight talking points to walk the directors of this private equity owned company through its day-to-day operations. But, it didn’t go to plan. After the meeting, the… Continue reading How to (Actually) Get Heard by Your Stakeholders
