Culture matters. It affects both performance and outcomes. A quick review of early American history shows a parallel between building a house then and building an...
Who are we to argue with the assertion that America’s greatest leader was its first? It’s all true: George Washington ran two major start-ups—the army...
At school, they call it bullying. In corporate America, you might recognize it as executive hubris. The effect is the same: The person in charge shuts others down,...
The chief purveyor of hip-hop culture saw opportunity everywhere, even in the earliest days of rap. “You’d be happy to work with somebody,” he says,...
Don’t forget to ask the simplest question of all before you develop a new product or service for customers: What’s the unmet need? If you fail to learn the...
By definition, a leader has to be out front. That’s why in hindsight it’s so easy to see how Peter Drucker, the foremost management guru of the 20th...
To make the topic of strategy more personal, Cynthia Montgomery, Timken Professor of Business Administration and immediate past head of the Strategy Unit at Harvard...
You’ve got vision, while the rest of the world wears bifocals. If that bit of swagger sums up your leadership style, you’ve got something in common with...
You expect colleges and universities to prepare your youngest workers for their new jobs. But are you prepared for them? These digital natives quickly grow impatient...
There’s nothing like a young manager—bright-eyed, full of pep and ideas, ready to make his or her mark in the organization. But often, the young manager...
Nobody argues the fact that Robert McNamara was a genius. The Ford Motor Co. whiz kid who led the Pentagon into the Vietnam War, and the World Bank into unprecedented...
Assertiveness is a key component to being an effective manager, and is particularly important when dealing with difficult employees who thrive on testing your...
Possibly the hardest thing for leaders who have taken over the direction of a product or service is to sound off clearly on what needs to be done. "The leader’s...
In 1946, a Romanian nun on a train climbing the Himalayan foothills decided to leave her convent and help the poor, while living among them. She was inspired...
Standing in the business books section at a bookstore, Chip Conley, founder of Joie de Vivre Hotels, discovered the book that would save his business. He found a bolt...
What makes a great leader? Sometimes it’s qualities that are learned. Sometimes it’s qualities that are innate. Not every manager can be great leader....
Online shoe retailer Zappos is known for its knockout customer service. But CEO Tony Hsieh says his secret of success is really about his employees. “Our belief is...
