LeadershipNow 140: July 2016 Compilation

Here are a selection of tweets from July 2016 that you might have missed:

• 7 Questions the World's Top Executive Coach Asks Every Single Time by @pauljsohn
• 5 Things Insecure Leaders Wrongly Believe by @cnieuwhof
• 7 of the Hardest People to Lead via @RonEdmondson
• How to Create an Exponential Mindset by @MarkBonchek
• The Test Every Great Leader Must Pass by @LollyDaskal
• Seven leadership lessons from Brexit via @LBS
• Disciplined Thinking by John Smith
• Start Your Day Stress-Free by @SarahLandrum
• Q&A with Jesse Stoner on Challenges Facing Leaders Today by @JesseLynStoner
• What Matters to You? by @SteveTobak
• How to Remove Distractions From Your Working Life by Mark Ellis @BusinessFiction
• Trust in the workplace is in global decline. Why? And what's next? by @tedbauer2003
• Moments of Silence - How to Cultivate Gratitude in Life by @waldowaldman
• Focus: the ingredient that most companies and many employees miss via @LSEforBusiness
• Why Leaders Should Channel The Counterintuitive by @suzimcalpine
• 10 Leadership Lessons from John Quincy Adams by @tonymorganlive
• Two Realities Of Leadership That I Wish Weren’t True by @_TimParsons_
• 8 Practical Ways to Energize Yourself by @dbonleadership
• 22 Quotes From Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban On Being A Leader by @BrianKDodd
• Scott Rudin: Management Lessons From A Broadway Producer by @JohnBaldoni
• Juggling Machetes and Torches by @ChipRBell
• Losing Well: 7 Questions to Ask When You Don’t Get the Win by @LetsGrowLeaders
• 7 Poisonous Thoughts That Interfere With Your Success by John Unger
• 5 Questions to Surface Your Leadership Beliefs by @Jesselynstoner
• A Sobering Reality for Pastors and Leaders by @RonEdmondson
• Ten Key Behaviors of Good Operators in Business by @ArtPetty
• The Secret Respectfully Authentic Leaders Know by David Grossman
• Be Careful While You’re Trying to Change the World by @MarySchaefer
• How to Manage Yourself so Your Boss Won’t Have to by @GreatLeadership
• From @WallyBock 5 Ways to Learn like Ben Franklin
• Lead Change Group: 8 Ways to Grant Intelligent Autonomy
• The Management Thinker We Should Never Have Forgotten by Joshua Macht
• Understanding What Drives Us To Push Ahead by @TanveerNaseer
• How to Make Your Undeniable Mark as a Leader by JoAnn Corley
• Two Keys to Leading Healthy Teams by @scedmonds
• Five reasons why leaders fail via @lbs

See more on Twitter.

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Posted by Michael McKinney at 11:27 PM
Permalink | Comments (0) | LeadershipNow 140

Under New Management

IT IS HARD to let go of the thinking behind some of the management tools we still use today. Designed for types of work that are no longer prevalent, these systems were designed for another time.

David Burkus reports on a number of seemingly radical management ideas in Under New Management. He stresses that we look for practices that are limiting employees’ potential and eliminating them. He questions best practices like:

Banning or limiting access to e-mail actually improves productivity. “Researchers believe that limiting email decreases stress and increases productivity because it cuts back on multitasking and distraction.” Consideration should also be given to limiting email to normal working hours.

The customer always come first? Putting employees first may be the best way to serve the needs of the customer. “Profits are driven by customer loyalty, customer loyalty is driven by employee satisfaction, and employee satisfaction is driven by putting employees first.”

As an artifact of the industrial age when managers needed to ensure that all shifts were covered, strict vacation policies were a necessity. But as industrial work gives way to knowledge work more liberal vacation policies often increase engagement and performance. “When you give employees trust and freedom to act responsibly, you don’t need nearly as many policies.” Trust allows employees to focus on performance. In one study, being trusted increased levels of oxytocin (the bonding hormone that creates a feeling of well-being) in the brain which in turn triggers more generous and trusting responses. “Trust breeds more trustworthy behavior.” Burkus also discusses the value of sabbaticals and pre-cations.

People don’t feel comfortable talking about salary. Should how much employees are paid be public knowledge? Some research says yes. “When people know where they stand and know how to move up in the range, they’re more motivated to work to improve their performance and improve their standing.” But while it can improve perceptions of fairness and feelings of engagement there are obvious drawbacks.

Without non-compete agreements organizations have little incentive to invest in employees or innovative research since they could easily leave and take their knowledge to a rival company. But research has demonstrated that non-compete agreements create a “brain drain” from those states that enforce them. For companies in stats without non-competes, when an employee leaves one firm for another, both companies benefit. Not only do both companies gain new knowledge but new connections between employees in both firms are created. “In effect, departing employees have a cross-pollinating effect on the ideas of both organizations.”

Burkus makes a case for ditching performance appraisals, paying people to quit, bringing in teams to the make hiring decisions, ever changing org charts, and closing open offices.

He also tackles the question: Are managers necessary? Although some reseach suggests that employees are more productive and engaged when they, and not their manager, control their destiny, these are not really mutually exclusive. Nevertheless, Burkus concludes, “To benefit from the motivating power of autonomy, leaders don’t need to give up total control and fire all the managers, but every leader does need to consider how their current structure might be limiting the perception of freedom and blocking the organization from its peak potential.”

Under New Management gives leaders much to think about. Read the research and the stories of those doing it and you decide.

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Posted by Michael McKinney at 10:27 PM
Permalink | Comments (0) | Management

First Look: Leadership Books for July 2016

Here's a look at some of the best leadership books to be released in July.

  Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow by Steve Lehto
  The Effective Manager by Mark Horstman
  Hooked: Why cute sells...and other marketing magic that we just can't resist by Patrick Fagan
  High-Hanging Fruit: Build Something Great by Going Where No One Else Will by Mark Rampolla
  Great Teams: 16 Things High Performing Organizations Do Differently by Don Yaeger



For bulk orders call 1-800-423-8273



Build your leadership library with these specials on over 100 titles. All titles are at least 40% off the list price and are available only in limited quantities.


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"Wear the old coat and buy the new book."

Posted by Michael McKinney at 06:43 PM
Permalink | Comments (0) | Books