Formulate, articulate, communicate, cajole, and inspire individuals and teams to collaborate to create a future that becomes your legacy.
Walt Disney started a fire in the entertainment world that continues to burn decades after his death. Perhaps no single figure so dominated American—and indeed, even global—popular culture as Walt Disney did. Each year, millions view a Disney movie, visit his theme parks, watch his television shows, listen to his recordings, buy his products, and […]
Most people are wired to thrive in either high-velocity change environments or steady-as-she-goes maintenance environments – rarely both. The trouble with transformational change is that, generally speaking, it affects everyone. If the secret to driving structural change is rigorous management, the secret to driving people change is emotional engagement. This work begins with a stakeholder
Putting it all Together to Ensure a Successful Transformation Read More »
TV shows like Scandal and Ray Donovan have glamorized “fixers,” people who swoop in, handle crises and solve problems. However, I have found that fixers don’t always make the best leaders. In fact, CEOs and business leaders that are fixers may be unintentionally creating a dysfunctional team dynamic. Fixers are focused on putting out fires
Peter Senge nailed it in his seminal book, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (1990), when he pointed out that the gravity of the status quo is overwhelmingly more powerful than the drive to change. We have seen leaders and teams get excited about and articulate a future state,
Spotlight on execution: What it really takes to get transformation done Read More »
By Craig W. Ross A common misconception is that consensus is needed among team members to drive high performance. The Rolling Stones were on to something when they sang, “you can’t always get what you want.” But I’ve found that focusing on team collaboration, rather than consensus, helps companies actually get what they need. What’s
Collaboration vs Consensus: You can’t always get what you want Read More »
The latest edition of HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” features a story about the “trophy culture” of youth sports—the awarding of a trophy to any child who participates in an organized athletic activity. Actually, “participates” is too stringent a standard in one Los Angeles youth soccer organization. According to the organization’s commissioner, anyone whose
By the time warring factions get to the executive ranks, they’ve already been routed through the normal HR channels, and one or more parties has a life coach or psychologist involved. Whether personality quirks or big egos cause the conflict really doesn’t matter if the problem continues to create havoc for your organization. Conflict among
I love the presidential primary season. Most Americans say they hate it, but I love it for Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, and even Bernie Sanders and his 90% tax proposal. The Donald is used to saying whatever he wants, whenever he wants to say it. So in his speech to announce his “candidacy”
Why I Love the Presidential Primary Season: So Many Lessons to be Learned Read More »
We create organizational cultures as we go along, sometimes consciously, often unconsciously—but always through decisions. When leaders decide to build a powerhouse of excellence, they start by asking themselves what needs to change and what should stay the same. When companies embrace a change orientation, they consider innovation as part of that culture, not a
Arman Sadeghi You may think of yourself as another CEO or president but each individual falls into one of three categories. The key is that while every CEO has all of these three people living inside of them, there is always one that is dominant, one that is in development and one that is almost
