Exploring what it means to lead organizations as living systems
John Rogers, a seasoned entrepreneur who started his company 35 years ago, had always prided himself on offering unique products in his market. However, in recent years, he faced a new challenge. Two other companies had emerged in his town, offering similar products...
“They seem to want to blame anyone or anything when things go wrong. As the owner, I have to own all of my choices. Why can’t they?”“Am I the only one who cares about the success of the whole organization? It seems everyone else only cares about their part. How do...
Leaders understand the importance of clear mission statements, values and a future vision that will inspire their teams to greatness. They spend a lot of time and money on consultants to help them create mission, vision, and value statements that will guide their...
One of the greatest challenges we hear from a lot of CEOs is getting their team members to truly buy into their vision. We often hear comments like these: “They say they are on board and don’t act like it. Their behaviors are, at best, slowing things down, at worst,...
The looming recession, increased competition in maturing industries and tightened budgets are challenging clients to proactively build a sales pipeline. Many companies have relied on business coming to them rather than proactively reaching out to potential customers....
It’s the start of the year, a time when many companies begin planning the year ahead. Getting from where you are now to where you want to be is a journey. A journey akin to mountain climbing. As with all journeys, we must plan the climb first and then execute it. I...
If you review the literature on leadership, you will find there are two dominate conversations. The first centers on the leader’s role in ensuring the organization produces the outcomes that lead to success. Often centered on the theme of profit maximization. The...
“If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” In our last newsletter, we discussed the four elements that are required for a person to succeed Clarity and agreement on expectations Resources consistent...
Nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day you bet on people, not on strategies. -- Lawrence Bossidy In this series a of blog posts we discussed the true role of employees, and how to attract the right people for your...
People change, but only if you give them room to do it. Jodi Picoult In our last two blogs, we spoke about the fact that employees our not stakeholders they are the organization, and how to attract the right people to become part of your living organization. Before we...
“What you seek is seeking you.” ― Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi In the last newsletter, we asked the question, are employee’s stakeholders? We offered that another way to look at an organization is to see the employees as the organization – living cells within a living...
In today’s vernacular, we often hear people stipulate that employees are key stakeholders, and their needs must be considered along with the needs of customers and investors. Think about it for a moment. Stakeholders are entities outside the organization that the...