Holly Green
I had one of those defining moments in life the other day. I went to the doctor for a minor ailment, and for the first time I noticed that the person wearing the stethoscope was younger than me! My prevailing view of the world says that authority figures – doctors, judges, teachers, etc. – should…
Have you ever wondered why the head of a baseball team is called the manager and the head of a basketball team is called the coach? (These are the kinds of things I sometimes ponder on long airplane rides.) The answer has to do not just with the obvious differences between the two sports, but…
Business leaders often see their organizations through rose-colored glasses. Find out how to get in touch with what’s really going on in your organization.
Bias is defined as “prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.” In the business world, this definition also applies to concepts and ideas. As business leaders we like to think we’re impartial, open-minded and objective in regards to new ideas,…
Seems like everyone is talking about innovation these days. Most of the discussion centers on the need to add value to customers through innovative products and services. But according to Gary Hamel, a leading expert on business strategy, there’s more to innovation than just bringing new products to market. In a recent Harvard Business Review…
Still think Twitter is a silly fad? A month ago, I posted a blog that included a negative comment about the new Chevy Volt and our cash-strapped government’s plan to support the vehicle through incentives and outright purchases. The very next day, the Volt product manager tweeted me to ask if I would give him…
Feeling a little pressed for time these days? (Who isn’t!) It turns out you have more time than you think. In fact, that’s the title of a great book new book by journalist Laura Vanderkam — “168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think.” (168 = the number of hours in a week.) According…
Salespeople have known it for years. People buy on emotion and then justify their decision with facts and logic. That’s why the best salespeople always lead with an emotional “hook” before presenting the facts and features about their product or service. So why, as business leaders, do we usually get it bass-ackwards when trying to…
I ran across a quote the other day that resonated with me: The organization of today will require leadership that can operate on the edge of chaos by relinquishing command and control and creating an environment of mutual trust and respect. Two things struck me about this quote. One, just how much today’s leadership model…
In 1987, president Ronald Reagan gave his famous speech in which he implored Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall!” I’m going to paraphrase his history-altering quote and urge today’s business leaders to tear down these walls! Which walls? The ones that get in the way of cross-communication within organizations and prevent…
You may be funny, smart, and easy to dance with, but if you are not engaging employees on an ongoing basis, all of your work in developing a strategic plan will be for naught. In my last two blogs, we talked about informing and inspiring employees during implementation of the strategic plan. The last piece…
I focus a lot of my time and energy on helping clients remember the importance of ongoing communications as their strategic plan unfolds. Keeping employees informed on a regular basis helps to keep the finish line in sight and ensures that everyone runs the same race. But getting from where you are now to where…
