Articles
Running a business with employees is messy and fraught with challenges, not the least of which is the challenge that so many employees are also people — people who have dreams, fears, families, loneliness, hope, illness, optimism, and all of whom want to be part of a successful endeavor.
For years I have been refining my thinking on leadership and vibrant organizations into a model that I call “Cohesive Leadership.” This month, HBR published an article that validates and reinforces everything I believe in. Sweet…
I define a cohesive team as one that wants to work together, that is constantly learning how to work together, and focuses on leveraging the talents and strengths of every member of that team. I believe that Apple is lead by such a team.
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who see a coach as a sign of weakness … and those who know that working with a coach is an avenue to greatness.
I did stand-up comedy for eighteen years. Ten of those years were spent learning, four years were spent refining, and four were spent in wild success. My most persistent memory of stand-up is of my mouth being in the present and my mind being in the future: the mouth speaking the line, the body delivering the gesture, while the mind looks back, observing, analyzing, judging, worrying, and then deciding when and what to say next. Enjoyment while performing was rare—enjoyment would have been an indulgent loss of focus that comedy cannot afford. After the shows, however, I experienced long hours of elation or misery depending on how the show went, because doing comedy alone onstage is the ego’s last stand.
— Steve Martin, Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Biography
Although I read Steve Martin’s excellent biography a few years ago I was reminded recently of these great thoughts in the opening paragraph. I would like to believe that I am charting a similar life course. It feels like I am in the refining years right now.
Imagine if your boss, your leaders, your entire company culture, joined forces with you in a concerted effort to push you to do your best work. What if they fully embraced the reality of human potential and pushed you for ever higher levels of knowledge, skills, and excellence? What would it be like to work in such a place? What would you produce? What could you create?
A coach helps you be successful in business. A mentor helps you be successful in this business, — in this company, in this industry.
It used to be that you started your career at the bottom and set your sites on the corner office. If you were good — and just a tad bit lucky — a company veteran tapped you on the shoulder and took you under their wing. They showed you the ropes. They introduced you to the right people. They taught you how to lead and they made sure that you got what you needed to be successful. We reverently called these people our “mentors.”
What’s changed?
In my ongoing mission to turn ideas into action, I am pleased to announce another deep-dive into a classic leadership book. Beginning in May, 2012 friends, fans and fellow ambitious leaders will read and discuss a chapter a week in Jeffery Pfeffer’s seminal work Managing with Power: Politics and Influence in Organizations.
The Globe and Mail reported on research by Matthew Bidwell, a management professor at the Wharton School. Bidwell discovered that …outside hires receive a significantly lower performance evaluation in the first two years of their new job compared with internal workers who are promoted into similar jobs… It doesn’t have to be that way. Read The First 90 Days or Your Next Move by Michael Watkins. Hire a seasoned coach to help you. Outsiders often fail…
Silos — along with unhealthy, dysfunctional organizations — will not last long in today’s world of complex products and broad ecosystems. To be successful today a healthy, well-networked, resonant organization.
A study published by the MIT Media Lab puts data and some substance around this idea.
About Heather
Heather Hollick has been helping others become better leaders and craft more meaningful careers for more than 25 years. Her experience spans both business and technology, operations and organizational development. Oh, and she was born in Canada, so she can't help but be helpful. 😉