by Deborah Leverett | May 9, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
According to the Brookings Institute, more businesses have closed than opened since 2008. This is a serious number. The decline in new businesses openings is unique in the American economy, and coupled with the slow growth (2-3% ) of the economy, presents disquieting news. Another factor that must be considered is the trend of business life spans. Up until mid to late 20th century, the life span of a business was 65-75 years. Today, the current life span of a business is 15 years, and the trend continues to fall. Today’s blog is the first of a 3-part series on information that warrants attention for the business leader and business owner: The # 1 factor for a long-lived organization is the ability of that organization to respond effectively to the changing environment. Companies who are more agile with the capacity to respond quickly are those companies that will elude the fate of the dinosaur. A caveat: the change we have seen in the last 10-20 years is nothing compared to what’s coming down the pike. Several years ago Shell Oil researched big companies that had successfully gone through a major and disruptive change. The research revealed that those companies had some common themes. Every company was decentralized tolerated innovative risk taking had a strong identity fostered a strong culture had values that were lived out in the organization The resilience factor – the ability to successfully handle change of all kinds – of an organization (just as with an individual) depends first on the internal mindsets, attitudes and behaviors. What does your company need to address along these lines?...
by Deborah Leverett | Apr 28, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
A client and I were reviewing the major successes his organization had experienced during their culture initiative when he expressed his frustration that things seemed to be more complex than ever. This, in spite of the fact that the organization was moving away from hierarchical silos to a collaborative team-based work environment. One would tend to think a flatter organization would be more simple. But, actually, the opposite is true. Below are 5 major touch points that create new complexities. 1. Communication options through technology add dimensions of complexity that regular teams don’t have to deal with: distance, time differences, technology that may or may not work well, 2. A richer brain trust as organizations bring in external resources: customers, partnering organizations, external consultants. This of course brings on more points of view to assimilate. 3. More teams. These teams each have their own purpose, structure and dynamics, behaviors and learning. Competing team membership requires a higher level of political navigation as well. 4. A learning organization is critical to the flatter organization because all employees will need to grow and learn to keep up with the ever-changing market and customer needs. Up to 50% of organizations will create their own ‘corporate universities’. 5. Change happens for the entry level employees, but for the executive/leadership level, the change must be transformational. These complexities are both the collateral fruit and the seeds of change. They are necessary for an organization to succeed and flourish in the 21st century. What complexities have you seen as your organization grows more...
by Deborah Leverett | Apr 17, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
Creating culture and developing talent can be tricky. But, tricky doesn’t mean necessarily complicated. The best companies have very simple policies. For instance Netflix’s Five Talent Tenets: 1. Hire, reward, and tolerate only fully formed adults. 2. Tell the truth about performance. 3. Managers own the jobs of creating great teams. 4. Leaders own the job of creating the company culture. 5. Good talent mangers think like business people and innovators first, and like HR people last. Only one one more I would add – from Four Seasons core principles: The Golden Rule : Treat others as you want to be treated. There, you have it! Do you think it is as simple as...
by Deborah Leverett | Apr 11, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
If you are a leader, here are 5 things you should be acting on every day! 1. Thank 5 people every day for something they are doing: great attitude, following through, solving a problem, helping someone else. 2. Change before you have to
. Have enough self-awareness and situational awareness to know when you re causing problems instead of solving them. The willingness to change is one your most effective tools. 3. Fight bureaucracy of all kinds
. Clear the way for others, then you get out of their way. 4. Forgive: that means let it go!
How many times have you seen immature behavior in the workplace because someone just won’t let something go? Forgiveness doesn’t mean you ignore the issue. Be the adult in the room and talk about how to come to an understanding and then don’t pick it up again. 5. Extend trust first
: People make mistakes and will disappoint you. Get over it – everybody has been burned and everyone has burned someone else. Get beyond your own discomfort and show people you actually care and have enough grace to let them screw up. What do you wish your leader would get a move...
by Deborah Leverett | Feb 12, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
In his new book, Fifth Age of Work , author and management consultant, Andrew Jones, writes about trends in how work will be performed and what the new workplace will look like in the 21st century. He predicts that by 2020 40% of the workforce will be independent contractors and freelancers. Traditional institutions face a dilemma of attracting and leveraging top talent in the growing environment of the ‘human cloud’. The best and the brightest have many options that will provide flexibility and the option of being involved in work that is meaningful. How will this gap be bridged? On February 18, Entera Partners, will host an Exectuve Breakfast addressing these very real issues. Andrew Jones, consultant with Entera+Partners, Tony Budet, CEO of University Federal Credit Union and Aaron Bramwell, Founder and CEO of Monkee-Boy Web Design will discuss in a roundtable session these very issues. If you are being afffected by changes in the workplace, or you own a business and are facing these issues, you will want to be part of this conversation: click here to sign...
by Deborah Leverett | Feb 7, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
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