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by david on January 11th, 2012 Comments Off

Leading From the Middle

The newest issue of Strategic Leadership Review is out and features three more strong articles promoting evidence-based leadership. One in particular is Lisa Fornier’s Leading from the Middle. The article discusses creative organizations and the need to develop innovative leaders at all levels. Watch the video abstract below. Then check out the piece.

Abstract
Innovation is the creative process of design, development and implementation of new products, processes or services to improve efficiency, effectiveness, or to build a differentiator for sustainable competitive advantage. Innovation insists on disrupting the market, industry, and organization, spawning change and disturbing the status quo. Innovation requires a strategic approach of thinking and planning throughout the organization, facilitated by strategic leaders and embraced within the ecosystem of stakeholders. A cursory glance across the Internet for “innovation organization” provides the reader tens of millions of possible links to companies promoting their claim to being “innovative.” Gaining insight on innovation in an organization requires in-depth investigation into the perceptions of the people and underlying frameworks of the organization. This article is a qualitative research study with three director-level learning leaders who embrace strategy in an innovation-promoting organization. The study explores essential strategic components, including: 1) vision-sharing, 2) diversity, 3) knowledge management, 4) innovation programs, and 5) communication to determine if and how these leaders embrace strategic thinking, strategic planning, and socio-technical systems to foster an innovative culture.

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by david on January 9th, 2012 10 Comments

Creative Leaders and Playing Well With Others

I’ve been doing a lot of research on organizational creativity lately. One of the lessons I have encountered again and again is that, in order for creativity to flourish, individuals have to be willing to take risks and willing to fail.

Creativity, in an organizational context, is often defined based on the outcomes novelty and utility – both of which require judgment (Amabile, 1996). That judgment process involves taking the risk that their work will not well received. Dewett (2006) notes that those involved in creative efforts are usually mindful that their work may or may not be judged as creative. Therefore, Dewett concluded, willingness to take risks becomes a necessary antecedent to innovation and creativity. Willingness to take risk is defined as the “willingness to take calculated risks within the scope of one’s job in an effort to produce positive job-related outcomes such that one is open to potential failure as a result” (p. 260).

The role of leaders in all of this is to encourage individual to take risks and to play well with others when making judgments. Leaders can do this through communication, giving speeches and constantly encouraging people to experiment. However, a far more effective method may well be to shape the culture. In an overall culture where the negative impact of judgment is reduced and individual’s willingness to take risks is increase, a culture of creative people should naturally develop.

What are you doing to enhance the culture of creativity in your organization?

Amabile, T.M. (1996). Creativity in context. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Dewett, T. (2006). Exploring the role of risk in employee creativity. Journal of Creative Behavior, 40(1), 27-45.

David Burkus is the editor of LeaderLab. He speaks, consults and serves on the faculty of management at Oral Roberts University’s College of Business.

by david on January 6th, 2012 10 Comments

12 Reads for 2012

The turn of the New Year seems like the perfect breeding ground for lists. From “Best of [last year]” to “Top Trends for [new year]” these lists seem to pop up everywhere. And why not? The new year is a great time to reflect and set goals to best leverage the clean slate we all share. In that spirit, we’ve compiled 12 books we feel every leader or aspiring leader should commit to read, or re-read in 2012.

The Progress Principle by Teresa Amabile and Steve Kramer. A fantastic case for a better management perspective, mainly that little things like progress can affect big things like profitability.

Influence by Robert Cialdini. This is the classic text on how to persuade others and resist persuasion yourself based on solid research into psychology.

Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths and Total Nonsense by Bob Sutton and Jeffrey Pfeffer. Perhaps the most under-rated book on evidence-based management. The title is easy to forget but the content inside is not.

Switch by Chip and Dan Heath. Leaders are usually called to bring change or movement to an organization. The Heath Brothers lay down well-researched but entertaining instruction on how to change things when change is hard.

Great by Choice by Jim Collins and Morten Hansen. Jim Collins much anticipated new release. Collins’ research methods may be criticized by academic scholars, but his insights give engaging analysis into how companies succeed in tough times.

Creative People Must Be Stopped by David Owens. Perhaps 2011’s greatest text on organizational creativity and innovation. Owens outlines the six types of constraints innovators face and how to remove them in your organization.

Adapt by Tim Harford. There are a lot of books on the value of failure. However, Tim Harford’s is perhaps the best researched. Through engaging stories and solid analysis, Harford outlines why success seems to always start with failure.

Drive by Dan Pink. The corporate world owes Daniel Pink a debt of gratitude. Drive became a classic read in record time by explaining the implications of motivational in a readable, applicable manner.

The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner. The single must-read book on leadership. Do not let 2012 pass without reading this book.

Good Strategy, Bad Strategy by Richard Rummelt. While strategy seems to be complex and mysterious, it can actually be simple. Rummelt explains what makes a good strategy and how to create one.

Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. The only psychologist to win the Nobel Prize in Economics provides a stimulating perspective of the decision making process and the rational model of judgment.

The Portable Guide to Leading Organization by David Burkus. Yes, this is shameless self-promotion. Our first release from LeaderLab gives you an outline of the significant research in leadership, management and organizational behavior while also giving you the warm feeling of supporting the site you love.

by david on January 4th, 2012 Comments Off

0301 | Robert Hurley

Dr. Hurley is a Professor at Fordham University and President of Hurley Associates. Dr. Hurley consults with organizations on leadership development, top team development, coaching, managing transformational change and developing and implementing strategies to maximize customer value. He has published over 30 articles or book chapters. His work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, California Management Review, and Harvard Business Review. He is the author of the new book The Decision to Trust.

In this episode, we talk to Dr. Hurley about the importance of trust, how the decision to trust is made and how leaders can become more trustworthy.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

by john on January 2nd, 2012 Comments Off

A Manifesto’s Unbridled Power

Manifestos ignite people into action. The best manifestos are so emotionally charged that their catalytic influence can endure for centuries. The Ten Commandments and the Declaration of Independence are good examples. As recently as fifty years ago, an emotional speech delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial established a clear and compelling purpose for American Civil Rights. Today, MLK’s I Have a Dream is arguably the most inspiring manifesto of the 20^th Century.

Though manifestos are best known for political movements, the ideals and intent of such potent texts can also move people to excel on behalf of the organizations that employ them. Apple is a very good example.Tim Cook stated the Apple Way six months before Steve Jobs passed away. Cook’s declaration left employees and investors believing that Apple could go on without Steve Jobs. Read it and you’ll understand why. Cook said,

We’re on the face of the earth to make great products.
We’re constantly focusing on innovating.
We believe we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution.
We believe in saying no to thousands of projects so we can focus on the few that are meaningful to us.
We believe in deep collaboration and cross pollination in order to innovate in a way others cannot.
We don’t settle for anything other than excellence in any group in the company, and we have the self-honesty to admit when we’re wrong and the courage to change.
Regardless of who is in what job, those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well.

Crafting a company manifesto is no easy task. For the statement to be effective it must:

1. State a Compelling Purpose. Apple’s is all about existing to make awesome products and operating under deep emotional principles.

2. Capture Core Values. Apple’s Manifesto is loaded with core values – admitting error, simplifying, collaborating, innovating, demanding excellence.

3. Tell the Truth. Mission Statements are full of illusionary and distant visions. Great manifestos instantly strike the emotions when they are true.

4. Link Business Life to Personal Life. The Apple Manifesto does not touch on this. It likely doesn’t have to, because unlike most industries, tech life and home life is intertwined – certainly the case at Apple.

5. Be Inclusive. The manifesto must touch (and move) everybody. I don’t know if Disney, Nike, Cirque du Soleil, or the New England Patriots have a manifesto. But they sure as hell act like they do.

6. Differentiate. There is nothing more powerful than differentiation in a competitive arena. That goes for business and sports. Even war.

Unlike the stereotypical corporate mission or the vision statement, a manifesto tells everyone who you are, what you believe in and why you are prepared to invest yourself in the cause. As for a simple manifesto on this thing we call life, I suggest you take a moment to breathe it all in and love it all out.

John Bell is a strategy consultant and former CEO of Jacobs Suchard (Kraft, Nabob). He is a contributor to Fortune magazine and a regular blogger at CEO Afterlife.

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Leading From the Middle

Creative Leaders and Playing Well With Others

12 Reads for 2012

0301 | Robert Hurley

A Manifesto’s Unbridled Power

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