Being a CEO is first, middle, and last about leadership. Leadership is not primarily about control or power (although you’ll have both, and you’ll have to make the best decisions you can about how to use each at different times). True leadership is the ability … Read more
Once you’ve identified your culture (hopefully with three words that are easy to communicate), you need to reinforce it on a regular basis. You can use your three words to go back and fine tune the final version of your mission, vision, and values statements. … Read more
Though more and more initial contact occurs online, often the first human interaction you have with your customers is through the people who answer your phones. It’s the rare business that never has phone contact with customers, so pay attention to this aspect of your … Read more
If you’re just starting a company, it’s much easier to communicate your intentional culture to each new prospective recruit or employee. You can make it part of your employee handbook and orientation, and have it posted around the office in visible places. But, more than … Read more
Patrick Lencioni, author of several books on culture and teams, describes a fictional company in his book The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: A Leadership Fable. In this company, the owners have described their culture in three words: “Hungry, humble, and smart.” They decided … Read more
Why does culture matter? Whether it’s intentional or not, every company has a culture. You can walk through the door and feel it almost the instant you step in. What does the lobby look like? What’s on the walls? Is it warm or cool? Clean … Read more
We had a perfect example of values in action last week when a lone Senator stood up for his values. In this day and age of hyper-partisanship, it’s very hard to hear over the din, but Senator Mitt Romney made an impassioned speech to a … Read more
Right before the holidays began, Warren Buffet explained one of his deeply held business rules. He only does deals and works with those he likes. Period. This is true values alignment and without it, things usually take a bad turn quickly. As he says, he … Read more
A year ago, this week, I published my book, The Great Culture [Dis]Connect. I wrote it because we hear so much about the importance of culture these days and I know it can be overwhelming to know where to start, let alone really calculate “why” … Read more
David Brooks of the New York Times wrote a great piece about loyalty comparing two philosophers, William James, and Josiah Royce. You may not have heard of Josiah Royce? He believed that to have a functioning society, we need unity, not division, and above all, … Read more