“Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The American Dream may mean something different to each of us. At its best, it affords each American the freedom and opportunity to pursue happiness according to one’s own priorities. At its worst, the American… [Read More]
It’s Time to Eliminate Bureaucracies
Bloated bureaucracies crush aspirations, stifle creativity, suppress ingenuity, and slow down responsiveness. Unfortunately, once bureaucracy develops, it is as difficult to control in business as crabgrass on a suburban lawn. Bureaucracies cause people to thirst for power, value personal ambition over team gain, and put paperwork before people. In bureaucracies, employees “don’t matter” because they… [Read More]
Are Role Models Becoming Extinct?
When we were growing up, our teachers saluted great individuals who changed the course of history; during dinnertime, our parents lovingly recalled their idols; and of course, we had our own personal heroes who walked on water. They were wonderful role models. Martin Luther King, Princess Diana, Leonard Bernstein, Walter Cronkite, Colin Powell, Helen Keller,… [Read More]
Are You Talking to Yourself?
Today and in the years to come, organizations will have to focus on winning employees back; building trust, respect, and teamwork between people; being receptive to and then acting on the best ideas; and once again instilling employees with pride in and commitment to the organization. Internal communication will be a major force in achieving… [Read More]
It’s Time for a New Style of Leadership
It’s time for a new style of leadership. Today’s employees wants to work for an organization that they can feel proud of: an organization that has values and viewpoints compatible with their own; an organization that is oriented toward the long haul, working toward the prevention of ills, not just curing the symptoms; an organization… [Read More]
Attention Leaders: We Need to Talk
To succeed in today’s competitive marketplace, organizations must give internal communication the priority that it deserves. They must view it as an avenue to release the creative genius of an organization, not as a bothersome chore. After all, communication acts as a powerful agent of change, a source of continuous improvement, and a catalyst for… [Read More]
Bureaucracy: Enough with the Paperwork Already
Enough with the paperwork. Bloated bureaucracies stifle creativity, suppress ingenuity, slow down responsiveness, and crush aspirations. In organizations that are heavily bureaucratic, procedures are designed to meet internal requirements rather than the needs of the customer; politics—who said what to whom, who is gaining power, and who gets the credit, who the blame—overshadows everything, from… [Read More]
The Costs of Poor Management
What are the costs of poor management? Plantation managers––now as in the days of the Old South––view people as disposable objects. To the plantation manager, there is nothing wrong with stealing talented people from well-managed companies rather than investing, nurturing, and training the company’s own employees. According to an article in Manage, it is not… [Read More]