The Eight-Word Mission Statement; Harvard Business Review, 10/22/10

Eric Hellweg, Harvard Business Review; The Eight-Word Mission Statement:

"...Starr insists that companies he funds can express their mission statement in under eight words. They also must follow this format: "Verb, target, outcome." Some examples: "Save endangered species from extinction" and "Improve African children's health.""

http://blogs.hbr.org/hbr/hbreditors/2010/10/the_eight-word_mission_stateme.html

Defend Your Research: People Often Trust Eloquence More Than Honesty; Harvard Business Review, November 2010

Todd Rogers and Michael I. Norton, Harvard Business Review; Defend Your Research: People Often Trust Eloquence More Than Honesty:

"The study: Todd Rogers and Michael Norton showed subjects different videos of a political debate. In the first, one of the candidates answered the question asked. In the second, he dodged it by answering a similar question. In the third, he dodged it by answering a completely different one. When the candidate answered a similar question, subjects failed to notice the switch. They also liked him better if he answered a similar question well than if he answered the actual one less eloquently."

http://hbr.org/2010/11/defend-your-research-people-often-trust-eloquence-more-than-honesty/ar/1

[Free Online Conference] December 1 - 2, 2010, free online conference sponsored by WebJunction: Serving the 21st Century Patron

December 1 - 2, 2010, free online conference sponsored by WebJunction: Serving the 21st Century Patron:

[Sample Session] "21 Ideas for 21st-Century Libraries
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http://www.webjunction.org/conferences/-/articles/content/106453434

Bouncing Back from a Negative 360-Degree Review; Harvard Business Review, 7/29/10

Amy Gallo, Harvard Business Review; Bouncing Back from a Negative 360-Degree Review:

"Unlike traditional reviews and other types of feedback, 360-degree reviews include input from a comprehensive set of people: peers, managers, direct reports, and sometimes customers. One of the most valuable aspects of this tool is that the opinions are voiced anonymously, which encourages a higher level of honesty than you might normally get. However, the truth is not always pretty, and receiving a negative 360-degree review can be upsetting, especially when the opinions are echoed at many levels. But with the right attitude, you can still create a positive experience. How you handle a bad 360-degree review is far more important than the content of the review itself."

http://blogs.hbr.org/hmu/2010/07/bouncing-back-from-a-negative.html

What "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Really Costs; Harvard Business Review, 10/8/10

Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Karen Sumberg, and Lauren Leader-Chivee, Harvard Business Review; What "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Really Costs:

"Smart companies recognize that an inclusive workplace is good for business. Deloitte's GLOBE (Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Employees) Business Resource Group, for example, provides a forum for networking, professional development, recruiting and building relationships with local communities. Ernst & Young's Inclusive Leadership Program pairs high-potential performers with executive board members for formal mentoring and career development. It originally targeted women and minorities, but last year the program was expanded to include LGBT partners and principals. Cisco Systems covers the tax on imputed income that LGBT employees pay when they extend their health insurance to cover their partners. Pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim lobbies Congress in support of anti-discrimination acts.

Such policies do more than foster engagement and boost productivity. They are also strong recruitment tools. "In today's marketplace, Gen X and especially Gen Y, irrespective of their sexual orientation, are looking for companies that are progressive," says Nancy DiDia, Chief Diversity Officer of Boehringer Ingelheim. "Whenever we go to career fairs or do recruiting events on college campuses, the two areas we get questioned on are: How socially responsible is your company? What's your position on LGBT policies?""

http://blogs.hbr.org/hbr/hewlett/2010/10/what_dont_ask_dont_tell_really.html

The Gap Logo Debacle: A Half-Brained Mistake; Harvard Business Review, 10/8/10

Umair Haque, Harvard Business Review; The Gap Logo Debacle: A Half-Brained Mistake:

"So argue with me if you like, bring the full arsenal of overquantified pseudomathetical Wall Street analyses to the table if you want — but I'd gently suggest: most companies don't take design seriously, but they damn well should. What standing in their way? Yesterday's tired, increasingly stale assumptions that what really matters in hard-nosed, tough-as-nails business is the left-brained stuff: negotiation, calculation, and, to it bluntly, intimidation. Hence, cutting-edge design as a nice-to-have, not a can't-live-without."

http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2010/10/the_gaps_logo_debacle_a.html

Management Tip of the Day: 3 questions before seeking a new job; Harvard Business Review via Reuters, 10/8/10

John Baldoni, Harvard Business Review via Reuters; Management Tip of the Day: 3 questions before seeking a new job:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66T18I20101008?type=smallBusinessNews

Corner Office, Interview with Howard Schultz, chairman, president and C.E.O. of Starbucks; New York Times, 10/10/10

Adam Bryant, Corner Office, New York Times; Interview with Howard Schultz, chairman, president and C.E.O. of Starbucks: Good C.E.O.’s Are Insecure (and Know It):

"Q. How do you hire? What are you looking for in, say, somebody who would be a direct report?

A. I want big thinkers. I want people who are going to be entrepreneurial. I want people who are going to have important things to say and the courage to say them. I want people to challenge the status quo, but I also say something to everyone I hire, and that is: “You don’t have to come in here and try to hit a home run, and let me tell you why. You’re coming in here because I and many others believe very strongly in who you are and what you can bring to the company. So you don’t have to come in here and prove something right away.”

People who succeed at Starbucks are going to demonstrate a healthy level of respect and understanding of the culture of the company and the people who have come before them. There have been great people who have come into the company who haven’t succeeded because they have not embraced the culture and values of the company, so you need to do that.

I think the first 30, 60 days after a new person arrives at Starbucks is the most critical stage. So I will spend more time with that individual on the front end than I probably will that whole year, ensuring that they understand the deep level of sensitivity around the heritage and tradition of the company.

Q. A lot of the qualities you’ve mentioned are intangibles. How do you find out if a job candidate has them?

A. I think one of my strengths is that I have a very good antenna about people. I’ll ask a few things that are probably different from a traditional interview. First off, I want to know what you’re reading and then I’ll ask you why. Tell me what work-life balance means to you. I would want to know specifically their level of understanding about our company and Starbucks culture, and I’ll see early on who’s faking it and who’s not."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/business/10corner.html?scp=2&sq=corner%20office&st=cse

How to Identify Your Disruptive Skills; Harvard Business Review, 10/4/10

Whitney Johnson, Harvard Business Review; How to Identify Your Disruptive Skills:

"In my previous post, I talked about the importance of re-evaluating your portfolio of skills and leading with those that are unique — your disruptive skills. These may be capacities that are so innate you may not even consciously recognize them, or skills you have honed over years of practice. These are the skills that can help you carve out a disruptive niche — consequently upping your value in the marketplace."

http://blogs.hbr.org/johnson/2010/10/how-to-identify-your-disruptiv.html

Five Ways to Sharpen Your Communication Skills; Harvard Business Review, 4/30/09

John Baldoni, Harvard Business Review; Five Ways to Sharpen Your Communication Skills:

""Communication and interpersonal skills remain at the top of the list of what matters most to recruiters." That's according to the most recent Harris Interactive/Wall Street Journal business school survey published in September 2007.

So why do we ignore the relevance of communication until it becomes an issue? One reason may be because we don't take the time to quantify what we mean by it."

http://blogs.hbr.org/baldoni/2009/04/five_things_leaders_can_do_to.html

Effective Communication Begins with a First Impression; Harvard Business Review, 8/17/10

JD Schramm, Harvard Business Review; Effective Communication Begins with a First Impression:

"In this era of double-digit unemployment, many of us are either job-hunting or helping friends and colleagues who are searching for employment. After crafting a cover letter, set it aside, do something else as a distraction, and then return to it with fresh eyes. Imagine you are the hiring manager and this has landed on your desk or in your in-box. Does the letter capture your attention from the very first moment?...

While we may only see scores of business letters in a year, we see thousands of emails. There, the first impression is obvious: the subject line...

The key to writing a powerful subject line is to do it last, right before you hit send, not before you've written the email."

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/08/effective_communciation_begins.html

New BP CEO's Tough Communication Tasks Ahead; Harvard Business Review, 9/30/10

Stefan Stern, Harvard Business Review; New BP CEO's Tough Communication Tasks Ahead:

"Nearly six months on from the explosion which led to disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, what can we say for certain about Tony Hayward's (and BP's) mistakes?

One over-used word sums up their problems: communication."

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/09/new_bp_ceos_tough_communicatio.html

How to Overcome Communication Fears; Harvard Business Review, 9/30/10

JD Schramm, Harvard Business Review; How to Overcome Communication Fears:

"Fear can be a good thing, if it doesn't paralyze us completely from taking action. Fear reminds us of our humanity, keeps us from stepping in front of moving cars, and can activate "fight or flight" reactions so we are not trapped in threatening situations. As communicators, however, we have to become aware of fears that may prevent us from even trying to connect with others in speech or writing."

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/09/how_to_overcome_communication.html

Corner Office, Interview with Paul Maritz, president and C.E.O. of the software firm VMware; New York Times, 10/3/10

Adam Bryant, Corner Office, New York Times; Interview with Paul Maritz, president and C.E.O. of the software firm VMware: Does Your Team Have the Four Essential Types?:

"Q. What are some other leadership lessons?

A. One of the things I’ve learned over the years is that there is no such thing as a perfect leader. If you look at successful groups, inevitably there’s an amalgam of personalities that really enable the group to function at a high level.

Q. And what are they?

A. At the risk of oversimplifying, I think that in any great leadership team, you find at least four personalities, and you never find all four of those personalities in a single person.

You need to have somebody who is a strategist or visionary, who sets the goals for where the organization needs to go.

You need to have somebody who is the classic manager — somebody who takes care of the organization, in terms of making sure that everybody knows what they need to do and making sure that tasks are broken up into manageable actions and how they’re going to be measured.

You need a champion for the customer, because you are trying to translate your product into something that customers are going to pay for. So it’s important to have somebody who empathizes and understands how customers will see it. I’ve seen many endeavors fail because people weren’t able to connect the strategy to the way the customers would see the issue.

Then, lastly, you need the enforcer. You need somebody who says: “We’ve stared at this issue long enough. We’re not going to stare at it anymore. We’re going to do something about it. We’re going to make a decision. We’re going to deal with whatever conflict we have.”

You very rarely find more than two of those personalities in one person. I’ve never seen it. And really great teams are where you have a group of people who provide those functions and who respect each other and, equally importantly, both know who they are and who they are not. Often, I’ve seen people get into trouble when they think they’re the strategist and they’re not, or they think they’re the decision maker and they’re not."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/business/03corner.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=corner%20office&st=cse