Zappos Gives Job Titles the Boot; Reuters, 12/30/13

Reuters; Zappos Gives Job Titles the Boot: "Like most companies, Zappos has a vernacular all its own. And the online shoe and apparel retailer will soon have a corporate structure to match its distinctive vocabulary. The Amazon-owned company, which refers to its executives as "monkeys" and executive assistants as "Time Ninjas," will likely be doing away with job titles altogether over the course of the next year as it transitions from a hierarchy to a "Holacracy." Developed by serial entrepreneur Brian Robertson, a Holacracy is a system of governance that takes things like managers, job titles and bureaucratic red tape out of the equation, distributing leadership and power evenly across an organization. Instead of a standard hierarchy, companies in a Holacracy are comprised of different "circles" and employees can have any range of roles and responsibilities within those circles, according to a report in Quartz."

Leadership books to watch for in 2014; Washington Post, 12/26/13

Jena McGregor, Washington Post; Leadership books to watch for in 2014: "WITH THE HOLIDAY CRAZINESS OVER, there’s finally free time in the schedule to read again. But with a crowded shelf of warmed-over management advice and self-help guides, it’s hard to know what’s actually worth the time. Here, we scanned publishers’ lists for the books coming out in early 2014 that are worth checking out. Quick and Nimble, by Adam Bryant (Jan. 7) Bryant writes the Corner Office column for the New York Times, where he interviews CEOs every week for their insights about managing people and leading companies. Their wisdom on building innovative cultures is collected here. Far too many leadership books rely on the knowledge of consultants or on years-old stories to build their case; this book gets its ideas from the people actually running companies today... What Works for Women at Work, by Joan C. Williams and Rachel Dempsey (Feb. 4) Called a “guide for mastering office politics as a woman,” Williams’ and Dempsey’s book combines years of research with interviews with 127 successful women about the specific challenges women face in the workplace and how to combat them. Williams, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of Law, is one of the foremost researchers dealing with issues of gender discrimination at work. Yet by the looks of it, this book isn’t merely an analysis of the unfairness women face, but of strategies to help them succeed in spite of it."

7 Things You Should Expect From Your Leaders In 2014; Forbes, 12/27/13

Glenn Llopis, Forbes; 7 Things You Should Expect From Your Leaders In 2014: "Employees expect a lot from their leaders and when they don’t get what they expect they begin to lose trust and respect for their leader. As the workplace continues to transition from a knowledge to a wisdom-based environment, the requirements for great leadership are changing. For example, leaders must have greater emotional intelligence so they can connect more intuitively with their employees. They must become better listeners, opportunity enablers and exceptional coaches. Because employees are in search for high-trust relationships, leaders must be more instinctually connected with their employees and this requires them to be more self-aware about how their overall behavior and the example they set impacts the performance of others. It’s easy for leaders to get lost in the spotlight of their leadership roles and lose sight of the increased performance demands and political pressures that go with the responsibility. Leadership is all about people and if leaders begin to lose touch with those they lead – they will become disconnected with the requirements of the business and the marketplace in which they compete. In the process, they begin to lose their leadership momentum and weaken their personal brand identity... Great leadership requires an understanding of oneself before you can effectively comprehend, appreciate and leverage the unique skill-sets and competencies of others. Unfortunately, many people throughout their careers don’t have enough leaders who can best identify and enable their full potential. This is why so many employees feel stuck and experience regret in their careers. They find themselves feeling trapped at work with leaders that only care about themselves – or who have never taken the time to get to know them well enough to guide their career growth and potential. Leadership is a serious responsibility and if you don’t have the executive presence and other intangibles to manage the spotlight, or the time to understand the people that you serve and the ability to balance and prioritize multiple agendas, your tenure will be short-lived. As you head into the new year, you should have great expectations for your workplace leaders and play a more active role in holding them accountable to step-up their game."

The High Price Of Aloof Leadership; Forbes, 12/27/13

Jack Zenger, Forbes; The High Price Of Aloof Leadership: "There’s a common belief about leaders’ necessity to maintain a distance between themselves and the rest of the organization. The idea traces back to the military, where an officer might be called upon to send subordinates into grave danger; and the assumption was that being too psychologically close could make that responsibility extremely difficult. From data we’ve collected from more than 50,000 leaders and roughly a quarter million of their subordinates, we’ve seen a very clear pattern. Leaders with warm, close relationships with their subordinates are consistently seen in a much more positive light by all of their colleagues. Where we’ve been able to match that behavior with business outcomes, they are also the consistent winners. They produce high customer satisfaction, superior employee commitment and engagement, higher sales revenue and ultimately higher profits for their organization... Why does that happen? One way to view this phenomenon is the large psychological distance that had been created between the top executives and the staff... It is virtually a “Wizard of Oz” phenomenon in which the lack of easy interaction creates images of the senior leaders being unapproachable and frightening and causes senior people to be uncomfortable with those at lower levels of the organization... The leaders who roll up their sleeves and mix with their people are significantly better leaders. Employees have a great deal of discretionary effort that they can tap or can hold in reserve. There’s something about the leader with sleeves rolled up that brings sanity and comfort to the organization and tends to put things back into perspective. Indra Nooyi, Chairwoman of Pepsico, was recently asked about her predictions regarding corporate leaders of the future. Her conclusions in a nutshell, were this: great leaders will become “more human, less distance, and more accessible to others.”"

The Ideas that Shaped Management in 2013; Harvard Business Review, 12/24/13

Katherine Bell, Harvard Business Review; The Ideas that Shaped Management in 2013: "It’s always tempting at this time of year to try to make a definitive list of the best ideas from the past 12 months. But then we end up debating what counts as best — important? useful? original? all three? — and compiling extremely long lists, struggling to shorten them, and over-thinking it all, when the point should just be to gather some really good reading for you for any free time you happen to find over the holiday. So this year, instead, we thought about the pieces that most surprised us or provoked us to think differently about an intractable problem or perennial question in management, we reviewed the whole year of data to remind ourselves what our readers found most compelling, and we looked for patterns in the subjects our authors raised most frequently and independently of our editorial urging. The result, I think, is a set of ideas that together are important, useful, and original, and that feel like quite an accurate account of the management concerns many of us shared in 2013. Here’s the list. See what you think... 6. Being nice makes you a better leader and your company more profitable – new research proves it. Amy Cuddy, Matthew Kohut, and John Neffinger answered Machiavelli’s question: is it better to be loved or feared? The best way to influence and lead others, they say, is to begin with warmth. And that’s not all: Generous behavior is associated with higher unit profitability, productivity, efficiency, and customer satisfaction, along with lower costs and turnover rates."

The 10 worst leadership moments of 2013; Washington Post, 12/23/13

Jena McGregor, Washington Post; The 10 worst leadership moments of 2013: "Could 2013 have been any worse for President Obama? The president’s fifth year in office was filled with crisis after crisis. Some of them, such as the gridlock in Congress or the I.R.S. scandal, were not entirely under his control. But far too many were the result of mismanagement (Healthcare.gov), misspeaking (the red line on Syria) or misleading (“if you like your plan, you can keep it“). These blunders were enough to prompt some to call 2013 the president’s “lost year“—one that could have lasting damage on his legacy. But the White House wasn’t the only one this year to provide notable examples of leadership fumbles or management missteps. From Canada to Italy, Washington to San Diego, there were plenty of places where we expected much more from people in power. Here, in no particular order, are my picks for the worst leadership moments of 2013."

When You Criticize Someone, You Make It Harder for that Person to Change; Harvard Business Review, 12/19/13

Daniel Goleman, Harvard Business Review; When You Criticize Someone, You Make It Harder for that Person to Change: "“If everything worked out perfectly in your life, what would you be doing in ten years?”...That question about your perfect life in ten years comes from Richard Boyatzis, a professor at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western, and an old friend and colleague. His recent research on the best approach to coaching has used brain imaging to analyze how coaching affects the brain differently when you focus on dreams instead of failings. These findings have great implications for how to best help someone – or yourself — improve... Of course a manager needs to help people face what’s not working. As Boyatzis put it, “You need the negative focus to survive, but a positive one to thrive. You need both, but in the right ratio.”... Managers and coaches can keep this in mind. Boyatzis makes the case that understanding a person’s dreams can open a conversation about what it would take to fulfill those hopes. And that can lead to concrete learning goals. Often those goals are improving capacities like conscientiousness, listening, collaboration and the like – which can yield better performance... Bottom line: don’t focus on only on weaknesses, but on hopes and dreams. It’s what our brains are wired to do."

Roundup: NYPL Central Library Plan Gains City, State Nod; Stacks Demolition On Hold; Library Journal, 12/18/13

Gary Price, Library Journal; Roundup: NYPL Central Library Plan Gains City, State Nod; Stacks Demolition On Hold: "Two New York Public Library renovation (aka Central Library Plan) stories in this roundup. First, city and state reviews of the project have cleared it to move forward if conditions are met."

This Is What It Looks Like When a Google Manager Gets Feedback; Harvard Business Review, 12/4/13

David A. Garvin, Harvard Business Review; This Is What It Looks Like When a Google Manager Gets Feedback: "The thing is, many of those who make the cut are engineers, who typically view management as a distraction from “real” work, not as a useful activity. And that presents a challenge: If your highly skilled, handpicked hires don’t value management in the traditional sense, how can you run the place effectively? How do you turn doubters into believers, persuading them to spend time managing others? By applying the same analytical rigor and tools that you used to hire them in the first place. For Google, that has meant using its own data to prove the importance of management, as well as surveying employees and conducting double-blind interviews to identify key behaviors of effective managers — and then providing individuals with concrete, useful feedback in those areas."

Using Data to Shape a Library’s Direction | Data-Driven Academic Libraries; Library Journal, 12/5/13

Matt Ennis, Library Journal; Using Data to Shape a Library’s Direction | Data-Driven Academic Libraries: "Access to good data on key metrics such as circulation and student visits always helps make a better case for the important role libraries play on campus. But using data proactively to address emerging trends and challenges is “what it really means to be a data-driven organization” said Sarah Tudesco, Assessment Librarian, Yale University, during yesterday’s “What Is a Data-Driven Academic Library?” webcast. The webcast was the first of a free, three-part LJ series developed partnership with Electronic Resources and Libraries (ER&L) and sponsored by ProQuest, Springer, and Innovative Interfaces. The series is moderated by Bonnie Tijerina, Head of E-Resources and Serials for Harvard Library, and founder of ER&L. Tudesco suggested a five-part process for libraries interested in making data central to strategic decision making: (1) identify questions, (2) develop a plan to collect the necessary data to answer those questions, (3) collect data, (4) analyze the data, and (5) generate actionable recommendations... The three-part webcast series will continue next Wednesday, December 11 with The Evolution of Usage and Impact: Analyzing and Benchmarking Use..[and the] series will conclude on December 18 with Measuring Impact: Redefining Scholarly Value Through New Data."

CMU study finds employer discrimination via social media sites; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 11/27/13

Kim Lyons, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; CMU study finds employer discrimination via social media sites: "Employers trying to screen a job candidate based on Facebook or Twitter or even LinkedIn run the risk of discovering information they're not allowed to have. And a new study suggests that practice could lead to hiring discrimination. Employers acknowledge using social networking sites to find potentially unprofessional behaviors in job candidates, according to a new study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers Christina Fong and Alessandro Acquisti... And, if employers or would-be employers think their extra online research is off the record, they could be in for a rude surprise, Mr. Murphy said. "Computers don't forget," he said. "There's almost always evidence.""

How to Start Thinking Like a Data Scientist; Harvard Business Review, 11/29/13

Thomas C. Redman, Harvard Business Review; How to Start Thinking Like a Data Scientist: "Slowly but steadily, data are forcing their way into every nook and cranny of every industry, company, and job. Managers who aren’t data savvy, who can’t conduct basic analyses, interpret more complex ones, and interact with data scientists are already at a disadvantage. Companies without a large and growing cadre of data-savvy managers are similarly disadvantaged. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a data scientist or a Bayesian statistician to tease useful insights from data. This post explores an exercise I’ve used for 20 years to help those with an open mind (and a pencil, paper, and calculator) get started. One post won’t make you data savvy, but it will help you become data literate, open your eyes to the millions of small data opportunities, and enable you work a bit more effectively with data scientists, analytics, and all things quantitative."

3 Diversity Strategies To Help Companies Thrive; Forbes, 12/4/13

Richard Levychin, Forbes; 3 Diversity Strategies To Help Companies Thrive: "Diversity is one of the core growth principals of entrepreneurship with the concept of ROI-Based Diversity following a simple proposition: the more audiences you market your services or products to, the more opportunities you create to generate revenue. Accordingly, the more diverse potential customers that you have in your pipeline, the more opportunities you have to increase your revenue... In the most basic of terms, Diversity = Revenue. Here’s how to implement it in your company: 1. Expand Your Scope... 2. Mirror your Desired Demographic... 3. Communicate Your Diversity Plan"

The Focused Leader; Harvard Business Review Magazine, December 2013

Daniel Goleman, Harvard Business Review Magazine; The Focused Leader: "A primary task of leadership is to direct attention.To do so, leaders must learn to focus their own attention. When we speak about being focused, we commonly mean thinking about one thing while filtering out distractions. But a wealth of recent research in neuroscience shows that we focus in many ways, for different purposes, drawing on different neural pathways—some of which work in concert, while others tend to stand in opposition. Grouping these modes of attention into three broad buckets—focusing on yourself, focusing on others, and focusing on the wider world—sheds new light on the practice of many essential leadership skills. Focusing inward and focusing constructively on others helps leaders cultivate the primary elements of emotional intelligence. A fuller understanding of how they focus on the wider world can improve their ability to devise strategy, innovate, and manage organizations. Every leader needs to cultivate this triad of awareness, in abundance and in the proper balance, because a failure to focus inward leaves you rudderless, a failure to focus on others renders you clueless, and a failure to focus outward may leave you blindsided."

Pittsburgh Center Honoring Playwright Finds Itself Short on Visitors and Donors; New York Times, 11/23/13

Trip Gabriel, New York Times; Pittsburgh Center Honoring Playwright Finds Itself Short on Visitors and Donors: "Named for the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who found a street-savvy poetry in the lives of poor Pittsburgh blacks, the culture center’s plight has been especially painful for those who had hoped it would enshrine the music, art and literature of the urban world he knew. Instead, it appears to be a victim of mismanagement by its senior staff and board of directors, who borrowed to build a grand palace of culture, but failed to find a wide enough audience and donor base in the hometown of Wilson, whose plays are mostly set in the Hill District just blocks away... Mark Clayton Southers, a former director of its theater program, said the Wilson center struggled to find an audience among the people Wilson portrayed: working-class blacks, many of whom feel unwelcome downtown with its skyscrapers and largely white-owned businesses, he added. “You can’t build it and they will come,” Mr. Southers said. “Not when you’re trying to work with a community that is not traditional theatergoers or cultural consumers.”... Neither the founders nor a new board of directors that took over in 2010 could come up with a business plan to fund ambitious programs in dance, theater, jazz and art while making the $53,600 monthly loan payments."

After Forcing Rapid Change at U. of Wyoming, President Abruptly Resigns; Chronicle of Higher Education, 11/15/13

Lindsay Ellis, Chronicle of Higher Education; After Forcing Rapid Change at U. of Wyoming, President Abruptly Resigns: "In an interview last week, Mr. Sternberg said that he had not arrived on the campus expecting to change its personnel. Though he received advice from trustees and board members of the UW Foundation about the university's leadership, he said he had made his own decisions. The president also said in the interview that he was not surprised by the criticism of the pace of change at the university. "When someone comes in as a disruptive innovator, metaphorically, it's like an antibody attack," he said. "They attack objects not because they're harmful but because they're foreign. The result is predictable."... Ms. Persichitte, the former education dean, said she thought Mr. Sternberg had not fit into the institution's culture well. She said she hoped Mr. McGinity would move forward carefully, listening to the faculty and staff. "If he does that as we search for a new president," she said, "we have every opportunity to rebuild the leadership gap that now exists.""

Year in Architecture 2013: Something for Everyone [8 Photo Galleries]; Library Journal, 11/15/13

Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal; Year in Architecture 2013: Something for Everyone [8 Photo Galleries] : "This year’s listing of library building projects completed between July 1, 2012, and June 30, 2013, expands on the concept of all-purpose spaces to suit a variety of patrons and needs."

De Blasio as Manager: Delegating, Yet Keeping a Tight Leash; New York Times, 10/31/13

Michael M. Grynbaum and Kate Taylor, New York Times; De Blasio as Manager: Delegating, Yet Keeping a Tight Leash: "They have staked out positions on taxes and charter schools, pedestrian plazas and a ban on large sugary drinks. But the Democratic and Republican candidates to succeed Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg have rarely expounded on the biggest day-to-day challenge that awaits them in City Hall: managing a bureaucracy of 300,000 workers. The New York Times asked Bill de Blasio, the Democratic nominee, and Joseph J. Lhota, the Republican nominee, to explain their approaches to being a boss: making tough choices, recruiting a savvy staff and coping with the crises that inevitably confront the leader of the nation’s largest municipality. Mr. de Blasio spoke with the Times at Bar Toto in Park Slope, Brooklyn. An interview with Mr. Lhota was published in print on Thursday. This interview has been condensed and edited. "How would your management style be different from Mayor Bloomberg? Well, I absolutely oppose the 30,000-feet approach. What do you mean by that? It’s the cursory nature of it. To truly manage that place effectively and the agencies, you have to be, in my opinion, hands-on enough. I think Michael Bloomberg was too cold. To choose the good commissioner, then let them do their thing to the point of distraction, unfortunately led to some of the mistakes in crisis, like the snowstorm or Sandy. I think it led to some commissioners that alienated communities unnecessarily. I think it led to some bad policy decisions... Is there a mayoral model you admire? I think the Giuliani hyper-micromanagement model proved to be very disruptive to agencies and to their leaders. The La Guardia model is where I look in all things, which is a hands-on, very connected-to-the-grass-roots, very present, very communicative with the people. Choosing top-flight people, but also keeping some reins on them, and being able and willing to intervene as needed, I think that’s the right balance... Do you have a favorite management theorist? No."

Research: Cubicles Are the Absolute Worst; Harvard Business Review, 11/13/13

Sarah Green, Harvard Business Review; Research: Cubicles Are the Absolute Worst: "The worst part, according to the data, is that these office workers can’t control what they hear — or who hears them. Lack of sound privacy was far and away the most despised issue in the survey, with 60% of cubicle workers and half of all partitionless people indicating it as a frustration... Make everything modular. Let the collaboration flow. Not so fast. Previous research, cited by Kim and de Dear, has already shown that “the loss of productivity due to noise distraction… was doubled in open-plan offices compared to private offices, and the tasks requiring complex verbal process” — the most important tasks, you might argue — “were more likely to be disturbed than relatively simple or routine tasks.” In this paper, Kim and de Dear show that this loss of productivity is not offset by increased collaboration."

Lessons In Leadership: It's Not About You. (It's About Them); NPR, 11/11/13

Shankar Vedantam, NPR; Lessons In Leadership: It's Not About You. (It's About Them) : "Heifetz trained as a psychiatrist, and he describes his view of effective leadership with an analogy from medicine. "When a patient comes to a surgeon, the surgeon's default setting is to say, 'You've got a problem? I'll take the problem off your shoulders and I'll deliver back to you a solution.' In psychiatry, when a person comes to you with a problem, it's not your job actually to solve their problem. It's your job to develop their capacity to solve their own problem." Many intractable political issues, such as civil war, poverty or ethnic tension are complicated, and solving them may require a whole nation of people to change their mindset. As they approach these sorts of "nontechnical" problems, Heifetz says, leaders should think less like surgeons, and more like psychiatrists."

Harvard Business Review summary, "When You Feel Powerful You Talk Too Much, and Your Subordinates Perform Poorly", of forthcoming paper in Academy of Management Journal, 11/5/13

Andrew O'Connell, Harvard Business Review; When You Feel Powerful You Talk Too Much, and Your Subordinates Perform Poorly: [Harvard Business Review summary of paper, When Power Makes Others Speechless: The Negative Impact of Leader Power on Team Performance] "In a computer-based simulation of a Mount Everest expedition, teams whose leaders had been induced to feel powerful (“Think about a time when you had power over someone”) achieved just 59% of their goals, in comparison with 76% by teams whose leaders hadn’t been induced to feel powerful, according Leigh Plunkett Tost of the University of Michigan, Francesca Gino of Harvard, and Richard P. Larrick of Duke. A feeling of power prompts leaders to verbally dominate, which gives the impression that they are less open to others’ ideas; this perception diminishes team performance. Organizations might be able to minimize this effect by maintaining an egalitarian culture, reminding leaders of subordinates’ importance, and encouraging employees to question the legitimacy of leaders who dominate social interactions, the researchers say."

Libraries in the Time of MOOCs; Educause Review, 11/4/13

Curtis Kendrick and Irene Gashurov, Educause Review; Libraries in the Time of MOOCs: "At the City University of New York Curtis Kendrick is university dean for Libraries and Information Resources and Irene Gashurov is a communications writer and a trained librarian. A wave of disruptive technological changes has hit higher education, forcing us to rethink the way we teach, learn, and provide educational resources. For libraries, the growing reach and sheer numbers of massive open online courses (MOOCs) raise unprecedented challenges and opportunities. As we try to see our role within this new market, it might be worth reflecting on our readiness to operate in the increasingly complex online landscape. Soon, librarians might be asked to provide access to copyrighted, licensed electronic resources for MOOC students around the world. Will we be equipped with the technology to accommodate unprecedented numbers of students inside and outside the university? We will also have to deal with legal issues related to MOOCs, such as intellectual property rights, privacy issues, and state regulations. After exhausting the many ways of saying no to difficult change, perhaps we can find a way to work with all the stakeholders and help shape the rapidly changing MOOC model in concert with our own needs while we still can... Libraries should not miss out on a chance to get involved in the future of MOOCs on campus; as Michalko noted, "At the times that libraries were slow to help, slow to reconfigure their resources, and waited to see what might develop, they lost chances to renew their importance to their home institution." The MOOC frontier offers new opportunities for librarians to provide leadership and guidance in advising administration, faculty, and students about changes in higher education. But first, we must study and analyze the MOOCs landscape so that we can shape the conversation about MOOCs and their successors in a more purposeful and organized way."

Emerging Leader participants for Class of 2014 announced; ALA News, 11/6/13

Beatrice Calvin, ALA News; [Press Release] Emerging Leader participants for Class of 2014 announced: For Immediate Release Wed, 11/06/2013 Contact: Beatrice Calvin Program Officer Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment 280-4280 bcalvin@ala.org CHICAGO — The American Library Association (ALA) has selected 56 people to participate in its 2014 class of Emerging Leaders. The program is designed to enable library staff and information workers to participate in project planning workgroups; network with peers; gain an inside look into ALA structure and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity early in their careers. The program kicks off with a day-long session during the 2014 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia. Following the kickoff session, which includes orientation and training, the program will continue in an online learning and networking environment for six months, culminating with a poster session with the 2014 Emerging Leaders showcasing the results of their project planning work at the ALA 2014 Annual Conference in Las Vegas. Participants commit to taking part in all aspects of the program and may have an opportunity to serve on an ALA, division, chapter, round table or affiliate committee or workgroup upon completion of program. ALA Past-President, program facilitator and subcommittee Co-Chair, Maureen Sullivan, stated: “This very successful program has enabled a number of very talented new professionals to assume leadership positions in ALA at earlier career stage. These individuals have brought fresh ideas, new approaches and significant energy to the association. I welcome this next class and look forward to working with them.” Nearly 70 percent of this year’s participants have received sponsorships. The sponsors included ALA divisions, roundtables, state chapters, ALA affiliate groups and other organizations. Each sponsor commits to financial support of an Emerging Leader in order to help defray costs for attending the ALA Midwinter Meeting and the Annual Conference. Co-Chair of the Emerging Leaders subcommittee, Audra Caplan, said, “I am very pleased to welcome the 2014 class of Emerging Leaders. The success of past participants of the program attest to the value of the program. Many past participants are now in leadership positions in ALA and its Divisions and Roundtables. In addition many of the projects completed by past groups have been implemented successfully by the sponsoring organizations. I am gratified to know that the Emerging Leader program is stronger than ever." Read the complete list of 2014 Class of Emerging Leader Participants (PDF). (http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2013/11/emerging-leader-participants-class-2014-announced)

How the Redskins Could Ditch Their Name – But Keep Their Fans; Harvard Business Review, 11/4/13

Tim Halloran, Harvard Business Review; How the Redskins Could Ditch Their Name – But Keep Their Fans: "AdAge estimates that a rebrand could cost $15 million. According to Forbes, the organization is worth $1.7 billion. What Snyder, and the team name’s defenders, need to acknowledge – if they can peek up from their foxholes – is that over time, the controversy over the name will erode the brand’s value. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, originally a supporter of Snyder’s, has been careful to back down from a strong position of support. Influential sports journalists like Peter King and Christine Brennan have said they’ll no longer use the name. Members of Congress have weighed in. Snyder should act, now, before the controversy gets worse. But how do you change a brand that isn’t working for you any more without alienating your most loyal customers? Here are some thoughts on how I would seek to resolve this extremely difficult branding problem."

Ethics is Leadership Work; HuffingtonPost.com, 10/31/13

Terry Newell, HuffingtonPost.com; Ethics is Leadership Work: "Haven't our leaders acted unethically before? Isn't some level of unethical behavior part of the job description? Could FDR have led us out of the depression and on to victory in World War II with squeaky-clean ethics? Could Kennedy have gotten us through the Cuban Missile Crisis if he had admitted to a side deal with the Russians to take our missiles out of Turkey? Are national and international affairs really the pristine ethical pastures we'd like to wish them into being? The obvious and historical answer to these questions is "no." But that does not absolve leaders from either thinking carefully about ethics in every situation or setting a very high ethical bar for their appointees as well. When you act unethically towards your enemies, your friends may forgive you if the justification is sound. When you act unethically toward your friends - abroad or at home - who is left to forgive you?"

How to Pick Your Battles at Work; Harvard Business Review, 10/28/13

Amy Gallo, Harvard Business Review; How to Pick Your Battles at Work: "You hate that people consistently show up to meetings late. You find your company’s maternity policy woefully inadequate. You think the company’s IT system is out of date. It’s normal to be bothered by work issues like these, but when do you move from complaining to taking action? How do you decide which battles to fight? What the Experts Say One thing is certain — you can’t take on every problem at work. Each person has a finite amount of political capital. “If you make a huge fuss over something silly, you may not be able to get your way when it’s something really important,” says Dorie Clark, a strategy consultant and author of Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future. Even if you’re certain that the issues you want to tackle are critical, your reputation may suffer if you take them all on at once. “There’s a line you cross from being seen as an observant problem-solver to a being Debbie Downer,” says Karen Dillon, author of HBR Guide to Office Politics and co-author of How Will You Measure Your Life?. It’s important to figure out where that line is. Lois Kelly, co-author with Carmen Medina (see case study #1) of the upcoming book, Rebels at Work: Befriending the Bureaucratic Black Belts and Leading Change from Within, says the smartest people carefully calculate what’s worth their time and energy. Whether the issue is minor or fundamental, here are five principles to help you decide whether to take on a challenge or leave it alone."

New York Public Library Postpones Release of Revised Renovation Plan; New York Times, 10/23/13

Robin Pogrebin, New York Times; New York Public Library Postpones Release of Revised Renovation Plan: "The New York Public Library will not release revised plans for its 42nd Street flagship renovation — or independent cost estimates of alternative options — this fall as expected, the library said on Wednesday. “The design work is complex, and we are committed to getting it right to provide a transformative library experience for our users,” the library said in a statement. “Accordingly, our schedule has changed. We now expect to unveil the new design sometime after the New Year.”"

Authentic Librarianship and Procrustean Management; Library Journal, 10/24/13

Rick Anderson, Library Journal; Authentic Librarianship and Procrustean Management: "...neither the “hands-off” nor the “hands-on” style works perfectly in every situation. It would be tempting to think that an approach somewhere in the middle will work more universally, but that’s not necessarily true either—no single point on the “hands-on-to-hands-off” continuum will work equally well for everyone you have to manage... Across all of these dimensions of management, I think it’s less useful to think in terms of style than of philosophy. Style is about how you do things, whereas philosophy is about why you do them that way, and what your ultimate goals are. A philosophy can remain consistent even as you apply different styles and strategies in different situations."

The Best Man for the Job is a Woman | Leading From the Library; Library Journal, 10/23/13

Steven Bell, Library Journal; The Best Man for the Job is a Woman | Leading From the Library: "Self-awareness is key to identifying one’s areas of weakness, whether male or female, and then working to build strength in those areas, according to John Gerzema, author of new book The Athena Doctrine, which argues that traits classically considered feminine are essential to effective leadership today. In his surveys of over 60,000 adults, the qualities most desired in leaders were patience, expressiveness, intuition, flexibility, empathy, and many other traits identified by respondents as feminine. Yet 81 percent of those surveyed said leaders required a balance of male and female traits. Gerzema believes that, while masculine traits are still the ticket to top executive positions, a shift is occurring. He advises leaders to aim for somewhere in between Venus and Mars, and identifies multiple trends that point to workplace changes in which a more feminine leadership will emerge as the preferred style... Does the current debate about whether men and women should be more like the opposite sex apply to the library world? It is a predominantly female profession, so one might think that the observation of feminine qualities among the profession’s leaders would be nothing new. Though the statistical over-representation of men in formal leadership positions, such as dean and directors, might suggest that even in our mostly female workforce, it is the male traits that enable individuals to acquire leadership roles. The real challenge, as I see it, is how leaders learn to morph their leadership styles with traits not typically associated with their gender. This may be where self-awareness, reflection, 360-degree reviews, and other techniques are of use in better understanding our own strengths and weaknesses as leaders. Both men and women can learn from each other as well, to develop the skills that individuals seek in their leaders. Each improvement we make, as we adapt these new skills to our leadership style, will help us to boost the quality of library leadership."

A New Center for the Future of Libraries; American Libraries, 10/8/13

American Libraries; A New Center for the Future of Libraries: "The Institute of Museum and Library Services has awarded the American Library Association a Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program grant to establish a Center for the Future of Libraries. Its goal is to provide library planners and community leaders with information resources and tools that will help them better understand the trends reshaping their libraries and communities and help them incorporate foresight into their planning processes. The one-year, $50,000 planning grant will be coordinated by ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels. During the course of the project, ALA will develop a Center for the Future of Libraries website, establish a “futures” discussion group and blog, present interactive programming at the ALA Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference, and convene a summit of thought leaders to help shape the future direction of the center. ALA will also collaborate with the American Alliance of Museums, which established a Center for the Future of Museums in 2008. “Because libraries must change as their communities change, librarians always have their eye on the future,” said ALA President Barbara Stripling."

Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming; Guardian, 10/15/13

Neil Gaiman, Guardian; Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming: "I was lucky. I had an excellent local library growing up. I had the kind of parents who could be persuaded to drop me off in the library on their way to work in summer holidays, and the kind of librarians who did not mind a small, unaccompanied boy heading back into the children's library every morning and working his way through the card catalogue, looking for books with ghosts or magic or rockets in them, looking for vampires or detectives or witches or wonders. And when I had finished reading the children's' library I began on the adult books. They were good librarians. They liked books and they liked the books being read. They taught me how to order books from other libraries on inter-library loans. They had no snobbery about anything I read. They just seemed to like that there was this wide-eyed little boy who loved to read, and would talk to me about the books I was reading, they would find me other books in a series, they would help. They treated me as another reader – nothing less or more – which meant they treated me with respect. I was not used to being treated with respect as an eight-year-old. But libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education (which is not a process that finishes the day we leave school or university), about entertainment, about making safe spaces, and about access to information. I worry that here in the 21st century people misunderstand what libraries are and the purpose of them. If you perceive a library as a shelf of books, it may seem antiquated or outdated in a world in which most, but not all, books in print exist digitally. But that is to miss the point fundamentally. I think it has to do with nature of information. Information has value, and the right information has enormous value. For all of human history, we have lived in a time of information scarcity, and having the needed information was always important, and always worth something: when to plant crops, where to find things, maps and histories and stories – they were always good for a meal and company. Information was a valuable thing, and those who had it or could obtain it could charge for that service... Libraries really are the gates to the future. So it is unfortunate that, round the world, we observe local authorities seizing the opportunity to close libraries as an easy way to save money, without realising that they are stealing from the future to pay for today. They are closing the gates that should be open... We have an obligation to support libraries. To use libraries, to encourage others to use libraries, to protest the closure of libraries. If you do not value libraries then you do not value information or culture or wisdom. You are silencing the voices of the past and you are damaging the future."

Why Management Training Doesn’t Work; Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/15/13

David Evans, Chronicle of Higher Education; Why Management Training Doesn’t Work: "Let me note here that I am not anti-training—I think that there are many areas in which aspiring administrators both need and can make practical use of thoughtfully designed training that helps them learn to manage processes and people and to lead effectively in complex circumstances. I especially liked the suggestion offered by one reader of a yearlong seminar-type program which has as its “lab” the actual concurrent job duties of the participants, a model that could work especially well at a larger institution where there is a regular supply of new administrators being promoted from within and arriving from outside. I do, however, take exception to the idea, expressed by a couple of commenters, that the lack of such training is why many institutions of higher education are in serious trouble right now. I am quite certain that this claim cannot be empirically verified... The ultimate point is that yes, training is important. Administrators absolutely must understand the processes and legalities of their positions, how to manage crises and finances, and learning these by trial and error is the surest route to disaster—I would never argue otherwise. At the same time, as the examples above show, training is not the be-all and end-all of institutional success. People are people, by turns noble and venal, clever and stupid, honest and devious, competent and inept. Character matters, brains matter, empathy matters, work ethic matters. Training can sharpen these, but if an administrator doesn’t have them in the first place, no amount of training is going to fix the problem."

10/23/13 Library Leadership & Management Association (LLAMA) Webinar: "Library Security: The Basics and Beyond"

10/23/13 Library Leadership & Management Association (LLAMA) Webinar: "Library Security: The Basics and Beyond" Wed., Oct. 23, from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. (Central time) Description: This webinar will provide the skills necessary to manage threatening situations in the library. Discussion will address theoretical concepts, behavior policies, working with local law enforcement both in and out of the library, library banning policies, staff communication tools, and assessment for dangerous behavior. In addition, strategies for avoiding threatening behaviors will be reviewed. Presenter: Sydney McCoy, Branch Administrator III, Frederick County Public Libraries, Frederick, MD By the end of this webinar participants will: •be able to identify three ways to prevent escalation of bad behavior. •be able to identify at least four ways reverse an escalated patron interaction. •recognize the importance of consistent policy enforcement. •be able to explain a progressive banning procedure. •be able to identify at least five disruptive library behaviors. •be able to list at least 3 benefits to having a consistent and progressive banning procedure. Fees: LLAMA member: $49 Non-LLAMA member $59 LLAMA group rate (5 or more people at one site) $199 Non-LLAMA group rate (5 or more people at one site) $239 Register online: http://tinyurl.com/3zhtecm Register with a purchase order or by mail: registration form (PDF, 1 pg.)."

Let's talk about failure; Guardian, 10/13/13

Heather Long, Guardian; Let's talk about failure: "It's refreshing in an era where we mostly see our friends' and acquaintances' triumphs: their resumes and promotions via LinkedIn, their television chef worthy dinners on Pintrest and their smiling family and vacation photos on Facebook. We are all PR spin masters about our lives. Yet anyone who has ever been in the work world and certainly relationships knows that you often learn the most from your mistakes and setbacks... Some people's mistakes are more public than others', and some failures are more damaging to careers or personal lives. But as a society, it's not ideal to only stress our successes... Perhaps it's too much to hope that anti-resumes become a trend, but often, they're a lot more telling than what's on the real CV."

Be Yourself, but Carefully; Harvard Business Review Magazine, October 2013

Lisa Rosh and Lynn Offermann, Harvard Business Review Magazine; Be Yourself, but Carefully: "“Authenticity” is the new buzzword among leaders today. We’re told to bring our full selves to the office, to engage in frank conversations, and to tell personal stories as a way of gaining our colleagues’ trust and improving group performance. The rise in collaborative workplaces and dynamic teams over recent years has only heightened the demand for “instant intimacy,” and managers are supposed to set an example. But the honest sharing of thoughts, feelings, and experiences at work is a double-edged sword: Despite its potential benefits, self-disclosure can backfire if it’s hastily conceived, poorly timed, or inconsistent with cultural or organizational norms—hurting your reputation, alienating employees, fostering distrust, and hindering teamwork. Getting it right takes a deft touch, for leaders at any stage of their careers."

Is Music the Key to Success?; New York Times, 10/12/13

Joanne Lipman, New York Times; Is Music the Key to Success? : "Mr. Todd, now 41, recounted in detail the solo audition at age 17 when he got the second-highest mark rather than the highest mark — though he still was principal horn in Florida’s All-State Orchestra. “I’ve always believed the reason I’ve gotten ahead is by outworking other people,” he says. It’s a skill learned by “playing that solo one more time, working on that one little section one more time,” and it translates into “working on something over and over again, or double-checking or triple-checking.” He adds, “There’s nothing like music to teach you that eventually if you work hard enough, it does get better. You see the results.” That’s an observation worth remembering at a time when music as a serious pursuit — and music education — is in decline in this country. Consider the qualities these high achievers say music has sharpened: collaboration, creativity, discipline and the capacity to reconcile conflicting ideas. All are qualities notably absent from public life. Music may not make you a genius, or rich, or even a better person. But it helps train you to think differently, to process different points of view — and most important, to take pleasure in listening."

Interview with Jeff Fluhr, chief executive of Spreecast; New York Times, 10/10/13

Adam Bryant, Corner Office, New York Times; Interview with Jeff Fluhr, chief executive of Spreecast, a social video platform: Finding Employees Who Fit: "Q. Tell me about your approach to hiring at your current company. A. I’ve found that the softer characteristics of a person — the cultural fit, the chemistry fit, their personality traits, their level of optimism — are far more important than somebody’s experience. What I was often doing at StubHub as the company grew was to say, “O.K., we need a V.P. of marketing and we want somebody who’s been a V.P. marketing at another consumer Internet company, and hopefully, they’ve done these certain things because that’s what we need.” But the reality is that if you get somebody who’s smart, hungry and has a can-do attitude, they can figure out how to do A, B and C, because there’s really no trick to most of these things... Q. What career advice would you give to a graduating class of college seniors? A. One of the things I tell people is that experience is overrated. I still sometimes find myself falling into the trap of thinking, when I’m trying to fill a role, “Has the person done the work that the role requires?” That’s the wrong question. It should be, “Let’s find a person who has the right chemistry, the right intellect, the right curiosity, the right creativity.” If we plug that person into any role, they’re going to be successful."

Cheating’s Surprising Thrill; New York Times, 10/7/13

Jan Hoffman, New York Times; Cheating’s Surprising Thrill: "When was the last time you cheated? Not on the soul-scorching magnitude of, say, Bernie Madoff, Lance Armstrong or John Edwards. Just nudge-the-golf-ball cheating. Maybe you rounded up numbers on an expense report. Let your eyes wander during a high-stakes exam. Or copied a friend’s expensive software. And how did you feel afterward? You may recall nervousness, a twinge of guilt. But new research shows that as long as you didn’t think your cheating hurt anyone, you may have felt great. The discomfort you remember feeling then may actually be a response rewritten now by your inner moral authority, your “should” voice. Unethical behavior is increasingly studied by psychologists and management specialists. They want to understand what prompts people to abrogate core values, why cheating appears to be on the rise, and what interventions can be made. To find a powerful tool to turn people toward ethical decisions, many researchers have focused on the guilt that many adults feel after cheating. So some behavioral ethics researchers were startled by a study published recently in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology by researchers at the University of Washington, the London Business School, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. The title: “The Cheater’s High: The Unexpected Affective Benefits of Unethical Behavior.”"

Accessibility Makes Incremental Gains | Reinventing Libraries; Library Journal, 10/9/13

Char Booth, Library Journal; Accessibility Makes Incremental Gains | Reinventing Libraries: "Spaces. Services. Digital content. Collections. Learning experiences. Interfaces. Any way you consider it, there is no library practice that doesn’t intersect with accessibility. Accessibility is the principle that the fullest use of any resource should be given to the greatest number of individuals. More than compliance with laws and guidelines, accessibility is a form of social justice. As the most established cultural providers of public space and digital content, libraries share a responsibility to promote universal access to our full range of services for all users, regardless of whether they rely on adaptive technology or not... The work to create inclusive libraries will never end, but small and large actions can continue to advance the cause. For those of us who don’t experience disability personally, one of the best ways to understand the importance of inclusive design is by attempting to experience the path users with different types of disabilities take through our stacks, sites, and learning materials. Try accessing and navigating an ebook or online journal article using screen-reading software or another assistive technology, engage with a video tutorial with no sound or visuals and see if you can follow the content, or accompany a patron who negotiates your library with a mobility aid such as a wheelchair or service animal. While you will not be able to experience truly their path, you will perceive why removing barriers to access of any sort should be a priority of all librarians."

A Crisis Of Leadership - What's Next?; Forbes, 10/10/13

Mike Myatt, Forbes; A Crisis Of Leadership - What's Next? : "I’ve often said, leaders who fail to be accountable to the people will eventually be held accountable by the people. But this assumes the people are strong enough to hold themselves accountable for the past transgressions of turning a blind eye from what we know to be right. We must once and for all learn that what we fail to require of ourselves will be hard to ask from others. We must demand more from ourselves and more from those whom we place in positions of responsibility. Whether we’re talking about executives, politicians, educators, healthcare professionals, or any other class of citizenry, we must stop tolerating those who place self-interest over service beyond self."

Leaders, Drop Your Masks; Harvard Business Review, 10/7/13

Peter Fuda, Harvard Business Review; Leaders, Drop Your Masks: "In my work with executives, I’ve found the mask metaphor to be particularly relevant with women. Take Christine, the highly articulate and ambitious CEO of a credit reporting and debt collection company that had been acquired by a private-equity firm... “I wish I had listened to my instincts sooner instead of going through the motions of being tough. I’ve learned that authenticity comes from confidence, and confidence comes from taking risks but you can’t take risks unless you’re prepared to be vulnerable.”

It’s Easy to Say ‘I Need This.’ It’s Harder to Find Solutions; New York Times, 10/3/13

Adam Bryant, Corner Office, New York Times; Interview with Lars Albright, C.E.O. of SessionM, a mobile advertising platform: It’s Easy to Say ‘I Need This.’ It’s Harder to Find Solutions: "Q. How do you hire? A. The most important thing for me is seeing how someone connects with people. Part of that is how they connect with me as an interviewer, but more deeply it’s about whether I can get evidence of connections with people in other parts of their life. So I’ll ask people about their families. I’ll ask about their friends, past colleagues. How do they interact? Do they have strong relationships? Are they someone who can be flexible with different types of people? I typically get a sense very early on if someone’s going to be a fit. First impression for me is very important — that gut feel you have about their excitement and also their style and approach. Q. Anything you have an unusually low tolerance for in terms of behavior? A. The “I need” syndrome, where people say: “I need this. I need that.” And part of me thinks: “But then what? What’s your solution? What are you going to do about it?” Because it’s easy to say, “I need 10 more employees.” I think there can be this syndrome of people feeling like they should get a star for saying, “I figured out what I need.” But they’re not helping push the conversation through to what’s going to solve the problem."

Four Tips for Better Strategic Planning; Harvard Business Review, 10/1/13

Ron Ashkenas, co-author Logan Chandler, Harvard Business Review; Four Tips for Better Strategic Planning: "No great strategy was born without careful thought. That’s why the process of planning a strategy itself is an important vehicle for setting priorities, making investment decisions, and laying out growth plans. But for many companies, the activity has devolved into either an overexplained budget or just bad amateur theater – lots of costumes in the form of analysis, charts, and presentations – but with very little meaningful substance that can be translated into action. As a result, many strategic plans end up as shelf decorations or hard-to-find files in crowded hard drives. Since this is the season when many companies are engaged in strategic planning, it’s just the right time to break bad habits. Here are four steps that you can take to make better use of the hard work that goes into planning a strategy."

Collaboration for Hard Times; Library Journal, 10/2/13

Irene Gashurov and Curtis L. Kendrick, Library Journal; Collaboration for Hard Times: "People have always known that they can often achieve more working with others than they can alone. Today collaboration is a vital feature of organizational life, but finding the right partner for a supportive relationship is still no simple matter. There are risks and costs, along with the tension between self-interest and resource sharing. Once the right partner is found, the team must figure out how to make the relationship work... Importance of common culture While many business transactions are the product of collaboration—particularly in our knowledge-based economy, which depends on diverse teams with different expertise to complete projects—research shows that partnerships between companies succeed only about 40 percent of the time. In their pursuit of profit, such business partners often fail to find a match with their companies’ values, goals, and cultures. One of the largest deals in American business history, the AOL–Time Warner merger, might have had the best financial rationale on paper, but the combined company fell to one-seventh of its former $350 billion valuation a decade after the merger. Pundits still argue about what caused the combined company to collapse, but a major contributing factor was the failure to close the then-substantial divide between the cultures of print journalism and digital media. The companies continued to work as separate entities, and the divisive cultural differences led to a fatal lack of trust between them."

An Interview with Skip Prichard; American Libraries, Sept./Oct. 2013

American Libraries; An Interview with Skip Prichard: David “Skip” Prichard became president and CEO of OCLC on July 1, succeeding Jay Jordan, who retired after 15 years at the helm of the nonprofit library consortium. He had most recently served as president and CEO of Ingram Content Group in Nashville, and before that was president and CEO of ProQuest Information and Learning. "What’s the biggest challenge facing OCLC this year? The challenges facing OCLC are many of the same challenges facing libraries. Information technology continues to move at an extraordinarily rapid pace, and we have to make sure we are providing the services to help libraries make the most of those technologies and, at the same time, reduce costs. As library users’ expectations continue to grow, we have to make sure we meet and exceed those expectations, whether the user is in the library, at home or in the office, or tapping into library resources using a mobile device. There are lots of leadership styles. What’s yours and how will it help OCLC? I am passionate about my work, and inclusive in my approach to guiding an organization. Leadership is about leveraging strengths and creating new opportunities. I enjoy and look forward to doing both."

Books in Dumpsters Spark Debate on Future of Fairfax County, VA Libraries; Library Journal, 9/25/13

Ian Chant, Library Journal; Books in Dumpsters Spark Debate on Future of Fairfax County, VA Libraries: "Community outrage over having weeded a quarter of a million books into dumpsters isn’t the kind of public relations brouhaha that any library relishes dealing with. That scandal, though, may be the least of the problems for the Fairfax County Public Library, VA, (FCPL) where the library’s Board of Trustees has pressed pause on implementing a strategic plan that was supposed to help guide the library forward... The controversy has served to kick-start a wider-ranging conversation in Fairfax County about the future of its libraries. That conversation centers on what’s known as the Beta Project, a slate of changes to library staffing and operation that was scheduled to begin a test run in two FCPL libraries—busy Reston Regional and smaller, newly built Burke Center—this September. The most controversial item in the Beta Project would see librarian and library assistant positions scrapped in favor of a customer-service specialist position, which would not require applicants to have an MLS, MLIS, or even a bachelor’s degree. The minimum requirement for a job as a customer service specialist is an associate’s degree and at least two years of experience in retail customer service, relaxed educational requirements that have some worried. Speaking before the library Board of Trustees in June, Great Falls Library branch manager Daniela Dixon expressed some of those concerns. “The argument is made that, not to worry, the library will hire people who love books, who love providing “good customer service,” said Dixon, according to minutes from the meeting. “I am skeptical that this will be sufficient to maintain the high level of professional knowledge that librarians provide today.”"

Employers and Public Favor Graduates Who Can Communicate, Survey Finds; Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/18/13

Dan Berrett, Chronicle of Higher Education; Employers and Public Favor Graduates Who Can Communicate, Survey Finds: "Americans adults and employers want colleges to produce graduates who can think critically and creatively, and can communicate orally and in writing, according to the results of a public-opinion survey released by Northeastern University here on Tuesday. Respondents were far less interested in having students receive narrow training and industry-specific skills."

Nice or Tough: Which Approach Engages Employees Most?; Harvard Business Review, 9/11/13

Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman, Harvard Business Review; Nice or Tough: Which Approach Engages Employees Most? : "Clearly, we were asking the wrong question, when we set out to determine which approach was best. Leaders need to think in terms of “and” not “or.” Leaders with highly engaged employees know how to demand a great deal from employees, but are also seen as considerate, trusting, collaborative, and great developers of people. In our view, the lesson then is that those of you who consider yourself to be drivers should not be afraid to be the “nice guy.” And all of you aspiring nice guys should not view that as incompatable with setting demanding goals. The two approaches are like the oars of a boat. Both need to be used with equal force to maximize the engagement of direct reports."

Bob Moritz, on How to Learn About Diversity; New York Times, 9/14/13

Adam Bryant, Corner Office, New York Times; Interview with Bob Moritz, chairman and senior partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers: Bob Moritz, on How to Learn About Diversity: "In my sixth year, I went off to Japan for a couple of years. It was amazingly difficult, and it taught me big lessons that I actually have developed into a leadership style. Q. Please walk me through them. A. First, it taught me about diversity. Over there, I was the minority. I was the guy outside of the circle. I couldn’t speak the language. I was the guy who was discriminated against. So it gave me a different perspective of diversity, and it influenced the diversity agenda we have now. The second thing it taught me was about diversity of thought and cultural diversity. In Japan, you respect titles. You respect age. And you don’t challenge authority. If you’re going to do your job in Japan, how can you ask challenging questions to get the right answers without making people feel threatened? In the role I’ve got today, diversity of thought is hugely important. How do you get people to understand global business practices and do it in a way so that people feel good and not threatened? How do you set that tone and that environment?"

Maggie Forbes returns to familiar Carnegie library post; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 8/7/13

Megan Guza, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review; Maggie Forbes returns to familiar Carnegie library post: "Sargent said the position of executive director will take on a different focus this time. “The way we're envisioning the executive director position going forward is that that person is charged with more of the development side of the library,” she said, referring to raising funds, “rather than day-to-day library operations."

New York Public Library Rethinks Design; New York Times, 8/27/13

Jennifer Maloney, New York Times; New York Public Library Rethinks Design: "The New York Public Library, responding to outcry over its plans to demolish century-old book stacks, will this fall unveil a new design that preserves a significant portion of them, its president, Anthony Marx, said Tuesday. The library disclosed its plans in response to questions from The Wall Street Journal about alternatives it had considered to the $300 million renovation, which has sparked two lawsuits brought by scholars and preservationists, including a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, aiming to block the stacks' destruction."

Four Steps To Becoming a More Decisive Leader | Leading From the Library; Library Journal, 8/21/13

Steven Bell, Library Journal; Four Steps To Becoming a More Decisive Leader | Leading From the Library: "Decisive is full of good stories and simple but effective strategies for learning how to be a better decision maker. The big takeaway from Decisive for those who want to learn to be better leaders is that leadership requires deep thinking about developing actions that seek to achieve the optimal outcome in a decision situation by doing some of option A and some of option B to come up with an even better option C. Or, perhaps, neither A or B, but some completely new C. For all the reasons that both limit and warp our ability to see all our options clearly, as leaders we need to have multiple strategies to aid our decision-making methods. Whether in higher education or other industries, or even in our own and other libraries, we are exposed to an endless stream of stories about bad decisions that lead to troubling and sometimes disastrous results."

What It Takes to Make New College Graduates Employable; New York Times, 6/28/13

Alina Tugend, New York Times; What It Takes to Make New College Graduates Employable: "“There’s always been a gap between what colleges produce and what employers want,” she said. “But now it’s widening.” That’s because workplaces are more complex and globalized, profit margins are slimmer, companies are leaner and managers expect their workers to get up to speed much faster than in the past... “When it comes to the skills most needed by employers, job candidates are lacking most in written and oral communication skills, adaptability and managing multiple priorities, and making decisions and problem solving,” the report said... “Universities are not in the job of vocational training but they are in the job of evolving,” Ms. LaVelle said. “The magic lies in finding a model that’s appropriate for students to build skills, but palatable and effective for employers as well.”... A global study conducted last year of interviews with 25,000 employers found that nine out of 10 employees believed that colleges were not fully preparing students for the workplace. “There were the same problems,” she said. “Problems with collaboration, interpersonal skills, the ability to deal with ambiguity, flexibility and professionalism.”"

Colleges should teach work skills; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 5/16/13

Mark Bauerlein, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Colleges should teach work skills: "Yet, it turns out, professors don't coddle students and overlook youthful flaws. Another survey by York College finds that professors think the same thing as employers do. It's the 2012 "Professionalism on Campus" survey, a questionnaire about juniors and seniors answered by 415 college and university faculty members. Professors generally agree that professionalism includes attentiveness, punctuality and a work ethic, and 37 percent think it has declined over the past five years, while only 12 percent see an improvement. Even more than employers, fully 64 percent of professors observe an increase in a sense of entitlement in recent years, while only 5 percent say it has decreased. The students text-message during class, send emails to teachers with grammar and spelling errors, and act "unfocused." Faculty members identify parents as the main cause, though American culture in general and grade inflation in high school also receive blame."

Netflix Looks Back on Its Near-Death Spiral; New York Times, 4/26/13

James B. Stewart, New York Times; Netflix Looks Back on Its Near-Death Spiral: "In the annals of corporate missteps, there are few parallels to such a rebound from what once looked like a death spiral, especially in the momentum-driven world of technology. Zynga, the online game maker, and Groupon, the Internet coupon company, are struggling with brutal competition. In an old-economy industry like retail, J. C. Penney was in the midst of a similarly bold attempt to reposition the company when it fired its chief executive, and is now fighting to survive. How did Netflix simultaneously manage both a fundamental transformation of the company and a public relations disaster?"

Conduct at Issue as Military Officers Face a New Review; New York Times, 4/13/13

Tom Shanker, New York Times; Conduct at Issue as Military Officers Face a New Review: "After a series of scandals involving high-ranking officers, the American military for the first time will require generals and admirals to be evaluated by their peers and the people they command on qualities including personal character...General Dempsey said that regularly scheduled professional reviews would be transformed from top-down assessments to the kind of “360-degree performance evaluation” often seen in corporate settings. He acknowledged that the change had already drawn concern from some in the military’s senior ranks, who warned that it risked damaging a hierarchical command system based on discipline and adherence to orders from above."

Exercise Your Leadership Skills | Lead the Change; Library Journal, 4/10/13

Eva Calcagno, Library Journal; Exercise Your Leadership Skills | Lead the Change: "If you are like me, your Myers-Briggs Type Indicator starts with a capital I, not an E, so networking with others does not come naturally. We have to work at it. But building connections with decision-makers, colleagues, and staff are essential to leading, supporting and defending our organizations, and to cementing libraries as vital to community livability. Before a crisis hits, we need to build relationships, establish connections and credibility, and provide library supporters with the tools they need to be library leaders. You don’t want to meet your county commissioners or city councilors for the first time at a public hearing to fend off budget cuts!"

Chief’s Silicon Valley Stardom Quickly Clashed at J.C. Penney; New York Times, 4/9/13

Stephanie Clifford, New York Times; Chief’s Silicon Valley Stardom Quickly Clashed at J.C. Penney: "From the moment Ronald B. Johnson arrived at the Plano, Tex., headquarters of J. C. Penney, some there believed he would not last long. On Monday, the doubters were proved right. After a tumultuous 17 months as chief executive of Penney, Mr. Johnson was pushed out. He blew into Plano a star, a man who helped build the juggernaut Apple Stores. But his Silicon Valley ways — evident from a showy party in early 2012 that he threw to celebrate himself and his plans, replete with a light show, fake snow and flowing liquor — jangled from the start... Mr. Johnson wanted to transform Penney into shopping wonderland with designer boutiques and stable prices instead of coupons. But many of his ideas were not tested and soon backfired, and in recent months the board, including William A. Ackman, the activist hedge fund titan who had recruited him, grew impatient."

Give Workers the Power to Choose: Cave or Commons; Harvard Business Review, 3/27/13

Leigh Thompson, Harvard Business Review; Give Workers the Power to Choose: Cave or Commons: "Ideally, every organization should allow some flexibility on the where-and-when-to-work question — if not for any other reason than to optimize performance across the diverse set of challenges that teams face. If organizations don't take proactive steps, people manufacture their own caves — whether by working from home, putting on earphones to tune out the drivel, or simply slipping out to the local WiFi café. The same is true for commons — there is a human need for people to gather around the water cooler and so, making the workplace inviting in different ways can build community. The challenge for leaders is in achieving the right balance through informal influence and modeling, and formal policy moves."

Life Lessons in Library Leadership; Library Journal, 3/25/13

Richard M. Dougherty, Library Journal; Life Lessons in Library Leadership: "Library leaders at all levels are, and will be, in great demand in the coming days and years. Our profession is caught in the societal turbulence that grips us all. Budgets are tight, debts are huge, and technology is forcing change in all facets of society. These challenges will demand energetic and wise leadership if our profession is to prosper. What qualities will best enable our leaders to lead successfully for themselves, their libraries, and the profession?"

How To Become a 21st Century Librarian; Library Journal, 3/20/13

Meredith Schwartz, Library Journal; How To Become a 21st Century Librarian: "Before deciding librarianship is right for you, make sure you understand what today’s librarians do all day. If you want quiet and lots of time to read, think again. Today’s libraries are full of collegial, and sometimes even downright noisy, collaboration, creation, and community activities, and are as much about technology as print on paper. Modern librarians need to be comfortable and conversant with technology, be willing and able to speak in public, and possess people skills and a commitment to lifelong learning, as the profession and the expertise necessary for success are constantly changing. (For example, this article, one of LJ’s most perennially popular, has been revised three times and changed significantly in less than a decade.) A good place to start is at the source: talk to working librarians in different types of libraries to find out why they entered the profession, whether their initial perceptions match the reality of library work, and what they do—and enjoy doing—in their jobs. Our impulse to share information extends to sharing information on the profession itself. Another great resource is the book So You Want to Be A Librarian. Recently “unglued” by ebook startup unglue.it which uses crowdfunding to apply Creative Commons licenses to existing works, the ebook is available to download for free."

How Offices Become Complaint Departments; New York Times, 2/23/13

Phyllis Korkki, New York Times; How Offices Become Complaint Departments: "The work settings with the highest morale and the greatest collegiality are those in which “people can feel free to respectfully complain,” says Robin Kowalski, a psychology professor at Clemson University in South Carolina. When people air their complaints, they can receive validation that a problem is real, and move closer to a solution. Professor Kowalski began studying complaints after searching for a research specialty and bemoaning to an academic colleague that all the best psychology topics were taken. He said jokingly: “You’re so good at complaining — maybe that’s what you should investigate.” She found that surprisingly little research had been done on behavior that is universal. Professor Kowalski defines complaining as “an expression of dissatisfaction, whether you feel dissatisfied or not” — and that is part of what makes the topic so complex. Complaining can help break the ice and strengthen bonds with others. (“Can you believe they expect us to finish that report by tomorrow?”)."

12 Bloopers to Avoid in Job Interviews; Chronicle of Higher Education, 2/25/13

Robert J. Sternberg, Chronicle of Higher Education; 12 Bloopers to Avoid in Job Interviews: "In the course of my academic career, I've been interviewed for junior and senior faculty positions as well as for administrative posts like the provostship I now hold. I have also been on more search committees than I care to count. Over time, I've observed (at least) a dozen bloopers to avoid at all costs in job interviews. 1. Good question, but now let me answer the question I wish you had asked. When you receive media training, you learn a technique called "bridging." The idea is that, in an interview with a reporter, you briefly (perhaps super-briefly) answer the question that was asked and then bridge to the point you really want to make. In that way, you appear to have heard and paid attention to the journalist's question but get the opportunity to say what you really want to say. However useful that technique is in media interviews, it is a dud in job interviews. Chances are the interviewers are asking the same question of every candidate: If you do not answer it properly, the questioner will assume that you either can't answer it or, just as bad, don't want to. The interviewer no doubt thought the question was a good one, and he or she is unlikely to think more of you for not answering it."

Top 25 Oddball Interview Questions for 2013; Glassdoor via IT Business Edge

Glassdoor via IT Business Edge; Top 25 Oddball Interview Questions for 2013: "Not sure what to expect in an interview? Be prepared - for anything. Glassdoor has combed tens of thousands of interview questions shared by job candidates over the past year to compile its list of the Top 25 Oddball Interview Questions for 2013."

How Will 2 Magazine Titans Merge? Carefully; New York Times, 2/25/13

Christine Haughney, New York Times; How Will 2 Magazine Titans Merge? Carefully: "When Jack Griffin, the former president of the magazine company Meredith, took the reins at Time Inc., he threw a holiday party for his staff on the 34th floor of the Time & Life Building. For many employees at the famously hierarchal company, their first visit to the rambling executive suites that inspired the sets of “Mad Men” became known as “The Miracle on 34th.” Mr. Griffin lasted just six months at Time before he was asked to leave by Jeffrey L. Bewkes, the chief executive of its parent company, Time Warner, who publicly rebuked Mr. Griffin, saying that his “leadership style and approach did not mesh with Time Inc. and Time Warner.” As bankers and media executives hammer out the details of creating a new publicly traded company to house the magazine titles of the Meredith Corporation and the lifestyle titles of Time Inc., employees at both companies have been wondering how executives will take on the harder task of merging two very different corporate cultures."

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Demands Telecommuters Report To The Office; HuffingtonPost.com, 2/23/13

HuffingtonPost.com; Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Demands Telecommuters Report To The Office: "Marissa Mayer, the relatively new CEO of Yahoo, has decided she wants her employees showing up to the offices beginning in June, not just telecommuting from home all the time, according to All Things D’s Kara Swisher.... Swisher also reports, perhaps unsurprisingly, “strong” anger among those affected by the policy, many of whom joined the company in part because of the flexibility that Yahoo previously provided. But don’t just assume that telecommuting, or working remotely, or whatever you want to call it, comes from a place of laziness. A number of studies have proven quite the opposite..."

Feuds and betrayals underscore need for a manager pope to reform ‘ungovernable’ Vatican; Associated Press via Star, 2/21/13

Nicole Winfield, Associated Press via Star; Feuds and betrayals underscore need for a manager pope to reform ‘ungovernable’ Vatican: "Ordinary Catholics might not think that dysfunction in the Apostolic Palace has any effect on their lives, but it does: The Curia makes decisions on everything from church closings to marriage annulments to the disciplining of pedophile priests. Papal politics play into the prayers the faithful say at Mass since missal translations are decided by committee in Rome. Donations the faithful make each year for the pope are held by a Vatican bank whose lack of financial transparency fueled bitter internal debate. And so after 35 years under two “scholar” popes who paid scant attention to the internal governance of the Catholic Church, a chorus is growing that the next pontiff must have a solid track record managing a complicated bureaucracy. Cardinals who will vote in next month’s conclave are openly talking about the need for reform, particularly given the dysfunction exposed by the scandal. “It has to be attended to,” said Chicago Cardinal Francis George. With typical understatement, he called the leaks scandal “a novel event for us.” Cardinal Walter Kasper, a German who retired in 2010 as the head of the Vatican’s ecumenical office, said the Curia must adapt itself to the 21st century. “There needs to be more co-ordination between the offices, more collegiality and communication,” he told Corriere della Sera. “Often the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing.”"

How to Give a Meaningful "Thank You"; Harvard Business Review, 2/20/13

Mark Goulston, Harvard Business Review; How to Give a Meaningful "Thank You" : "Whether it's your executive assistant, the workhorse on your team, or — they exist! — a boss who always goes the extra mile for you, the hardest working people in your life almost certainly don't hear "thank you" enough. Or when they do, it's a too-brief "Tks!" via email. So take action now. Give that person what I call a Power Thank You. This has three parts... If the person you're thanking looks shocked or even a little misty-eyed, don't be surprised. It just means that your gratitude has been a tad overdue."

A Look at “Profiles in Leadership”; Library Journal, 2/11/13

Ernie DiMattia, Library Journal; A Look at “Profiles in Leadership” : "Profiles in Leadership is one of the few books about leaders that have had a lasting value on my education in the field. Along with The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner, it has provided a valued lesson in comprehending the dimensions of the topic and the extent to which it impacts our societal development. Although there are many other such books to choose from, these two, in my mind, are above all the rest. The challenge for professionals is to find the best sources of motivation to improve and further develop their leadership skills, and to recognize that multiple traits can only enhance the ability of an individual to be a true leader."

Library Chairman: Renovation Budget Still A Work in Progress; New York Times, 2/8/13

Robin Pogrebin, New York Times; Library Chairman: Renovation Budget Still A Work in Progress: "The budget plan for the New York Public Library’s renovation project is preliminary and imprecise at this point, Neil L. Rudenstine, the library’s chairman, acknowledged in a letter last month to trustees that was obtained by The New York Times. The cost projections have been one focus of the debate over the project, with critics calling for more financial detail beyond the current estimate of $300 million."

Prison and Libraries: Public Service Inside and Out; Library Journal, 2/4/13

Stephen M. Lilienthal, Library Journal; Prison and Libraries: Public Service Inside and Out: "The Pew Center on the States’ 2011 report, “State of Recidivism: The Revolving Door of America’s Prisons,” notes that at least 95 percent of prisoners ultimately will be returning to their communities after incarceration. Policymakers are increasingly aware that “aggressive recidivism reduction is a smarter approach to curbing corrections costs and protecting public safety.” It cautions that besides a prison record, people returning from prison often have great needs stemming from poor education and lack of effective life skills. Stronger efforts by prison and public libraries to help prisoners and people returning from prison to their communities can help them start to narrow those gaps. Glennor Shirley, retired coordinator for Maryland’s prison libraries, hopes public libraries and prison administrations and their libraries will work in partnership more. More librarians share Shirley’s views. Rhode Island Department of Corrections librarian Loretta M. Cimini in a presentation last year to the Rhode Island Library Association expressed hope that public libraries will better serve one of the most “under the radar” groups—released inmates. Shirley declares, “Very few [public libraries] have proactively done outreach or programming in prisons. This is a lost opportunity to help inmates to reenter society successfully. Working in partnership, prison and public libraries can have a positive impact on prisoners, their families, and public safety and help to build stronger communities.”"

Bring Back Shushing Librarians; Salon.com, 1/30/13

Laura Miller, Salon.com; Bring Back Shushing Librarians: Library users plead for quiet places to read, write and study — but is anybody listening? : "A recent survey by the Pew Research Center, “Library Services in the Digital Age,” polled a nationally representative sample of 2,252 Americans about what they get, and want, from public libraries... “Quiet study spaces for adults and children” comes in fourth, and here is where the results go rogue. The percentage of people who consider quiet spaces to be a very important element in any public library is 76, only one percentage point less than the value given to computer and Internet access. A relatively silent place to read is almost exactly as valuable to these people as the Internet!... Granted, quiet isn’t a sexy or novel topic. Perhaps that’s why the handful of stories written about this survey — and the survey summary itself — ignore how highly the public rates quiet as a library service. Instead, the interpretation Pew promoted, and the angle taken up by Publishers Weekly and other trade publications, is that libraries have a marketing problem: The reason why patrons don’t rate libraries’ non-core activities and programs more highly is because they just don’t know about them. Maybe that’s true, and far be it from me to discourage any library from offering baby sitting or writing workshops or classes in estate planning — those are all boons to the community. But not at the expense of quiet. Does expanding the library’s mission demand that patrons surrender the peace they seek there? Couldn’t libraries do both? Apparently not, to judge by the input the Pew researchers got from an “online panel of library staffers.”"

Maybe Management Isn’t Your Style; New York Times, 2/2/13

Peggy Klaus, New York Times; Maybe Management Isn’t Your Style: "IF you asked all your friends, your family and — I regret to say — your co-workers to talk about their jobs, I think you’d conclude that there is no shortage of bad bosses in this world. Studies have shown that poor managers can cause good employees to leave and, ultimately, can seriously reduce productivity in a workplace. You can point to any number of reasons for this situation: insufficient training, poor communication, etc. But I say a bad boss is born each time someone goes into management without knowing whether he or she is truly suited to the role. When people are offered a managerial job, they may become intoxicated by the idea of more power and a bigger salary. Refusing such an offer can seem out of the question."

How Poor Leaders Become Good Leaders; Harvard Business Review, 2/4/13

Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman, Harvard Business Review; How Poor Leaders Become Good Leaders: "In our previous blog, Bad Leaders Can Change Their Spots, we described a group of 71 leaders who were able to elevate their leadership effectiveness from the 23rd percentile to the 56th percentile — that is, from being poor leaders to good ones. While many readers were impressed that it could happen, many more were curious (and even doubtful) about how it could happen. Admittedly, not every leader can do this. But all 71 of these individuals (who represented three-quarters of the entire group of poor leaders in this study) did accomplish this seemingly Herculean shift. How? Using 360-degree feedback data over a 12- to 18-month period, we were able to track what, exactly, the leaders who'd made the most significant progress were doing. We found that practically all of them (more than 80%) significantly improved their ability to executive nine particular leadership skills."

Going from "Suck to Non-Suck" as a Public Speaker; Harvard Business Review, 2/1/13

Peter Sims, Harvard Business Review; Going from "Suck to Non-Suck" as a Public Speaker: "[Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo] graciously shared the story about how he started speaking publicly in law school and was a terrible speaker until he started 1) talking about things he believed in passionately, and 2) knew his material extremely well. I now routinely share that advice today, with one addition: know your audience."

Women Don't Need to "Lean In" More; Powerful Men Need to Reach Out; Harvard Business Review, 1/28/13

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, Harvard Business Review; Women Don't Need to "Lean In" More; Powerful Men Need to Reach Out: "Sandberg does not serve other women well by pretending that companies are a meritocracy that just requires individual effort. She herself was sponsored and propelled, like almost every successful woman I have ever met, by a powerful man, in her case Larry Summers...In the meantime, the most gender balanced companies on the planet are mostly led by men, who thankfully seem to believe more in reaching out to women than Sandberg does. This is what smart women really need. Companies and leaders who believe in them and give them a seat at the table, even if they don't bang on it."

In Hiring, a Friend in Need Is a Prospect, Indeed; New York Times, 1/27/13

Nelson D. Schwartz, New York Times; In Hiring, a Friend in Need Is a Prospect, Indeed: "While whom you know has always counted in hiring, Ms. Parakh’s experience underscores a fundamental shift in the job market. Big companies like Ernst & Young are increasingly using their own workers to find new hires, saving time and money but lengthening the odds for job seekers without connections, especially among the long-term unemployed. The trend, experts say, has been amplified since the end of the recession by a tight job market and by employee networks on LinkedIn and Facebook, which can help employers find candidates more quickly and bypass reams of applications from job search sites like Monster.com."

Bad Leaders Can Change Their Spots; Harvard Business Review, 1/24/13

Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman, Harvard Business Review; Bad Leaders Can Change Their Spots: "As with Governor Sununu, the flaws most commonly tripping up our at-risk leaders were related to failures in establishing interpersonal relationships. Far less frequent were fatal flaws involved in leading change initiatives, driving for results, and — we're happy to report — character. That might explain how they'd managed to get as far as they had. But past a certain point, individual ambition and results aren't enough. As they climb higher in an organization and the ability to motivate others becomes far more important, poor interpersonal skills, indifference to other people's development, and a belief that they no longer need to improve themselves come to haunt these less effective leaders the most...The exceptionally good news, our data show, is that far more often than not, those who take these issues seriously can succeed in shedding bad habits to become markedly better leaders. New spots, anyone?"

She’s (Rarely) the Boss; New York Times, 1/26/13

Nicholas Kristof, New York Times; She’s (Rarely) the Boss: "In America, only 17 percent of American Fortune 500 board seats are held by women, a mere 3 percent of board chairs are women — and women are barely represented in President Obama’s cabinet... So what gives? A provocative answer comes from Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, who has written a smart book due out in March that attributes the gender gap, in part, to chauvinism and corporate obstacles — but also, in part, to women who don’t aggressively pursue opportunities... [W]e need more women in leadership positions for another reason: considerable evidence suggests that more diverse groups reach better decisions. Corporations should promote women not just out of fairness, but also because it helps them perform better. Lehman Brothers might still be around today if it were Lehman Brothers & Sisters."

Lincoln’s School of Management; New York Times, 1/26/13

Nancy F. Koehn, New York Times; Lincoln’s School of Management: "In this season of all things Lincoln — when Steven Spielberg is probably counting his Oscars already — executives, entrepreneurs and other business types might consider dusting off their history books and taking a close look at what might be called the Lincoln school of management. Even before “Lincoln” the movie came along, there was a certain cult of leadership surrounding the 16th president. C.E.O.'s and lesser business lights have long sought inspiration from his life and work. But today, as President Obama embarks on a new term and business leaders struggle to keep pace with a rapidly changing global economy, the lessons of Lincoln seem as fresh as ever. They demonstrate the importance of resilience, forbearance, emotional intelligence, thoughtful listening and the consideration of all sides of an argument. They also show the value of staying true to a larger mission. “Lincoln’s presidency is a big, well-lit classroom for business leaders seeking to build successful, enduring organizations,” Howard Schultz, chief executive of Starbucks, said in an e-mail."

[Corner Office] Interview with Victoria Ransom, chief executive of Wildfire; New York Times, 1/26/13

Adam Bryant, Corner Office, New York Times; Interview with Victoria Ransom, chief executive of Wildfire, a provider of social media marketing software: If Supervisors Respect the Values, So Will Everyone Else: "Q. Let’s shift to culture. Did you go through the process of codifying your values? A. We did, but pretty late in the game, actually. We tried early on in the company, when we had about 20 employees, to codify our values, but we didn’t get that far, because it felt forced. But as we got bigger, we were expecting a lot of our people — that they could somehow just come in as new hires and through osmosis figure out what our values were. Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them? The values are here already, but let’s make it clear what they are, particularly because you want the new people who are also hiring to really know the values. Another reason was that we had to fire a few people because they didn’t live up to the values. If we’re going to be doing that, it’s really important to be clear about what the values are. I think that some of the biggest ways we showed that we lived up to our values were when we made tough decisions about people, especially when it was a high performer who somehow really violated our values, and we took action. I think it made employees feel like, “Yeah, this company actually puts its money where its mouth is.” We also wanted to put in more of a formal procedure for reviews, and if we’re going to review people, let’s be clear about the criteria when we consider whether they are living up to the company culture."