Management Be Nimble; New York Times, 1/4/14

Adam Bryant, New York Times; Management Be Nimble: "One of a leader’s most important roles is to boil down an organization’s many priorities and strategies into a simple plan, so that employees can remember it, internalize it and act on it. With clear goals and metrics, everyone can pull in the same direction, knowing how their work contributes to those goals... Rules of the Road Exercises to develop corporate values have prompted plenty of eye-rolls over the years, and can often yield little more than slick posters in conference rooms. But when developed and enacted in a thoughtful way, guidelines for behavior can help employees concentrate on the work at hand, rather than on navigating the stressful politics that arise when all sorts of bad behaviors are tolerated. Mark Templeton, chief executive of Citrix, a technology company, says its culture is based on three values: respect, integrity and humility... Many C.E.O.’s worked for a poor boss when they were younger, and say the experience deeply influenced their leadership philosophy. They want to create a culture of respect, because they know that people will shut down on the job and simply go through the motions if there is a culture of fear. Richard R. Buery Jr., C.E.O. of the Children’s Aid Society, said a bad experience with a former supervisor provided extra motivation to be in a leadership position so that he could influence culture. “One lesson I learned is the critical importance of being a good person and treating people well,” he said... John Duffy, chief executive of the mobile-technology company 3Cinteractive, has made respect one of the core values of his company. He says a zero-tolerance policy for disrespectful behavior frees up colleagues to challenge one another."