Blog on Leadership, Strategic Management & Innovation
An exploration of leadership, strategy, and management topics. The personal views expressed within are that of the author.
In our hectic lives, many of us often sacrifice sleep in order to achieve a bit more. Well, not Jeff. Getting sufficient sleep is key to making important decisions for Amazon’s CEO. He believes that making a small number of key decisions well is more important than making a large number of decisions. The next time you want to make more decisions to feel more productive, you might want to choose to sleep on it instead.
Source: Thrive Global
In case you’re wondering, ‘holacracy’ refers to a form of self-management that confers decision power on fluid teams that put focus on roles rather than the individuals. Teams become the structure, and within the teams roles are collectively defined and assigned. Teams govern themselves but remain nested within the larger structure. Leadership in roles can vary depending on context. It is believed that such a flat organizational structure will foster flexibility, engagement, and efficiency. In reality, firms intending to utilize this concept to organize themselves shouldn’t go overboard with it. A better way to use this concept is to consider in which parts of the organization would greatly benefit from having elements of self-management where adaptability is paramount; and turning to traditional structures where reliability is vital.
Source: Havard Business Review
Chances are you’ll agree that Apple has revolutionized the audio device market when it introduced the iPod and iTunes. Other companies such as Uber which disrupted the taxi industry may also come to mind. What escapes the casual observer is that these companies’ success was largely achieved when the firm developed a business model that links new technology with an emerging consumer need. Christoph Loch et al believes that six features of a business model can determine whether the it is ground-breaking or not: personalized product or service, closed-loop process, asset sharing, usage-based pricing, collaborative ecosystem, and an agile and adaptive organization. The more features the business model has, the more it is likely to succeed in a big way.
Source: Havard Business Review
Increasingly, companies have ethics and compliance policies that get reviewed and signed annually by employees. And yet, the recent Wells Fargo case (in which employees created multiple fraudulent accounts) is a reminder that despite these policies, there are other factors that may cause even good employees to go astray. One very strong factor is the excessive pressure by management to reach unrealistic performance targets. And once employees fear loss of the job, status, or incentives, they may resort to unethical practices to achieve those targets. Ultimately, leaders should infuse discussions with ethical considerations when setting targets, and reinforcing ethical choices as ‘the norm’ of the firm.
Source: Havard Business Review
Fintechs can help financial firms build capabilities that enhance client relationships, reduce costs through automation or simplification, and even facilitate regulatory compliance. It comes as no surprise that Fintechs that provide regulatory solutions, that is ‘Regtech’, have rose in prominence in recent times. One key area is in regulatory reporting. Currently, KYC and trade surveillance tasks require extensive manual efforts given the diverse sources of information. Regtech companies, deploying technologies such as natural-language processing and machine learning, can automate these processes while reducing duplication. New behavioral technologies can even analyze employee actions and provide alerts for possible noncompliance, helping banks proactively deal with any conduct issues before they arise. To find success, many Fintechs should build solutions that both minimize integration costs and enable financial firms to work alongside other industry vendors in a seamless manner. Regulators can also play a role in getting industry to adopt a technological standard.
Source: BCG Perspectives
Conflict in the workplace is sometimes inevitable. A manager should learn to distinguish between healthy and destructive conflict, and deal with the latter conflict quickly. Otherwise, ignoring it will impact the team’s productivity, employee satisfaction, and even the manager’s reputation. At the outset, make it clear that collaboration between members is an expectation. The most practical way is to put in place some steps to get a resolution: dealing with the emotions first, listen for root causes, and getting consensus for mutual commitments. If this topic interests you, be sure to check out the book Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson.
Source: Great Leadership
Having deep insight into the nature of its business – Domino’s is not only in the pizza-making business, but also in the pizza-delivery business – led to significant effort into deceloping technology that changed how customers order (e.g. using the Domino’s app), how the firm monitors the status of orders, and how Domino’s manages its operations. What would come as a surprise to many is that nearly half of the staff at HQ works in software and analytics. Domino’s also crowd-sourced the design of its delivery van, (aka “cheese lover’s Batmobile”) with just one seat, and a warming oven with room for 80 pizzas. Today, Domino’s Pizza has more than 12,500 locations in more than 80 countries, and a share price approaching $160, which is a far cry from $8.76 back in 2010.
Source: Havard Business Review
It probably goes without saying that outstanding CEOs have a knack to take appropriate risks and act on opportunities. They show a greater sense of purpose and mission, and demonstrate passion and urgency by moving boldly and swiftly to transform their companies. Great CEOs often go to the core of the issue and have a “nose” for what are the most significant issues, challenges, threats, and opportunities facing an organization. What is probably surprising to most people is that these CEOs believe that the best idea should win and that they often obtain the best ideas by working collaboratively with others.
Source: Havard Business Review
Re-orgs commonly fail because employees actively resist the changes. Some members in the leader group may actively resist the changes. In some cases, the org chart changes, but fundamentally the way people work stays the same. Ultimately, if it is not handled properly, good employees who are disenchanted leave because of the re-org.
Source: Havard Business Review
According to Jack Welch, only two leadership traits Edge and Execution can be taught. And for the rest, it boils down to personality – energy, energizing others and passion. So you can say leaders are both born and made.
Source: Businessinsider
Blog on Leadership, Strategic Management & Innovation 