Five Signs It's Time for a Culture Overhaul

Culture and its impact on employees and organizational success cannot be overstated. The behavioral definition of culture is, patterns of behavior that are reinforced or punished by people and…

Culture Change is Continuous

Once upon a time, organizations treated culture change like any number of other corporate initiatives:  There were project plans, timelines, communication strategies, and roll-outs. …

You Own the Culture

Do people change culture, or does culture change people? When I meet with a group of leaders, I often begin with this question. It’s a fun question for groups to wrestle with, and inevitably, they…

Culture, Leadership, and Football

Recent events on the football field have reminded me of a story told to me by my former business partner,  Fran Tarkenton. Fran, then Quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings,  was heading out…

Holiday Thoughts from Mr. Sam Walton

The following is a copy of an actual letter sent by Sam Walton of Wal-Mart to his managers. It was sent to me by an impassioned client who wanted to thank us for bringing the science of behavior into…

The Problem With Banks Results-Driven Culture

A steady stream of headlines brings near-constant reports on banks running afoul of laws and regulations. Recent evidence includes the mortgage-securities settlements of Bank of America and Citigroup…

4 Secrets to Leading Change When Your Company Is Already Successful

It’s no secret: Many successful businesses are slow to change. There are hundreds of examples in which corporations have rejected ideas and products that have been left to entrepreneurs to make…

Overworked? Could Reducing Workloads be the Key to Improved Results?

We may be at a tipping point.  It just might be that we have hit the limit on how much we can do on any given day, week or month.  Most of us have more work on our to-do lists than we can…

Don’t Blame Employees for Lack of Effort—Managers Hold the Key

It’s generally agreed that persuading employees to give more than required can make or break a company. Yet many leaders struggle to get that discretionary effort. The 2022 Gallup State of the…

Why Mary Barra Should Be the Norm, Not the Exception

One issue has been largely overlooked in the discussions about women in leadership: Do the traits of one gender have an advantage over the other in the boardroom? Direct and self-promotional…

Fast Company Article on "Stack Ranking"

It’s hard to believe but Stack Ranking has found its way back into corporations as a means for motivating employees. What will it take for leaders to understand that this practice doesn’t work and in…

Rank and Yank: Would a Rose by Any Other Name Smell as Sweet?

Jack Welch joined the fray about Microsoft’s abandoning “rank and yank” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed titled “Jack Welch: ’Rank and Yank’? That’s Not How It’s Done.” Welch now says that rank…

Zero Tolerance Policies Should be Called “Don’t Blame Me” Policies

While I understand the appeal of zero tolerance policies in that they allow difficult decisions about behavior to be dispatched easily and quickly, the decision to expel a child from school or to…

President Obama, You Say You Want Ideas—Here’s One!

President Obama says he wants ideas.  How about this one?  The government will designate a fixed dollar amount to be deducted from each taxpayer each year.  This fund will be…

A Better Way for HP to Boost Performance

Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Meg Whitman has rekindled the debate over whether to telecommute with a memo urging employees to show up at the office more often. She wrote that “HP needs all hands…

Justin Bieber, Senior Leaders and “Yes-Men”

Recently I heard Charles Barkley on ESPN radio, but he wasn't talking basketball. He was talking about Justin Bieber and how Bieber’s life is gradually unraveling. It’s been a slow shaping process…

Rank and Yank and Other Business Nonsense

When will they learn?  I wrote my book Oops! 13 management practices that waste time and money in 2009 and the one that has caught the most attention is Performance Appraisal. An article by Will…

5 Tips for Improving Your Effectiveness as a Coach

There is always a lot of buzz surrounding leaders– what makes an effective one, are they born or made, and why do some transform into bad bosses.  Yet the most common trending topic today seems…